im fallen in love w/ these guys and want some for my 3gal pico...but do the pom poms come with him? or do i need something in my tank for him to grab?

Yes, they should come with the crab! Try to find a crab with two. If you find an individual with only one pom-pom, he may be able to divide it into two if you keep him (or possibly, it--the pom pom) well fed in your tank...

--Diane

Since this is the "official pom pom thread," I thought I'd write a post documenting my experience with my crab losing and then regaining a pom pom.

I bought my pom pom from an lfs on 1/13/06. At the time he had two very full, beautiful anemones:







Here's a pic of him 7 months later, on 8/20/06, at which time he still had two full pom poms:



Towards the end of the year, however, I noticed that his anemones seemed to be diminishing. I was sorry to see this, but not surprised since some other owners had posted that this (inevitably?) happens. Here are two pics of him on 2/13/07, down to one pom pom, which is not looking too healthy itself:





But on 3/27/07, I was delighted to see him sporting two pom poms again!:



And here's a shot of him tonight, with his pom poms continuing to improve:



The only thing that seems to have really changed in my tank, as far as I can tell, is that in November my green banded gobies started breeding regularly (nearly every week), and around then I started feeding my tank much more often (every day) to try to keep the breeders in good condition. And of course, all the crabs and other critters relish the extra food, too. And if the anemones eat food particles that the crab produces when it munches its own food, perhaps they've been getting better nutrition...?

Anyway, that's my story!

--Diane

thanks diane and nice pom pom you got goin there. Think ill pick myself up a few

Yes, thanks for posting the story and pics Diane. The pom pom has made its way on to the short list of critters I'd like to get for my tank.

I don't think either of you would ever regret getting one/some! In addition to their pom poms and interesting behavior, that white/pink/rose mosaic pattern is so wild, and the striped legs with those neon spots...And they have markings that look like false eyes that give them such a droll "expression."

About the only downside is that they are shy. (Though no more than an emerald, IME). They can learn to come out when fed, though, and I think that when you have something that tends to be a little elusive, it's just that much more fun when you do see it...

Anyway, hope you two are posting pics of yours, soon!

I have 2, but they are in different tanks, one of them came out into the open for the first time last night! I have had him a couple of months. I have had the other one about 4 months and never see him unless I track him down with a flash light. Last month I noticed that he had lost his anemones . I tracked him down last night and noticed that he is nowing sporting a tiny green zoa in each claw

I have heard tales of pom poms with zoas and aiptasia before, but have never seen it. Got any pics?

My pom pom crab has done the wierdest thing. I put in a small frag of a cult coral and the next day I see my pom pom walking around carrying an anemone in one hane and the colt in the other. I'm surprised he could carry it around it was almost half his size. But anyway anyone ever have this happen or have there pom pom carry something besides an anemone.

I was looking to get one of these but heard that if one sits near/on a coral that the anemone will sting the coral & cause damage.

Anyone have this happen?

I've been following this thread along and loving it! I just got my first pom pom this past weekend. He's hiding in a rock crevice in my 1gal pico right now. Can't wait for him to adjust and become more sociable. This little guy is awesome. I'll try to put up pics when he makes his debut

My local fish store had a pom pom for 9.99 today that I wanted to get but he wasn't sporting any anemones...... I still want to get him though...

Hey, has anyone got a Pom Pom from Sea Life Inc. before? Who sells the best ones mail order? Do they get discount shipping like some crabs and snails because they can be in transit longer?

Just wondering, where do the poms get their anemones? Mine doesn't seem to be carrying any anemones...

I'm pretty sure they get their original anemones from Hawaii, where the crabs are from. During transit and such though I doubt its not uncommon for them to lose one or both and pick something else up instead or split the other. Mine recently lost one of his original white anemones and is down to one now, he hasn't cut it in half yet but I hope he does. He's just not the same with only one anemone. Maybe I'll cut one zoanthid polyp loose and see if he'll take it.....I have some Eye of Rah zoos that I think would he would look great with.

