Nonsence, they'll do fine. I have one in my NC 24, this crab has lived through the most inhospitable environment one can imagine. It came in as a HH on some cured LR I bought for a Blue Ring Octopus a freind had to have until I told him what it could do. Since I had a few weeks before I could put the pus in, I tried to trap and/or catch this crab anyway I could. I never caught it. About 2 mos after I put the pus in I saw the shell and assumed the worst. Long story shortened a bit, The pus died about a month ago, a few days later, who do I see cheerleading the freedom cheer under the moon lights. It lived for 5 mos w/ a BRO and no spot feedings.

Well, aren't I the close reader?

It does say that right in the first post, doesn't it? Glad RayWhisperer chimed in with his experience. Looks like you're good to go.

(BTW, couldn't find mine to spot feed tonight, even in a 5.5! But it's early going...)

RW: Wow, that's some testament to the wiliness of these crabs!

--Diane

A great thread!

I've had my Boxer crab for 15 months now and he still has his two anemones. Interestingly the anemone in his right claw seems pretty pooped out most of the time, like it gets a lot of use, whereas the left one looks full and glorious. I wonder if this means that he's right-clawed? .

Boxer crabs do have seperate sexes and the way that you can differentiate between the two is to check out the shape of their abdomens. Males have much narrower abdomens than females (the abdomen btw is located tucked away underneath their bodies, which can be somewhat difficult to see most of the time). I initially tried to find a mate for my Boxer crab but was unsuccessful in pairing him up. The only crab that I tried turned out to be another male and they fought like cat and dog. I had to separate the two before one was killed. The tank is a 18"x12"x15" nano, perhaps too small for two males to coexist peacefully?

I feed my Boxer by hand or rather by pipette. He can sense when food in the water and comes out of his cave to get his share. He grabs a hold of the end of the pipette and waits for the food to be dispensed. What a clever chap he is!

Best regards

Ann

Breeding pom pom crabs??

One of mine now has an orange egg sac underneath... there are 2 other crabs in the system, so there is a pretty good chance one is male and the eggs are fertile....

Any ideas on how to try and raise some baby pom pom's?

I work at the lfs, and we recently got a shipment of these guys (per my request). All 4 were already missing their anemones so I passed them by. However, being so intriguing I always go watch them in their tank. I found two of them had ganked pieces of sponge off a live rock frag and were using them as replacement anemones! It was a pink encrusting sponge, and I'm sure it's of no use to them whatsoever, except perhaps as a security blanket. So they may actually pick up other items in your aquarium, too.

I started out with a pom pom, but unfortunately lost him about a month ago. I'm looking for another "Stingy Joe" to complete my tank, but he has to have his "stingies" to be a real Stingy Joe. Alas, most come in without stingies. I would settle if they picked up zoos, though.

Here's a new sight for these guys: I was surprised to see the one I mentioned in my last post with some pink sponge in place of his anemones, but I found another with a hunk of BRISTLEWORM in place of anemones! I could just imagine him mutilating a worm for the little hunk he's carrying around. It's a fairly thick chunk too - about 1/4"! I'll post pics when I find him in my tank again.

Ohhhhh I just got my little guy in today. He has both pom poms seems to be doing ok he's hiding for now. I can't wait for him to get used to the tank. I've had one before and for unknown reasons he died. I loved him I could take a piece of shrimp and wave in on a stick and he would come running from wherever he was and grab and take off and hide with it. It was just to cool.

crab is still carrying the eggs... i made the tank as "baby crab" safe as possible...

Wow guys.

I'm very, very pleased with the revival of my guide.

And I'd just like to let you know, it put a smile on my face to see so many people interested in them.

I'm starting to see my pom pom now. He came out for some shrimp last week and last night after the water change he was hanging out on the chili coral. Such a cool little guy I love the tenicle on crabs I can't help myself.

Scat

I joined you all in the pompom club last week. The crab is healthy and has both pompoms, but he hides most of the time. I saw him yesterday after feeding my fish, but usually he is nowhere to be found, even after lights out.

Oh well, at least he is healthy... just doing the same thing as my emerald, I suppose...

Give him some time. Sometimes these things take time. They can be trained to take shrimp off a stick. Put a very small piece of shrimp on one of those really long sticks so you don't have to get your hands wet. Wave it near a rock and he'll come a running you may have to fight your fish off first. I'm in the process of training my new guy, I had one one time that would flip on his back trying to get it off. If was so funny. Remember it's cute but don't overfeed maybe once a week.

