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I may have a monster on my hands...


Kfmmartin19

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Wow that must be a huge crab...Im surprised youve never found any of its previous molts. Well i hope you can catch him and maybe give him a home in a larger fish only tank.

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jedimasterben
Personally if I were in your shoes I wouldn't kill the poor guy. I would definitely try to catch him, but going unnoticed in your tank for so long and NOT harming anything is sort of cool. I know you don't have a sump or anything you can throw him in in the biocube, but I would try to find him an actual home. Imagine if you were in his place, pulled out of your ocean home and thrown into a box where the big monsters outside want you dead no matter what even if you haven't done anything wrong? haha I just feel bad for him..its like racisim xD

 

I recently read a thread where a guy was starting up a "pest" tank like you described. Lemme search.

 

***Edit:: Found it! This guy made a pest tank for all kinds of mojanos and macro that we have a hard time getting rid of. He also has a mantis in there, but from what I've seen his little guy is eating tiny hermits and cerith snails. I'm not sure what species it is, but it may stay much too small to attack a big ole crab like yours. I used to have enormus turbo snails in with my G. Chigara mantis. He tried to get at em once and gave up because they were too big.

 

Anyways, I would contact him and see if you guys could set something up to save your little crab. His name is Islandoftiki and heres the pest tank thread. Good luck!

His pest tang is 3 gallons. Don't think a crab this large would even fit in it ;)

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Personally if I were in your shoes I wouldn't kill the poor guy. I would definitely try to catch him, but going unnoticed in your tank for so long and NOT harming anything is sort of cool. I know you don't have a sump or anything you can throw him in in the biocube, but I would try to find him an actual home. Imagine if you were in his place, pulled out of your ocean home and thrown into a box where the big monsters outside want you dead no matter what even if you haven't done anything wrong? haha I just feel bad for him..its like racisim xD

 

I recently read a thread where a guy was starting up a "pest" tank like you described. Lemme search.

 

***Edit:: Found it! This guy made a pest tank for all kinds of mojanos and macro that we have a hard time getting rid of. He also has a mantis in there, but from what I've seen his little guy is eating tiny hermits and cerith snails. I'm not sure what species it is, but it may stay much too small to attack a big ole crab like yours. I used to have enormus turbo snails in with my G. Chigara mantis. He tried to get at em once and gave up because they were too big.

 

Anyways, I would contact him and see if you guys could set something up to save your little crab. His name is Islandoftiki and heres the pest tank thread. Good luck!

Well since killing and catching seem to be equally difficult in this situation I see no reason to kill it when someone could have a big, cool crab in their tank. Anyone have any elaborate plans to catch this legendary monster? Keep in mind, apparently he is a good hider.

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Wow that must be a huge crab...Im surprised youve never found any of its previous molts. Well i hope you can catch him and maybe give him a home in a larger fish only tank.

That's what I dont understand. How does one have a crab that's as long as 1/4 of the tank and not notice it for a year? Are there any other logical explanations as to how a massive crab claw molt would appear in my tank today? I have not added any rock since I started this tank a year ago. And for some reason I think I would have noticed if a 5" crab was hangin off the side of a 2" frag before I put it in the tank. It just doesn't seem to add up. If it has been in there for a year, it has never shown itself, done any damage, left a molt somewhere I could see (until today, and all I saw was 2 claws and part of an arm), or been revealed the two times I took out all the rock in my tank , and then put it all back in. Doesn't it seem that with all that happened in the last year I would have noticed a 5" crab living in my tank? Does anyone have any explanation as to what the heck is going on? I thought maybe I was hallucinating but I just went back to the tank an the claws are still there.

 

I have the cops, the FBI, the CIA, and the local SWAT team on speed dial.

 

 

 

His pest tang is 3 gallons. Don't think a crab this large would even fit in it ;)

Well, if it hasn't been seen in a year in a 30 gallon, maybe it would be the star of the show in a 3 gallon! That is, of course, if you can fit him through the lid.

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Probably a stupid thought, but how long does molted shell last? Could it be that the molt was already in the rock when you put it in the tank and it's just worked loose somehow? I have all kinds of old clam shells lodged in my rock.

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I suppose if you're really wanting to get him out at all costs (which I'm sure you are haha) you can fresh water dip all of your live rock. If your corals are still on frag plugs I'd pull them off and sit them on the sandbed while you do it, one at a time, rock by rock. The fresh water wont kill if only exposed to the rock for a short period of time, but it should send all hitch hikers and critters living in it into the bucket, searching for a new place to call home thats a bit more salty. You'll probably find all of your bristle worms and other little guys (what if it has babies AHHH!!), and that way you can pick what you want to put back in your tank and what you want out. If course this should be be an all-day kind of project to do it slowly to not spike your cycle again.

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Probably a stupid thought, but how long does molted shell last? Could it be that the molt was already in the rock when you put it in the tank and it's just worked loose somehow? I have all kinds of old clam shells lodged in my rock.

Good question, hope someone can answer it for us.

However, just doesn't seem like it would still be in good condition after decomposing for at least a year, plus it seems like something a CUC might find desirable.

