I may have a monster on my hands...

[Atela]

A crab that big needs to eat SOMETHING, and it can't be living off the scraps that are left behind by everything else. That's why I think this is a prank.

I concur to a certain degree. My snails and hermits were my only source of meaty foods in my tank for my emerald to thrive on. My population is now down to maybe 2 snails and 1 hermit crab. So OP, if your CUC crew seems to be dwindling down, then it is quite possible for there to be a good sized stone crab in there. I asked a friend of mine who has quite a salt water background, about your mystery crab. He said that it IS definitely possible to have a stone crab hide in your tank, and go unnoticed for the amount of time that your inhabitant has been hiding. He said they are extremely fast, and could have moved stealthily while your were rearranging your rocks.

[Acielot]

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.

Same here until he ate my stonefish then he got the boot.

 

catch it, im ready to see some photos. i bet it lives inside a rock with a decent size hole in it.

+1 as stated above I had one and it was amazing how well it could hide. It was 2 inches across and could slip into holes the size of a dime. It also would chip away softer peices of the rock to make a deeper tunnel.

 

I am telling the truth. I know no one believes me for some reason...but I am. The only thing I can think of is that this just happened to get dislodged from the rock the other day, and there is no crab. Based on the info and pics, can someone verify the likeliness of this? Or maybe I just have the most reclusive, well-mannered stone crab in the world in my tank.

-1 stonecrabs are terrible horrible beast when not steamed and served with buttersauce.

 

I am thinking that there most likely is not a crab in your tank now because you should at least had seen hints of it's pressence in all this time. There is a shell/molt but those last for a few months if they aren't disturbed so the theory that it dislodged from the rock seems feasible.

 

It seems that people are overestimating the size of its body though. Based on the thumb comparison and size given of the claws(1.5in) this crab is 4in max and in a tank of your size finding food would not be too difficult. It could gorge themselves on food once and then sift through sand for extra little bits and pieces then last for quite a while.

[Derbird]

I don't think a crab would have to be six inches across to have claws that big. A good size male emerald can have claws almost that large and is two inches across. Still big but not a monster from the deep.

 

Look over your rock very carefully. A crab can hide in a suprizingly small creves or hole. Last time I fragged a colony of zoa's I had the rock out of the tank on a towel for about five minutes when all the sudden my female emerald came scurring out of the rock. At first glace the rock seemed smooth. But it had a few crevies that I would have never guessed she would fit in.

 

Come to think of it why not take your rock out for a few minutes and see what comes out to say hello

 

Good luck with the hunt

[Kfmmartin19]

I don't think a crab would have to be six inches across to have claws that big. A good size male emerald can have claws almost that large and is two inches across. Still big but not a monster from the deep.

 

Look over your rock very carefully. A crab can hide in a suprizingly small creves or hole. Last time I fragged a colony of zoa's I had the rock out of the tank on a towel for about five minutes when all the sudden my female emerald came scurring out of the rock. At first glace the rock seemed smooth. But it had a few crevies that I would have never guessed she would fit in.

 

Come to think of it why not take your rock out for a few minutes and see what comes out to say hello

 

Good luck with the hunt

I would love to take the rocks out...shoulda done that earlier. But just got an aquascape done that I love two days ago, so...not worth destroying that.

 

Could I lure this thing out with something other than silversides? I have flake food and some frozen cubes of mysis, brine, etc. Not sure if the cube would work tho...probably just melt and get everywhere. I have an angelfish formula cube that has lots of sponge so it stays together after melting...would this attract it or probably not? I also have algae sheets with garlic. I know someone suggested grocer shrimp; dont have any of that either! Something else I might have in the fridge or pantry? Thanks guys.

[jedimasterben]

I would love to take the rocks out...shoulda done that earlier. But just got an aquascape done that I love two days ago, so...not worth destroying that.

And this thread was created five days ago. Troll.

[bringman]

I see this thread lasting till the first day of April. Just calling it how I see it.

[albertthiel]

And this thread was created five days ago. Troll.

 

Yes and we still have not seen a picture of that Crabzilla beast !

 

And based on what we saw it is one for sure :

 

 

 

I think Red Lobster serves them as an appetizer

[matty0206]

When a crab molts it also sheds it's carapace. Did you find that?

 

I think either someone put those in the tank or they were in the rock before you acquired it.

[beyondtheblue]

And this thread was created five days ago. Troll.

I agree....if his name is any indication of his age, he is a 16 year old thinking this is all cute and whatnot. His comments about being scared etc. lead me to believe this is the case.

[Rollermonkey]

Well then, let me be the first:

 

IBTL

[Kfmmartin19]

I don't get what I have done to become a troll...I was just joking about being scared...it was a joke. Get it? Haha funny. I made this tread just to see what you guys thought this might be. I appreciate the ppl who are giving me information. It would be nice if the troll thing could stop. It was funny at first, now it's not. Idk what u ppl want me to do. I found these claws, thought they were cool and I would share them with u guys. I seriously doubt there is a live crab in there since I have seen no trace in over a year, probably just the molt finally coming loose from the rock. I am really busy right now and I just don't currently have the time to spend hours attempting to catch a crab that may or may not exist, and has done no harm that I've noticed. When my schedule frees up, I will certainly try to lure it out, just to make sure there isn't one in there.

 

To answer someone who asked about me losing CUC. In the 14 months I've had the tank, the only losses I've noticed we're 1 Nerite and 2 nassarius snails. I am assumin that that is probably just due to short life span, etc?

 

Keep callin me a troll if u want to, but it's getting kinda old to me.