So if he's lost both does that mean he won't have another? They aren't spores or anything the grow on the crab?

lol nope, if he's lost his anems they're gone. period. you can get another pom pom crab with anems and it might share or split one to donate to the nemless crab. there have been some cases where the crab took up different stuff like zoos and even aptasia i belive.

i called every fish store 25 miles from my house and no one has them

lalalala.

just checking in

nice pics above.

and yes, poms get their anemones back, generally.

hopen my LFS can order some for me, I asked this week and I find out tuesday

if not im sure House of Fins in greenwhich has some, just dont wanna pay to to much for them

Look at petsolutions.com or liveaquaria.com for pom pom. My pom pom molted and now has two anemones from the one he had.

one of my pompom kicked one of my small mantis' out of it's cave - and is still living to talk about it! (in fact SHE's got eggs now too)

Argent, you seem so unhappy with your pom pom...You should send her my way

Well the unimaginable has happened today, I woke up to find my hermits and Coral Banded Shrimp feasting on the remains of my dear Oscar. I can however safely say that the hermits and shrimp did not kill my Pom Pom Crab but were merely scavenging. For the past week my Pom Pom has been staying in is cave all throughout the day and night and wouldn't accept any nice and meaty foods like mysis whereas before he went absolutely nuts anytime food hit the water..

I can't tell why he croaked since all my levels are normal. SG is 1.025, pH is 8.2, Ammonia and Nitrite are 0, and Nitrate is <10. Calc is 500, a little high but nothing bad, and Alk is 3.0. Oh well, he will surely be missed. Guess I have to go buy another one...

Hey, Ive had my Pom Pom for about 2 weeks now, He is so cool. I have posted these pics before but not on this forum, I thought that they should be here.

Those are some really good looking Pom Poms! The LFS near me (like a block away) carries these every so often. $15 each isn't "too" bad in my opinion.

What's the average life span of Pom Poms?

Good question. I've had mine for 16 months, now, and it's going strong.

Of course, who knows how old they are when we get them?

--Diane

I am really doubting it but will a pom pom survive with a sixline wrasse?

so I found some pom poms on ebay....overall its the cheapest way to go w/ an arrive alive guarentee....is it alright to keep 2 of these guys together? or will they fight?

JUst got one of these guys today, super cool! only has one of its nems but i figure it will maybe split it into two and be fine. does this sound right? anyway super cool little crabs and a welcome addition to my tank, hopefully pics soon.

yeah the last pom pom we got into my store came in without it's claws . we put it in a display NC24 and when it molted it had some tiny claws again but instead of finding something it carry it just started eating coral .

man i've had mine for a month now, but i've only seen him maybe 3 times. that's why i've named him waldo

I got one also, I saw him come out once when feeding cyclopeze (spell?) thinking about getting a few more. I think he will hold his own against a six line.

just got mine today,was a little small so i threw it into my refugium until it gets bigger

Heres mine noticed for first time after being in tank for 2 weeks

which after reading this thread i think is normal !

I had one hitch hike on a piece of lr a few weeks ago. Haven't seen him since though, Think its ok?

I had on a few years back got him for free from my lfs cause he had no pom poms. Every week or two he used to go nip a tip off my torch coral and use it as his nem awesome crabs would love to get a new one.

Just thought I'd try to revive this thread!! There are some great pics on here! I just spent the last fifteen minutes reading through the whole thing. Anyway, I've had two in my 20 gal long for the past two weeks and they're doing great! I have to say they are my favorite addition to the tank, even over my bright purple Caribbean pistol shrimp. I'll try to get some pics in a few days.

We are ready to add a cleanup crew to our 15 gallon nano reef. I am set on two pom-pom crabs as the must have for this tank and want to try and ensure they do not become a meal.

I would like some advice on compatible invertebrates for a cleanup crew. I think that Scarlets would be perfect but I've been told I should get a mix of crabs/snails. I've read some posts on blue legs and emerald crabs being incompatible with the pom-pom.

What do/would you guys put in with them?

Thanks.
KT

Sounds like a great tank you're building! IME, emeralds and pom poms get along just fine. Here's a shot of my emerald & pom pom:



Emeralds may be most problematic in other ways--though they eat a lot of algae, they may start to sample a polyp or two as they get bigger...I have mine trained to take a sinking wafer from a pair of forceps--I was able to remove the last I had via the forceps when it grew and attacked coral...

