Guide to the care and husbandry of the Pom-pom Crab

Hi, this is Chris, and this is my guide to the Lybia Tessalatta, or Pom-pom Crab. This fascinating little creature has many untruths floating around about its care, so its finally time to sift through those and tell you how to care for them. So for anyone who is interested in this amazing invertebrate read through this guide and make a judgment on whether or not you would like to keep this amazing creature.

The Pom-pom crab is amazingly resilient as an aquarium subject, infact it has been know to live for years at a time, contrary to the belief that Pom-pom Crabs live only for a short time in captivity. Pom-pom Crabs lose their anemones quickly in the aquarium, unless the aquarium is extremely stable, and the crabs have good places to find shelter. They find their food by moving their anemones across the substrates and rocks in the aquarium and taking whatever they “mop” up with the anemones. They can also be fed by placing food near the hole you generally see them at, and they will usually take it immediately. Pom-pom Crabs can tolerate a wide range of parameters and so will their anemones.

They hide constantly, until they get used to the daily life of your aquarium. For the first month or two, you will probably only see them right before night, or at night. This lifestyle is probably due to their small size, and the fact that many predators could take advantage of them, including hermits (Yes, I said Hermits).

They do best in nano-reefs, where they are most easily fed, seen, and able to avoid predators. They do not need strong lighting, and neither do their anemones. They also do not need a high current. They can be kept in groups, and tanks as small as a gallon! I am going to keep two in a 2.5 gallon, with several soft corals, and Derasa Clams. As much as I’d like to say that they are safe for large aquaria, they aren’t. They are just too small and tend to disappear into the rockwork, and never be seen again. It would also make it hard to assure that they are eating. I would say no to a large tank for a Pom-pom.

They regularly carry egg sacs although, I don’t recall ever hearing of the larvae surviving. If a Pom-pom crab is injured in aquaria, they should be isolated, as this is the best way to allow them to take the time to molt, and regenerate lost appendages. I have heard of this being done several times with success in about a month each time.

While the Pom-pom crabs are quite reef-safe, they can be quite aggressive when it comes to food. I have seen mine beat on hermits, and once a Scooter Blenny for taking his food, although no damage occurs to what they are beating up. I have never heard of one of these crabs causing problems with corals, or Tridacnid clams although many (usually those who haven’t kept them) say that they are not reef-safe and will kill corals, in the words of one “They are absolute trouble in a reef”. Although, they had never even kept one.

Thank you for reading my guide, I hope you enjoyed it and are now planning on adding a Pom-pom crab to your tank. If anyone with a Pom-pom crab would like to add anything feel free to add it.

Wow, I guess there are less Pom-pom people than I thought.

I'll play! I got my pom-pom on Monday. Here he is acclimating in the bag. He hid for a couple days but I noticed him out just a few minutes ago after my lights went out and the actinics are on.
He has one white anemone and one pink anemone and is eating well.
[img]http://dinkydawg.com/Reef/pompomcrab[/img]

CGNano:
Thank you so much for the great information on these unique little crabs. I'm sure others will have more to add soon:)

What do you think of a pom pom or two in a 1.5 gallon pico?

I'm sure they'd be fine with enough rockwork

Very cute crab!

there is one at my lfs, they're ok on reefs right, the best crevices is occupied by my pepshrimp, also, are they kinda clumsy?

They are perfect for nanos, and are not clusmy.

sweet! I waqnt to get it today, but might not happen. hope they still have it.

I just got a pom pom today. I was wanting a teddy bear but those are pretty hard to come by. My pom pom did not have the anemones when I got it. Can I substitute something for the anemones or is there a way to goet them for the crab?

If you have ball anemones or something else on your rocks, you may find your crab pulling one off, or..

You could introduce another crab which would split it's anemones and drop a half on the rocks.

Would a pom-pom use a zoo or other coral in the place of an anemone if there where nothing else? It doesn't make since that they would since anemones lack a skeletal stucture, but I've heard stories they might. That might be a reason some people are prone to pass them up. Another reason might be because of the anemones. Some people might not want to intorduce something they consider a pest into their tanks or have a fear of the corals getting stung if the crab brushes up against one.

In answer to your questions,

Their anemones die without them, as they are exclusive to the Pom-pom Crab.

And yes they will pick up TINY Zoos.

Nice thread, cg. It really makes me think about getting a pom pom or two, and also makes me think about setting up an anemone shrimp thread. We really need some more pics on this thread, though. EVERYONE POST UR POM POMS!

Thanks Brian

I think they'd be perfect for your Pico by the way

I'm having a bit of difficulty with the tank now, since my little sister decided to "help" me my rearranging the rocks. And when I say rearranging, I mean she piled all of them on top of my frogspawn. Luckily nothing was hurt, but I can't get the rocks the way that I like them.

I hate when I can never figure out how I would like to put my rocks, it bugs me.

Sorry to hear about you sister's little "Extreme Makeover"

i got one on friday, he's so cool, but doesn't have any anenome's on him/her. I thinking about getting another,to make them more charismatic, right now it just takes one lap around the tank, he looks like he's doing tia chi. will he be ok w/o an anenome.

He should be fine, although it may make it a little bit harder for him/her to get food.

yeah it is for him, he catches any food I feed him with his leg.

I'm thinking of setting up a 2.5 minibow for a few of these guys. They're just so darn cute. And for a crab-hater like me, that's pretty good on their part!