 

And this thread was created five days ago. Troll.

I don't get it...why does this make me a troll?

[Rollermonkey]

You created the thread 5 days ago after you 'spotted the monster'.

 

Then you just said that you rescaped 2 days ago.

 

You can't keep your story straight.

 

What are you doing a few days before school starts that is keeping you so busy?

[Kfmmartin19]

You created the thread 5 days ago after you 'spotted the monster'.

 

Then you just said that you rescaped 2 days ago.

 

You can't keep your story straight.

 

What are you doing a few days before school starts that is keeping you so busy?

Go check ur facts. I started the thread 5 days ago, not when I saw the monster, but the claws. I HAVE NEVER SEEN OR CLAIMED TO HAVE SEEN THE CRAB. Then yes, I re-scaped two days ago. What's ur point? I still don't get it.

 

And school has already started for me. That + baseball is what's keeping me busy (which I already mentioned).

 

I still don't get how I'm not keeping my story straight.

[Rollermonkey]

IBTL.

 

Make a new thread if/when you catch this thing mmmK?

[Deleted User 3]

He said he wanted to rescape in the past pages, and was going to look for the monster and get the claws out. He's not 'trolling' or whatever this is all about.

[Kfmmartin19]

He said he wanted to rescape in the past pages, and was going to look for the monster and get the claws out. He's not 'trolling' or whatever this is all about.

Thank you. Yeah, I don't get what I did. Tang police? Try troll-insanity police. U ppl are out of control.

 

IBTL.

 

Make a new thread if/when you catch this thing mmmK?

Actually, if I catch it, I'll just post it here. There is literally 0 reason for this thread to be closed. The mods aren't dumb. If u actually take the time to read through the thread and listen to what I say, I don't know why u guys think I'm a troll.

[Deleted User 3]

You people? I was defending you ... :S

[Kfmmartin19]

You people? I was defending you ... :S

Not you! I was talking about the other hooligans. You made the first intelligent comment on this thread in about the last page and a half.

[bringman]

I really want to catch it! But I am so busy now...I spend all my time doing crap for school or practicing baseball. It took me literally 2 days to find 10 minutes to post these pics! Maybe sometime on a slow weekend I can try.

 

I am so busy I can post every few minutes but I cant pull my rock out to check to see if anything is in my tank.

Take a pic of your rocks, you can put them back in place.

 

It could be a ghost crab, but they are more terrestrial then aquatic.

[matty0206]

Op, don't take this thread in the direction they are leading you.

 

At this point you have two choices, tear the rock apart and find the crab or let it go. You don't seem to be having any ill affects if it is living in your tank so does it really matter?

 

On a side note. I don't understand why people on here feel like the 2 minutes it took for them to respond to a thread means they are so invested in the issue they have to fight about it. I guess the web really is serious business

[Kfmmartin19]

I am so busy I can post every few minutes but I cant pull my rock out to check to see if anything is in my tank.

Take a pic of your rocks, you can put them back in place.

 

It could be a ghost crab, but they are more terrestrial then aquatic.

Taking out my phone and posting a few sentences is a bit less time consuming than removing every rock in my tank in search for an elusive crab, and then putting the rock back in exactly as it was.

[Kfmmartin19]

Op, don't take this thread in the direction they are leading you.

 

At this point you have two choices, tear the rock apart and find the crab or let it go. You don't seem to be having any ill affects if it is living in your tank so does it really matter?

 

On a side note. I don't understand why people on here feel like the 2 minutes it took for them to respond to a thread means they are so invested in the issue they have to fight about it. I guess the web really is serious business

My thoughts exactly...on everything you said. I have evidence for there being a crab. If there is one, it has done no notable damage. Because of this, my busy schedule, and the fact that I don't want to destroy my aquascape, I see no need to take out and inspect every rock. Apparently this makes me a troll.

 

Btw, when I do get some time, I will probably try to lure it out with food as some have suggested, just to see if maybe there is something in there.

[pufferboy]

The funny thing to me is that a bunch of adults are treating a 16 year old student, trying to find a crab, with disrespect. Do I think his story seems a little odd....sure. If I had a giant like that in my tank, I would stay up for 24 hours to find it, just for curiosities sake. But, really.....40 year olds calling names. People get a life, come on.

 

Dude, crab probably is not there. You would most likely have found other shell parts when you redid your scape. But, have fun trying....if nothing else, this has been like a movie that ended on a cliff hanger.

[Kfmmartin19]

The funny thing to me is that a bunch of adults are treating a 16 year old student, trying to find a crab, with disrespect. Do I think his story seems a little odd....sure. If I had a giant like that in my tank, I would stay up for 24 hours to find it, just for curiosities sake. But, really.....40 year olds calling names. People get a life, come on.

 

Dude, crab probably is not there. You would most likely have found other shell parts when you redid your scape. But, have fun trying....if nothing else, this has been like a movie that ended on a cliff hanger.

Thank you. Believe me, if it was still summer and I had the time, I would probably stay up all night trying to lure it out. But with such a busy schedule, plus the fact that it just seems so unlikely that it is there, I don't want to waste that much time, you know what I'm saying? Im sure that one day when I'm really bored and have nothin else to do, if I think about it, I will probably go on a crab hunt. Until then, I really see no reason to go after it. This does not make me a troll.

[Derbird]

No need to go buy a special food to do this. Next time you have a shrimp dinner save one out (raw) and use it as a lure.

 

Besides the worst day fishing is better than a good day working

 

Since you have not noticed anything missing no hurry. If its still there it must eat algea or detritus. Might just be a good member of you CUC.