Emerald crab thoughts

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

Thought it may be a cool addition to the reef....

 

Is it safe for the following?

 

Cleaner shrimp

Peppermint shrimp

2 clowns

Nem

Various SPS mainly acros (concern for damage)?

Fun to watch? If I see him lol

 

Just asking before grabbing one

[LIB-TECH]

I had one for about 2 months, in that time I probably saw him 3 times. Haha.

 

He was fun to watch though, just make sure you have everthing glued down pretty good. I never saw any damage to SPS and other corals.

[1fishmonger]

IMO - Not that fun to watch. Mine stayed hidden a lot of the time and really only came out at night They didn't bother my SPS but did clean off patches of LPS (I think favia) rather quickly.

[Flying Bones]

Seems like a silly risk for a rock dweller. But if you can afford the risk go for it. I would.

[Trick]

stay with the smaller clawed ones. Don't get the big ones.

[19jeffro83]

I have one in my 50. I like him. He's out every so often and munches on nuisance algae. I think they can be beneficial and are an ok addition as far as entertainment value.

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

Maybe A 14 is t a big enough stomping ground

[ry05coupe]

theyre climbin in your reef tank snatchin yo livestock up, so you better hide yo coral, hide yo fish.

[syngnathus]

I have a male and a female in my 17g. They come out every so often and the female spawns almost every month which my corals love. As far a damage goes, i havent had any. The male is a bull dozer so as mention, secure any frags. They are awesome algae eaters. I would get them again.

[boscoT]

Been fighting bubble algae. Hard to reach places. Added one to each biocube and they are eating it like crazy. I read a lot that they are hit and miss for eating bubble algae. I watched for the smaller active ones and picked them. Both work hard but I rarely see them just their results. Once and a while I see a little claw working away. But at night they are our in full effect.

 

I'm happy with the purchase they were a good addition to my two biocube 14s.

[wartskin]

I have one in my 50. I like him. He's out every so often and munches on nuisance algae. I think they can be beneficial and are an ok addition as far as entertainment value.

 

 

Been fighting bubble algae. Hard to reach places. Added one to each biocube and they are eating it like crazy. I read a lot that they are hit and miss for eating bubble algae. I watched for the smaller active ones and picked them. Both work hard but I rarely see them just their results. Once and a while I see a little claw working away. But at night they are our in full effect.

 

I'm happy with the purchase they were a good addition to my two biocube 14s.

 

+1 Add em and observe

[AaronHartwell]

I have two in my Solana. They were shy at first but are frequently out now when the lights are on. I had a problem with bubble algae on my rocks and they've almost entirely eradicated it. The only place bubble algae is growing now is on the back wall where they can't reach.

 

In the three months they've been in my tank they haven't bothered any of my snails, hermits, fish or corals.

 

Aaron

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

Cool, I'll look into maybe grabbing one up

[kevlow]

One page back there is a thread on "will emeralds kill fish". Alot of different experiences. I personally will not have them . Two emeralds that I have had loved to eat fish and corals. I do not know if some emeralds are more aggressive then others or if factors in the tank determine thier behavior. It was difficult to get them out.

[Bennyraw]

I have a pair in my 24g, they are good cleaners but they do bother my polyps and pick at soft corals. If they were easier to catch I'd probably get rid of them.

[pismo_reefer]

If you keep them fed, they're fine.....

 

Just like everything else, they pick at things when they get hungry.

[wyattroa]

If you keep them fed, they're fine.....

 

Just like everything else, they pick at things when they get hungry.

I had a couple pieces of bubble algae. It was in a location where I would not be able to got to it. I got two emerald crabs and the things took out the algae right away.. Now, I am having issues with one of the crabs. I have a beautiful bright orange stripped with some green australian scolymia brain that the emerald is always at and bothering..He will be gone the next time I go to the fish store.

Robert

[ParanoidObseshun]

I have a small female emerald in my 5.5g and she is usually out all the time. I picked the smallest one that the store had. She has now rid the tank of all the nuisance algae I had in there, bryopsis, red bubble. Whenever I put a new coral in the tank and there is some algae on it she will be over to it in no time and have that thing spotless before you know it.

 

I feed her pellets on occassion when I feed my corals just to keep her occupied in the back corner of the tank (so my corals can actually eat their food lol)

 

Every night she goes back to the same spot on the rock and most of the time doesnt move till the lights come back on.

 

Great addition to the tank and she does a heck of a lot better than me trying to remove the rock and scrubbing the algae off

[nickLP]

Just picked one up from my LFS yesterday LOL! havent seen him since x)

[Adam_T]

Pretty fun to watch during feeding times....but if you are REALLY wanting one, make sure you get a SMALL one. I had 2 small and 2 large in my 20 gallon long, all which I fed every day.....and they ate 2 skunk cleaner shrimp and 1 fire shrimp.

 

Hell...I've had a few good sized hermit crabs eat my damn peppermint shrimp. I HATE crabs. I through them all in my sump yesterday.

 

Not worth it IMO. I have a few spots of bubble algae coming up in my Elos Mini right now, and I'm going to be throwing in a SMALL emerald crab to demolish it, and once it is gone....so is he. Haha.

[jkaese]

Pretty fun to watch during feeding times....but if you are REALLY wanting one, make sure you get a SMALL one. I had 2 small and 2 large in my 20 gallon long, all which I fed every day.....and they ate 2 skunk cleaner shrimp and 1 fire shrimp.

 

Hell...I've had a few good sized hermit crabs eat my damn peppermint shrimp. I HATE crabs. I through them all in my sump yesterday.

 

Not worth it IMO. I have a few spots of bubble algae coming up in my Elos Mini right now, and I'm going to be throwing in a SMALL emerald crab to demolish it, and once it is gone....so is he. Haha.

Mine is out all the time there pretty cool eat a lot of crap too, Ive had mine for about 5 months now, only have one I had 2 and I think they duked it out

[LeslieAnn]

Some animals do not have to be hungry, some will feed just because it's there.

It's like sticking a cracker in front of someone while they are working, at some point they will eat it, hungry or not.

 

I caught my emerald red handed eating my Xenia like a cotton candy. He picked it up by the stalk, rubble rock still attached, and was stuffing face. There was plenty to eat, even things he should have preferred.

[boscoT]

I changed my mind. Emeralds are now out of the tank. My shrimp was taken out and I found that little SOB going to town. Looks like it was in midst of a molt and my emerald took advantage.

 

Although they do work hard I think for me the risk doesn't outweigh having one.

[SouthFlorida_Tron]

for me, considering the prescious contents of the reef, i wont take the chance....i already find plenty of blue legged's on my acros cleaning or munching... not sure, dont want to know what may or may not happen lol, i have enough stress hahahahaha

[Flying Bones]

Sounds like a smart call.