Haha, Crab hater

I think a Minibow 2.5 set up for them would be awesome

It would be darn cute. Just a nice heap of live rock, thin layer of sand, and who knows what else. Certainly no fish or corals... Maybe a friendly ol' shrimp or something. Those lil bumblebee shrimp are just adorable! We have a couple at my store, and they're so funny, but they'd get lost in anything larger than the 2.5. Ty-neh!

Oh man, Way back in the day (12 years ago) I had my first set up, and a lil' sister. The tank held 2 clowns some hardy softies and all the wonders of fresh no pre-cure live rock.

sis desided that a handful of already coroded pennies would look good in the tank. but I was away for the weekend and... bad news, bad bad news.

well anyway good luck with the rock.

Crab haters unite.

u have a store, flo?

Here is my pom-pom. My neighbor found it in a tank he was taking down and gave it to me. It had no anemones, and used two mushrooms.
I just looked at it, and it has a huge orange egg sac on it. Is this normal? Here's a pic of it, but without the egg's.

Is this normal to get crabs without anemones? I thought they would all come with them. Anyway, no LFS carry them so we are looking for a decent place to order one or two. Can someone suggest a good place to order them online (a place where they ordered theirs)?

The crab will be going in Jaime's new 1.5g Pico. Here is a pic of it

Umm... Let me sort through the questions

The eggs appear from time to time,

www.saltwaterfish.com
www.liveaquaria.com
www.marinedepotlive.com

They all have them

I don't understand why so many LFSes cannot get these in :/

Mine get thems in and sells them for $9.00 each.

here is a pic of the eggs. Sorry its not very clear

Yeah, when I say "my store", I mean the store where I work. It's quite the reputable one, been around for over 8 years. They share the same morals as I do as far as not selling ###### the customers don't need, and making sure that what they're buying will be able to survive in their setups. They're all about educating people and don't mind sitting and talking with someone forever without them buying anything, which is great. Heck, they've lasted this long. *knock on wood*

The eggs are normal

Unless it's a dude.

"Unless it's a dude."

Crabs are Hermaphroditic.

so it wouldn't matter if I just put mine and another in a 2 or 5 gal? I just want to make sure they won't fight.

They'd be fine.

Not all crabs are hermaphrodites.

I've been reading this forum a lot while setting up my first tank. Lots of helpful info. Thanks to all those who contribute. Anyway, I got a little pom pom in my 12 gal. nano and I have to say he's probably about the coolest little reef critter I've seen. Great markings, lots of personality, and while a bit shy, he does make a couple of daily appearances for his tai chi exercises/feeding. Doesn't seem to bother a thing. He's staked out a little territory and built his cave underneath some branching Tonga rock. He often climbs the LR at night and waves his anemones in the moonlights-- makes them glow like torches. Too cool....

I highly recommend these guys for anyone who might be considering a new critter. Best thing I've seen at all the shops in my area (LA) for under $10.

I'll post photos when I get a chance.

how big do these grow?

and would a 15-20g nano work?

Coincidence this thread was revived, as I just got this guy last night:



--Diane

Diane, WAY cool! I LOVE pom pom's and have been looking for one myself or two, heh. I was wonding, they say now large tanks, I have a 29g is this too big for the little guys? Also I have a pretty big emerald crab will they bother each other?

PS did you get my email about the heater melt down?

I have three of them in my one of my 20H's they're really cool and the larger of the three is always out and about and has kept both of his anenome's and I've had him for about 6 months, one of the smaller ones lost both of his but is just fine. I haven't seen the other in a few days, but they hide so well in my tank if they want to. Great little crabs.

SCUBALeah,

I hope someone else will chime in on tank size--I have no idea. Mine is in a 5.5g and from what I've read and been told it should be fine there. So far (2 whole nights!) each night the little guy has emerged from his lights-on hiding place and picked a spot on the LR to hang and wave his anemones. A completely different spot each night. Wonder if he'll keep it up? Or find a happy spot and return to it regularly?

(No--did not receive msg from you and have presumed you didn't get my msg before what I think may have been your honeymoon (?). So maybe there's something I need to know about pm's. Was thinking of asking on the feedback forum...)

Anyway, I was glad to see you're back.

--Diane

I have 3 pom pom (aka boxing) crabs, LOVE them!





about 1.5 inches, and yes, even a 6 to 12g would work.



They shouldn't.

Until I rearranged my tanks, I had 2 pom poms in with an emerald and a few hermits. No problems.

So is a 30gal too big for a Pom Pom?

Diane, I tried to send you a PM but this is what it said:

There is no such member - please check the name entered and try again.

This personal message has not been sent

I checked the name 3 times and it was correct, so something funky might be going on. Can you PM me another email adress? I got your first PM just fine.

SCUBALeah,

RE tank size: where did you hear that pom poms don't do well in big tanks? It's hard to imagine why that would be, unless big tanks are more likely to have big predators, or maybe it's just that such a secretive guy would be that much harder to see given more hiding places. Anyway, if no one else has any thoughts about it I'd go ahead and try it if I were you.

Thanks for the info on the PM glitch--checked my settings and they look ok. PM'd you but then could find nothing in my "Sent" file. Sigh. I don't feel like a non-member.

--Diane

hehe, your not even close to a non-member!

Anyway it says in this thread that pom poms do not do well in bigger tanks because it's harder to find them to spot feed. I am just afraid that I will put him in and never see him again. I guess my question is, whats a bigger tank? 55? I just want to make sure that 30 is still okay I don't like killing things.