emerald crab reef safe?

[johnmaloney]

I had one back in the day. He was pretty well behaved and entertaining to watch. Took care of the bubble algae problem too.

 

Does anyone know if emerald crabs will eat this type of algae?

 

by the way i was replying to this post.

[showjyr]

I have two big ones in my 29g that was taken over by bubble when I was gone fro 2 months. In about a month they have taken car of about half, so not bad. These two are the 5 and 6 ones I have had including one in my 14g BC. None of mine have ever bothered corals aside from a stray nip here and there.....trying to find algae. They are however idiots.....I have a 16" tall 22" wide arch in my tank and they like to throw frags from the top.

[funnygirl]

Er had one for a day. He walked around, went up to a star polyp, clipped one off with his pincer, looked like he tasted it, then threw it away. We took him back to the lfs right away. Cutie pie though.

[Rocket]

Mine keeps flipping my bubble coral. Had to anchor it down. They eat algae like crazy. Good all around cleaner. Way better than hermit crabs. Can't wait for mine to go.

[FishOnTheBrainCoral]

mine eats my coraline other then that it does a great job! it has repositioned a couple of zoas but didt eat them. there was a lot of bubble aglae between them in its defence

[steveangela1]

I ended up w/ the "jerk" of an emerald crab, it picked my zo's down to a few polyps on one rock overnight. Needless to say the emerald crab found a new home.

I would love to try another to see if I get the model citizen though.

[Ignatius14]

I have had a couple over the past 2 years and neither of the two bothered my corals...other than stealing mysis from my sun polyps. They will knock stuff over if the object is not too big or if it's not attached though...I would recommend gluing down anything that you don't want to constantly "fix". Mine were algae bulldosers though, they ate every bit of hair algae they could find and some bubble too; but I've never had a big problem with bubble algae anyway (knock on wood). Mine did eat coralline, but if you have good coverage it shouldn't matter. They are awesome little crabs if you know what to expect...each has it's own personality. One would come out during the day and walk around eating and the other was really nocturnal and shy.

 

R.I.P Rocky & Bullwinkle .

[Lmecher]

I have several, the larger ones kill and eat hermits, snails, anything they can grab. I'd only add very small ones and get rid of them when they get bigger.

[jamesnmandy]

I've heard people say that their emeralds ate this or that, I think most likely the critter was dying when the emerald got it. I've had 3 and never a problem.

 

 

truth spoken, they will take any opportunity like any other sea creature that is a bottom feeder like hermits and snails and sea stars and will eat anything they can get their hands on

 

that being said, they cant really get their hands on healthy normal fish unless the fish were to sit still and let the crab maul him....in which case he is not a normal healthy fish to begin with

 

if a coral is stressed and not healthy, an emerald might make it dinner, because chances are it would die anyways, it's the cycle of life man, they are bottom feeders, scavengers, they eat anything they can....

 

same with the nass snail horror stories....they do not have the speed or agility to catch a normal healthy fish or crab....they are again...bottom feeders, opportunists, that will smell out death before it comes and will attack a weak or sick fish or crab at the first moment the animal is too weak to swim away or fight...but again, the animal was too weak or sick to get away...which means it was not a normal healthy fish or crab....

 

that being said i have always kept at least one emerald in my system, mine have always eaten bubble algae, you just have to give them time, months maybe

[makonut]

They are crabs and like all crabs are opportunistic feeders. I just pulled mine from my tank because, while it did eat algae, it also attacked and ate my cleaner shrimp, started moving corals, and rocks. In a large tank these type of crabs might be better, but in a small tank there is not enough space for other animals to avoid the crab.

 

I would say if your really wanting one be aware aware that it could go from Dr. Jeckyll to Mr. Hyde.

[javisaman]

I bought one a month ago. It molted recently, and is now HUGE. I had no idea they could grow so large so quickly. I'm getting increasingly worried as I see it because it could easily take one of my sleeping clownfish, cleaner shrimp, dwarf ceriths, or corals. It doesn't seem too difficult to catch though; a little seaweed in a breeder net goes a far way. For the month I've had it has been a model citizen, but then again I did feed it weekly with seaweed and occasional mysis (I hope it doesn't have a taste for meat now!).

[senoroms]

i have a 50 AIO tank and i have a lot of GHA and some bubble algae growing in the back chambers. would it be safe to keep an emerald crab back there? The main chamber is designated for chaeto and pods.

[WickedBear]

No problem from Citizen Snips so far ;o

[coachfraley]

i have a 50 AIO tank and i have a lot of GHA and some bubble algae growing in the back chambers. would it be safe to keep an emerald crab back there? The main chamber is designated for chaeto and pods.

 

I had the same question. I just bought one to get rid of a little bubble algae. He cleared it up in about a week, so now I am thinking about throwing him in my fuge until he is needed again

[Psychosis]

Ah you shouldn't have to ban the little fellah to a fuge, unless you're really worried about it. I've only ever seen mine doing beneficial things. Plus, it gets up on its back legs and begs for Nori. By far one of my favorite little critters. I call it king because it knocks hermits around, which reminds me of some old wresteling movie. But, like I said, if you're worried about it, no biggie.

[Twizted Bizkit]

I absolutely love my two emeralds. One is waaay bigger than the other and is quite good at knocking over frags, rocks, etc up to a nice size. I used to have a video on my phone of him using one claw to hold and stop one of my hydor wavemakers while using the other to pluck algae from it. The only time I've seen it do direct damage to a coral was one night when he has cleaning a zoa rock and kept knicking polyps. It was kinda pretty, the fluorescing green algae floating away into the current.

 

I'm not sure how common this is, but mine spawn about once every month-month and a half. The bigger crab seems to be the male, because the little one climbs up as high as it can go under a moonlight, then starts shaking and releasing a few hundred tiny larvae. No idea how many of them survive, if any, since my fish are usually more than happy to devour them all night. Still a pretty awesome thing to watch right before bed some nights, though.

[SeeDemTails]

They are almost always safe out of the hundreds I have sold, I have never had a customer tell me they had a "bad" one. Mine lives in a pocillopora colony during the day,

[winterparkmg]

I order a pair from MarineDepotLive when it still existed. Asked for mediums and got a pair of BRUISERS. Gave one to JDavis28 to share some of the love. I had probably 10-15 medium sized bubbles in the tank before I got him. None after. He died in a cold, dark corner one sad and lonely night. No one to hold his poor little claw for comfort. Not even a nice glass of whiskey to make him feel better.

 

Two weeks later, I have a LR moving party to the new tank and find four little bubble algae pods on the underside!!! I'm getting a new pair ASAP!

 

~William