What's With Emerald Crabs?

[rperrice]

I purchased an emerald crab the other day, seen him picking at some rock that evening and that's the last I saw him. I have a 7-gal, with about 11 lbs. of rock so I figured he can only hide in so many places, but I never see him. I thought he might only come out at night so after the lights were off for a while I looked around the tank with a flashlight, but no crab.

 

Is this their normal behavior? Maybe he buried himself in the sand. I'm worried that he's dead and the decay will destroy my tank. Has anyone else had this experience with emerald crabs?

[Acoustic]

Give him a week. He will eventually get so bold he will ward off your hand in the tank. They have personal space issues.

[Physh1]

I agree. I've had many play dissapearing acts constantly and tend to like the tank when the lights are off better. Give him some time....they will eventually come out more.

 

Cameron

[coralreefengr]

Sometimes you can't see them even when they are in plain sight. The can make themselves very flat to the rocks and hard to see.

 

CRE

[Raise]

I have one (about to be replaced by two tiny ones) that is an attention hog. Hes out front and center all the damn time. I like him alot, but im opting for a couple really tiny ones in hope that they wont be big enough to knock stuff over in a long while.

[Mondo]

I had one. I saw him when I put him in. About 2 weeks later I spotted him in a crevace. Then 2 weeks after that my shrimp was eating his dead body on top of a rock....

[R*Frost*]

Emerald crabs are funny thet either seem to stick out like a sore thumb or blend invisibibley into your LR funnys creatures, thats why i love em

[rperrice]

Thanks everyone for your replies. You were right. The emerald crab appeared last night (8 days in hiding). This is definitely a hobby that requires patience.

 

I know crabs (emerald, hermit, etc.) eat the algae in the tank, but are there any dry foods you would recommend to supplement their diet?

[donkeykong]

My emerald hits any pellets or flakes that stay at the bottom to long. It will eat anything it can find.

[ParTeaGod]

I have a large emerald crab that will sample guppies if they are held infront of him. I also have a smaller one (that stays in the live rocks) as well as a tiny one the size of a BB which i can only find about once a month. The emerald crabs i have all seem to like prime reef flakes as well as purple seaweed (Porphyra umbilicalis).

[chufa]

Last week my emerald crab died. It was probably around a year old. How long do these things live anyway? His death was sort of funny. I saw him apparently grabbing hold of a bumblebee snail. I thought "oh no, the crab's got my snail!" and that it was eating it, when in fact, it was the opposite thing happening. The crab was dead and the bumblebee was scavenging it. later, hermits joined in and there wasn't much left in a few hours later.

 

I will not get a replacement, since it chomped on my xenia and sometimes attacked my green clown goby. Plus, it was hiding out of sight most of the time.

[SeaMountain]

I awoke to find my Emerlad Crab dead on Sunday morning. It was laying upside down among some macros. So I netted it out and attributed it to the strange set of circumstances surrounding the 'Jerk Comment Thread'.

 

The crab was fully intact with all legs and claws. And looked like nothing was wrong with it. Into the trash it went.

 

A few hours later I noticed an Emeral Crab on my LR! Hey?! I only had ONE EC! It was a MOLT!

 

Sure enough I re-examined the shell and for the life of me could not see where it was split or had an opening. But it was a molt. My EC was still here. It had avoided the JCT Curse.

 

Later though... MY damsel expired mysteriously. An obvious victim of the JCT Curse.

 

Beware chufa. The Curse DOES exist. It does.

[chufa]

I am positive mine was the real thing and not a molt. Whenever one of my crustaceans molt, their exoskeleton is completely ignored by cleanup critters, except bristleworms. However, this time there was a crab party among the cleanup crew, whith hermits, bumblebee snails, fish, and shrimp all fighting for it. I saw hermits tear little pieces of flesh.