 

I suppose if you're really wanting to get him out at all costs (which I'm sure you are haha) you can fresh water dip all of your live rock. If your corals are still on frag plugs I'd pull them off and sit them on the sandbed while you do it, one at a time, rock by rock. The fresh water wont kill if only exposed to the rock for a short period of time, but it should send all hitch hikers and critters living in it into the bucket, searching for a new place to call home thats a bit more salty. You'll probably find all of your bristle worms and other little guys (what if it has babies AHHH!!), and that way you can pick what you want to put back in your tank and what you want out. If course this should be be an all-day kind of project to do it slowly to not spike your cycle again.

ehh, I think I'll save this as a last resort. Well, not last, I guess the firecracker would truly be last resort. But seeing as he has done no damage for a year I am not really that desperate to get him out. Any other ideas to catch him that are not as destructive?

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Well they have the bottle trap thing for bad crabs, but I don't think it'll work in your case. The idea is to have the opening of the bottle only fit the crab and keep out your fish, but...yeah haha. Maybe put a little box held up with a stick that has a string attached to it, bait it, wait till he goes under, and pull it? lol

 

 

I guess more realistically speaking, have you ever done a night watch of your tank? Most likely this fella is nocturnal and only comes out at night. I would get a big chunk of food (shrimp from your freezer maybe?), tie it down to a rock, put it front and center in your sandbed when the lights go out, and wait. Be ready with some spare water incase you need a bit of a change from such a large piece of food, though I'm sure your little scavengers will go at it too. I've never done this, its just a thought.

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Well they have the bottle trap thing for bad crabs, but I don't think it'll work in your case. The idea is to have the opening of the bottle only fit the crab and keep out your fish, but...yeah haha. Maybe put a little box held up with a stick that has a string attached to it, bait it, wait till he goes under, and pull it? lol

 

 

I guess more realistically speaking, have you ever done a night watch of your tank? Most likely this fella is nocturnal and only comes out at night. I would get a big chunk of food (shrimp from your freezer maybe?), tie it down to a rock, put it front and center in your sandbed when the lights go out, and wait. Be ready with some spare water incase you need a bit of a change from such a large piece of food, though I'm sure your little scavengers will go at it too. I've never done this, its just a thought.

I have watched my tank at night. Never looking for a giant monster but...think I would remember if I had seen one. Isn't there like some kind of light that the inverts can't see? Maybe I could use that to my advantage.

 

You better get it before it gets any bigger

 

crab-532_1499603a.jpg

Oh God, now I'm gonna have nightmares.

Hey Airport I see u have a mantis tank. Want me to put u on the list of ppl to contact if I ever catch this thing to see if u want it?

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My mantis is still a baby. He won't stand a chance against the beast in your tank lol

Okee dokee. I think mine might be a friendly giant tho. I have never even noticed my snails missing. I wonder what the heck it's eating.

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Looks a lot like a stone crab claw, as mentioned before. I used to (willingly) have one of these in a 10g tank. Easiest way to lure them out is to take a frozen silverside and weight it down under a small piece of rubble or something. Put it in a clearing and wait (mine would come out after about an hour). They literally clamp on so hard you can lift them straight out of the tank by the fish.

 

As far as a red LED, just make one. A piece of red cellophane over a normal flashlight works just fine. For what it's worth, I would blast mine with a 220 lumen LED light at night and it wouldn't flinch.

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Home depot has them

Alright. So is the general consensus that the only way to do this is put some food out, flash a red light at it and hope it comes out? Remember, it's made itself invisible for a year now...

 

Looks a lot like a stone crab claw, as mentioned before. I used to (willingly) have one of these in a 10g tank. Easiest way to lure them out is to take a frozen silverside and weight it down under a small piece of rubble or something. Put it in a clearing and wait (mine would come out after about an hour). They literally clamp on so hard you can lift them straight out of the tank by the fish.

 

As far as a red LED, just make one. A piece of red cellophane over a normal flashlight works just fine. For what it's worth, I would blast mine with a 220 lumen LED light at night and it wouldn't flinch.

U used to have one? Was it a good hider? Good enough that u could imagine a 5" one going unnoticed for a year in a 29 gallon tank? I don't have silversides. Anything else I might have that I can use? Now I'm getting kind of excited to try and catch this bugger.

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well you're not supposed to flash him with the light. The red spectrum doesn't startle them so much so they go about their business.

 

Use a shrimp from the grocer

Ok. I will probably try this. Hopefully it will take the bait! I'll keep u guys updated. Let me kno if u have a different/better idea.

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Gotcha. Where do u suggest I get one of these, Kat?

 

I found them at Electronic stores (Fry's, Micro Center, Brandsmart) and also at Walmart I believe and for anywhere from $4.99 to $9.99 depending on how many LED's it has (and usually it has a number of white ones and a red one in the middle).

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Alright well, I may get the light if I have time. Don't really think I'll need it tho. I have moonlights on the tank so if I put the food at the front there's no way I won't see a 5" crab come and get it! If this does work and I do catch him, can I put him in a breeder net until I find him a home or will this not work? Thanks.

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Do we have any proof yet that it's actually alive? Unlike shrimp molts, thick crab molts really don't decay quickly and most things won't eat them. I can still find pieces from my porcelain crab and it's been dead for quite a while.

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