Small Hairy Crab - Reef Safe?

[Rince]

I have yet to get a decent picture of this little guy but he lives in a hole in my life rock and only if I move very slowly can I see his claw coming out to nibble on the rock. This is the best picture of him that I have got so far.

 

He appears to have very small hairs on him and no idea where he came from.

 

Tank is about 3-4 months old now.

 

Sorry for the pic quality but it was taken on my camera phone. Maybe someone can ID him from the stripy legs?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

[mg0465a]

ive been thru this as i found A LOT of hitchhiking crabs in my tank and i made NUMEROUS posts about them..... basically, heres the responses ive got--

 

1- rule of thumb, if its hairy and has claws then it IS NOT reef safe (hairy+claws=gorilla crab)

2- many people live by the saying "innocent until proven guilty", meaning that as long as it hasnt killed anything then just leave it alone...

 

if you want to start trapping it, i would suggest 2 ways of doing so

1- put a little food in a shot glass and lean the shotglass on an angel up against the rock where the crab is often noticed

or

2- build a bottle trap... if you search on this website "bottle trap" you will get a lot of info about how to build them (they are easy to build)

 

if you decide to use either of these options, just be sure to put the traps into the tank right before the tank lights go off and leave the traps in the tank overnight....

 

goodluck..

[montipora]

No matter what anyone says, every single crab is going to be an opportunistic feeder/hunter. They will eat what they can catch. Even emeralds who are supposed to be algae eaters have gone after fish from what I have read. I would get it out if you have any sand dwelling gobies or purchers.

[Rince]

OK thanks guys - I might see if I can get him out then but its at a really weird angle - I may have to get inventive! hehe

[montipora]

OK thanks guys - I might see if I can get him out then but its at a really weird angle - I may have to get inventive! hehe

 

A Glass cup with some food in it. Try and angle it towards the rock so it can climb in it but not get out.

[Rince]

Ill give that a go - bet the shrimp will have a field day trying to get to it - greedy little bugger hehe!

[Kingah]

I have an unknown crab in my tank that I can't catch. I've set a bottle trap AND left raw haddock lying on the sand bed, for 2 nights nothing has happened, the food hasn't been touched nor has the crab been caught. I'm flipping out.

[skimmerdude]

I have an unknown crab in my tank that I can't catch. I've set a bottle trap AND left raw haddock lying on the sand bed, for 2 nights nothing has happened, the food hasn't been touched nor has the crab been caught. I'm flipping out.

 

Try taking the rock out of the water and jamming a chop stick or a pen or some thing like that into the hole until you hear a crunch. I killed a lot of crabs that way.

[Jacobnano]

Crabs should never be in the same sentence as hair. JMO....

[Kazooie]

You worried we might find out your secret?

[skimmerdude]

You worried we might find out your secret?

 

I was just at my LFS, it has been going downhill lately, and in addition to a few fish near death gasping for breath at the bottom of their 5" cubes of death they had an interesting item for sale.

 

It was a gorilla crab, listed as a "hairy tedy bear crab" selling for $38.

 

Am I missing something? OR is this a rip off.