Scat

Oh I meant to say this may make him a little more sociable.

bizzump... anyone have any success breeding these guys, or should i say, rearing the young, as they are very easy to breed.

omfg wth.

lmao!

this is the oldest thread ever <3

young haven't been successfully reared as far as I know.

i got a mated pair of pom poms about a month ago. i love them!!!
my female was ready to have babies and then i dont know what happened
to her. i really dont have any bad fish, a tang and an algae goby are as mean
as it gets. i feel bad for the male and want to try another female. what do you think???

Old threads can hold a lot of info. I'd rather see worthy old threads revived from time to time than have to rewrite the same info over and over again...

Just my $0.02.

--Diane

PS: I seem to remember another thread of about the same "vintage" discussing the difficulties/possible MOs of raising crab larvae...

Are those real anemones the pom pom has or just look alikes?

They're real anemones which the pom pom picks up at some point. If the crab ever drops them, it won't pick them up again. Supposedly if they drop a single anemone they are known to split the other one into two, however.

It will pick up the anemones again, you're misinformed.

what will pair with these guys fish wise. and as to the post two up they will put them down but only when they have to molt...

^^^
Just recently got 2 PP crabs...
One came with only one anemone...within 3 days he split the one into 2.
As you could imagine one anemone was a little smaller than the other.
1 week later from that date the PP crab molted...Made me laugh when I noticed after the molt he must be right handed...he now has the larger of the anemone in his right and instead of his left.

Now what I would like to observe...If one anemone gets larger than he likes...Is he gonna split it again...and if he does...is he gonna attach it to LR somewhere


Izzue

He splits them and drops the third.

they can also share the anems amongst a group. i have one, who lost his, i threw a new one in there with both anems, and now each have one.

well lets see some picts!!!

Just thought Id post a pic of my pom pom... I have only been able to spot him once during the day... he comes out every night though. This pic was taken at night.



Jesse

Super pic! Look at the detail on those mouth parts! He has two nice looking anemones as well. I love these guys! I think part of the fun is not being able to see them all the time. Although mine has gotten pretty bold and will join the rest of the clamoring crew when I feed the tank.

--Diane

Wow, great pic reefman23, one of the best ive seen on this site. I think your right c est ma, part of the lure of this speciese is only seeing them from time to time. Although mine reappears in the same spot like clock work every time i feed the tank. Hes definitely my favorite amongst many favorites in my tank.

after a while will they get used to light and come out during the day????

Wow! That's a great shot! Thanks for sharing.

I just picked up three of them tonight for a killer deal...

Here's one after being added to the tank

Argent, another great pic! And more lush, lush anemones! I love the way the eye markings on these guys appear to give them such droll expressions. And of course their other markings are just stunning.

boomer2266,

IME they do become less shy over time. Mine doesn't exactly gallivant around the rocks when the lights are on, but I can usually find him peering out of a crevice, and if I put a pipet of Cyclopeeze anywhere near him he comes running, waving his anemones. Sometimes I do notice him strolling around the backside of the rock before lights out. I should add that I don't have anything large or threatening in my tank, just a pair of green-banded gobies, some hermits and snails, some mild mannered brittlestars, etc.

IME these guys totally refute the "no crab is a safe crab" saying. Plus they're gorgeous and fascinating.

--Diane

With no fish in the tank mine was almost always out and about.

just got mine a few days ago at the place I work at.. he has both his anemones - one light red and one darker red, pretty good size too. Hopefully I'll add another soon!

Good luck with it! (them!)

cgnano...your aviator is giving me flashbacks...







lol...

Pom poms are the GREATest crab to enjoy with their defence..

Izzue

LOL Izzue.

yes they are. the only commonly available fully reef-safe crab imo.

how many of these can i put in a 2.5g? im thinking three. i have 3 hermits and 3 snails.

One or two, but not three.

two's a good number. thanx

Seriously CGnano, your avatar is going to give me a seisure.

Jesse

ok.

so where do they get their Triactis Producta anemone's from?

I have to hold my hand up over your avatar so I can read your thread.

I love my pom pom. He came out of the rocks the other day and started juping on the hermits backs after being shy for a over six months. He cruised around in broad daylight for about five minutes. Very cool!

His name is Pep.

how big do these crabs normally get? i got one with just one anemone. will they actually split it and make two?

can i add two of them in a 20g that has a cleaner, peppermint, anemone crab, 4 hermits s maroon and a dwarf angel ? or should i get rid of something first to make some space?

I will be starting up my 1st tank soon. After it is well established, my wife would like one of thse. My question is will it live nicely with an emerald crab, shrimp, false perc. and a blenny or goby of some sort? I also will have mostly softies and a few SPS. Will everyone live happily?

theyre adorable im thinking of getting one now

How long has everyone had their pom-poms? In reading up on them, a lot of sources claim they do not live long.

Many thanks!

I've had mine for almost a year now (11 days short of a year).

Just Sharing My Pom Pom