alizarin Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 I got a medium sized emerald crab to take care of some buble algae I saw in my tank and I'm wondering what he's doing rubbing up against some zooanthids and WHOA! He's eating it and it's guts are coming out! I think maye he's just tasting it and it wasn't intensional. Then WHAM he rips a Xenia out of the next rock and devours it! WTF!!!? I thought they were at least in the ball park of being reef safe! I'm taking him back to the LFS but is there anything else that eats bubble algae and NOT MY CORALS! Quote Link to comment
cmador Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 Did you get a male or a female? You want a female. Nothing else that I know of eats bubble algea other than emeralds. Take the rocks out and scrub with a toothbrush. Be careful, that stuff can really spread and bubbles can get large. Good luck. Quote Link to comment
formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted June 1, 2006 Share Posted June 1, 2006 (edited) its a crab, and crabs behave like crabs opertunistic feeders. i laugh at anybody that tells me arrow,sally light foot and emerald crabs are reef safe. i found out the hard way thier not Edited June 1, 2006 by formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 2 Quote Link to comment
alizarin Posted June 6, 2006 Author Share Posted June 6, 2006 I exchanged him for a female and she's behaving so far ;-) Quote Link to comment
NEVER SATISFIED REFFER Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 the one i had would climb my sps and pick the polyps, then killed a frogspawn. i tried to remove him, he didnt want to go. so at first i tried, the got tired and stabbed him with a steak knife. that fixed the prob. 2 Quote Link to comment
easy tank Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 Hmmm..... I got an emerald crab a few months ago, and it has been good so far. Never bothers anything, took care of most of the hair algea problem, and is now picking at what is left of it. I hope it doesn't turn to the dark side when the algea is gone! Quote Link to comment
Mini_GBR Posted June 6, 2006 Share Posted June 6, 2006 how can you tell the difference between a male and female emerald? Quote Link to comment
bigbabich Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 crab = crab. Some are nice. Most will eat your $ It's a CRAB! I have a snowflake eel that won't eat my peppermint shrimp. Most will. Most crabs will eat something. A propensity to do something is different than probably won't do something. Good luck. 1 Quote Link to comment
formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 crab = crab.Some are nice. Most will eat your $ It's a CRAB! I have a snowflake eel that won't eat my peppermint shrimp. Most will. Most crabs will eat something. A propensity to do something is different than probably won't do something. Good luck. ot my snowflake cleaned out the family of pistol shrimps in my display (approx 20-30 in a week) but he's left my peppermints alone completely. not sure if its color or size, but he doesnt seem interested at all. Quote Link to comment
bamsickle Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Anybody know how to tell the difference between male and female emeralds? Not sure I'd take the LFS's word for it. B Quote Link to comment
DementedLullaby Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 (edited) Anybody know how to tell the difference between male and female emeralds? Not sure I'd take the LFS's word for it. B Males have bigger claws than females(and are just generally bigger). HTH Edited June 7, 2006 by DementedLullaby 1 Quote Link to comment
ACBlinky Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 The best way to tell male from female is to flip the crab over and take a look at the underside. Males have a thin, pointed section in the center of their body (the point narrows towards the head), females have a much wider, more rounded area that looks like a 'sixpack'. DL is also right, males seem to get much larger and can develop enormous arms/claws. Quote Link to comment
Ganomish Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 I got a medium sized emerald crab to take care of some buble algae I saw in my tank and I'm wondering what he's doing rubbing up against some zooanthids and WHOA! He's eating it and it's guts are coming out! I think maye he's just tasting it and it wasn't intensional. Then WHAM he rips a Xenia out of the next rock and devours it! WTF!!!? I thought they were at least in the ball park of being reef safe! I'm taking him back to the LFS but is there anything else that eats bubble algae and NOT MY CORALS! Which part of "CRABS ARE EVIL" didn't you understand? LOL Seriously, most crabs will pick apart anything that it's claws are big enough to shred. If they run out of one type of food, they switch, or sometimes they switch based upon which coral you paid more money for. I love crabs in FOWLR tanks, but... in a reef tank I always try other solutions before resorting to crabs. 1 Quote Link to comment
xcode Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Can anyone tell me if that is a male or female emerald crab? Quote Link to comment
Noonan Posted March 25, 2007 Share Posted March 25, 2007 Can anyone tell me if that is a male or female emerald crab? Kind of hard to see from the picture but I am pretty certain it's a female. 1 Quote Link to comment
cosmic1981 Posted June 2, 2007 Share Posted June 2, 2007 Which part of "CRABS ARE EVIL" didn't you understand? LOL Seriously, most crabs will pick apart anything that it's claws are big enough to shred. If they run out of one type of food, they switch, or sometimes they switch based upon which coral you paid more money for. I love crabs in FOWLR tanks, but... in a reef tank I always try other solutions before resorting to crabs. thats a female 1 Quote Link to comment
s0nginmyheart Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 (edited) I'm a little leary of getting an emerald now what with all the posts I've read. But I do need something to rid some bubble algae. I guess I am just now worried that it will attack my anemones at the bottom --- will it? Edited July 19, 2007 by s0nginmyheart Quote Link to comment
Mitch529 Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 As far as eating corrals etc... I cannot comment since I don't have any yet, but so far I love my emerald he has only been in the tank a couple days and already taken care of every bit of bubble algae I can find. He also cleans non-stop and is very peaceful, but I will keep an eye on him when I get some corrals Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 I have an Emerald Crab in my 40 gallon. I’ve never checked to see if it’s a male or a female, but it has done a tremendous job on all of the macro algae (bubble included). However, with its preferred food source now gone, it has been munching on GSP and some of my LPS (although I don’t really mind it eating the GSP). It’s a shame, because I know that some of the macro attaches in small crevices which the crab cannot reach, and the algae will start to spread if I ever remove the crab. Emeralds are entertaining and I’m kind of attached to it; so I’m letting it be for now. However, I’ll probably give it away if the damage increases. Quote Link to comment
xxShaddowxx Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I had a small emerald crab in my 4 gallon pico because I had a hair algae problem. Tonight I noticed him picking at some of my expensive zoas. He just got put into the future mantis tank. Circle of life and all that 1 Quote Link to comment
seabass Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Wow, the was six years ago when I posted that. I must have gotten rid of them (I guess that rings a bell). If someone were to have asked yesterday, I would have told them that none of my Emeralds have ever bothered my coral. While they were munching on it, the tank didn't look so bad. However, I do remember that after they were gone, the Bubble Algae returned in force; it was everywhere. I don't recommend them to others anymore, but I still think they are neat little creatures. Quote Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Emerald Crabs if they get hungry are opportunistic feeders, but one way to keep them in check that seems to never be mentioned here is to freaking feed them. I used to give mine a chunk of pygmy angel food few times a week. Worse he's ever done is piss off my zoa as he's picked the algae from between them. 3 Quote Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Wow, the was six years ago when I posted that. I must have gotten rid of them (I guess that rings a bell). LOL, I just noticed this post was that old. Quote Link to comment
Clay4AU Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Since we are digging up bones... Here is a video of my emerald crab eating bubble algae 2 Quote Link to comment
Pjanssen Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Emerald Crabs if they get hungry are opportunistic feeders, but one way to keep them in check that seems to never be mentioned here is to freaking feed them. I use to feed mine Nori. You know, the seaweed used to make sushi. He loved it. Quote Link to comment
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