There seem to be a number of different spp sold as emeralds...my current one, which is more matte blue than green seems more docile and to be staying smaller than my previous emerald, which was shiny green. It may also be because my present emerald is female (as is the pom pom). I've read many times that female emeralds are better behaved...so it might be worth your while to seek out a female (you need to get a look at the crab's ventral surface--see pic on this page: http://chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html ).

As I've posted somewhere else, the pom pom is dominant over the emerald, even though the emerald looks so heavily armored and is much less reclusive. When they're together and the pom pom wants to see what the emerald is eating, she'll just wave an anemone or even seem to bonk one on the emerald and the latter will scoot. But usually they are content to be side by side with no interaction one way or another.

I also have a scarlet hermit, a Mexican red-legged hermit, several snails and lots of voluteer bristle stars. When I feed, the crabs often end up center front where some pellets are likely to fall. I believe that having other active inverts, esp. clueless ones like hc's that blunder around all over, may actually serve to make the pom pom less shy, in the way that "dither fish" are used to relax shy FW fish by some hobbyists...

The snails really won't interact with the pom poms, of course; you'll just want to get a variety of grazers (e.g., Trochus, nerite, cerith, Turbo, Astraea), and maybe a Nassarius or two for sand-stirring, scavenging, and entertainment.

(IMO it's best to add CUC as needed, rather than dump a dozen or so in at once just because your tank is at "that stage." This also allows you to try different kinds of snails as they show up over time at your lfs...)

--Diane

Hey everyone, I need to move my pom pom crab into my main tank, will it be ok with an emerald crab, banded coral shrimp, shrimp goby and a few hermits?

CBS might be a BIG problem.

I don't think they really belong in mixed reefs anyways, just my opinion.

Thanks for the info.....If the CBS wasn't in there would it do ok with everything else?

I would say yes, definitely.

--Diane

Diane,
Thanks so much for your reply. Great information!!!! I like the approach of adding the crew slowly also - and the larger mix than I was originally planning. Lots of people really push the emerald crab and with your information it makes me less nervous.

I'm curious if you have any shrimp in your tank?

Also how long after we start adding the clean up crew should we wait before getting our two pom-poms? We are debating about adding a small fish or two until the new year. We are just going to enjoy the inverts for now

Thanks Again!

KT

I'm thinking about buying an pom pom from LiveAquaria, as they have some in. But, I'm not sure how well they would do in my tank, it's an 24 gallon NC with a purple firefish, an true perc. clown, and an hi fin red banded shrimp goby and pistol shrimp pair. I am slightly worried about the corals, but i won't mind it much if the pom pom bumps the corals with it's anems. Does everyone think that the pom pom will be fine in my tank?

P.S.: The tank is about 8 weeks old now and the CUC is made up of hermits, snails, and some emerald crabs.

I've had my Pom Pom for roughly a month and he's doing just fine. He even recently molted (which scared the crap out of me, thought he was dead).

$18 is a pretty good price for such a cool critter!

From your list, the only thing I wouldn't be sure about would be the pistol shrimp, as I've never had one myself. But it seems that somehow these various crustacean denizens tend to work out their relationships and coexist...My pom pom prefers to stay in the rock, and since goby-paired pistols tend to stick to the substrate, that's probably another factor that would minimize interaction.

You have proceeded rather quickly in 8 weeks (I know it seems like a long time to you!), and your tank no doubt still has some maturing to do...but IME pom poms are very hardy...

I have also never had a problem with its nems bothering coral. I've only seen it use its nems (aside from waving them back and forth in the water column) to bop my emerald on the snout.

--Diane

Ah, thank you C est ma! I have heard various times that the anemones on the crabs claws won't cause any real damage to anything, so I'm fine with that. And the pistol shrimp was my biggest worry, but I almost never see him, even with his goby buddy, and I have NEVER heard him snap at anything. So I guess we will see how it goes with the pom pom, I'm very excited for him. Oh, and one more question, if the pom pom is very small (it said "Tiny" for the size of the crab on LiveAquaria), how big of a risk is there that something in the tank will eat him?

Well...I don't think you'll have a problem with the crew you have now. Pom poms never get very big...but they seem to be able to defend themselves quite well. They're also most adept at hiding.

See mine's size next to some zoas--and I've had her nearly 2 years, now:



--Diane