ASAP-Reef Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have had a medium sized Emerald Crab in my 30-gallon tank for about 4 weeks now. I think he is such a cool creature and a very good scavenger, but I was ready to add my first corals, so we drove an hour away to a huge fish store and picked up a coral beauty angel (very pretty--love her) and a frag pack of 3 kinds of Zoas and a small frag of some green star polyps. As of now, only one kind of Zoanthid and the green star polyps are still on the plug. The emerald has picked the zoas off the plug and dropped them in the tank. I am very disappointed about this. My questions are what should I do about this? Is it safe to have the crab in the tank, and do these crabs usually do this? -Before I bought this crab I called the fish store that I bought the corals from and they said they were completely reef safe. -Thanks for the help!!! Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I've never heard of emerald crabs doing this, but maybe? Can you glue them back on? Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 If they're hungry they'll eat whatever is available Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 First off it seems the most over used term in reefing is "reef safe" almost nothing is reef safe in my option. now to add to that emerald crabs generally either will pick at coral or the algae between them thus causing them to come unglued from the frag plug. I had them a hand full of times and got so annoying i always take them out, once they get bigger they like to attack you're snails and a few people have had them catch their fish. They are cool guys but i'm not a fan of them. my personal build has no crabs at all. just snails. Link to comment
Rollermonkey Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 That's what happens when you try to go ULN. Hungry crabs. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I've never heard of emerald crabs doing this, but maybe? Can you glue them back on? Going along w/ this here, he probably took them off the frag plug cleaner than I could so yeah, glue 'em back on and put your emerald in a fuge if you have one & let him clean up there instead. Link to comment
tigrtraps Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have had a medium sized Emerald Crab in my 30-gallon tank for about 4 weeks now. I think he is such a cool creature and a very good scavenger, but I was ready to add my first corals, so we drove an hour away to a huge fish store and picked up a coral beauty angel (very pretty--love her) and a frag pack of 3 kinds of Zoas and a small frag of some green star polyps. As of now, only one kind of Zoanthid and the green star polyps are still on the plug. The emerald has picked the zoas off the plug and dropped them in the tank. I am very disappointed about this. My questions are what should I do about this? Is it safe to have the crab in the tank, and do these crabs usually do this? -Before I bought this crab I called the fish store that I bought the corals from and they said they were completely reef safe. -Thanks for the help!!! Can the Coral Beauty Angel be blamed at all? Or was the crab caught red (emerald? hoho! bad joke of the night) handed? Link to comment
blown 346 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I agree about the crab. I hate the things. They will eat whatever they can, when they get bigger the ones I have had get more aggressive. I got rid of mine after they started taking out my smaller fish and inverts. Link to comment
Maniu Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 If they're hungry they'll eat whatever is available They will pick on your zoas and gsp.Not in my tank but I have seen it before. Actually I saw one munching on gsp earlier today as it was all you can eat buffet. Without supplemental diet, your corals might get picked on. Link to comment
keithfullermusic Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have two emeralds and a strawberry in my nuvo 16, and I haven't had any issues. The emerald was probably cleaning off algae, and pulled a little hard. I see mine pick things off corals all the time, but they have never actually eaten then. Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I have two emeralds and a strawberry in my nuvo 16, and I haven't had any issues. The emerald was probably cleaning off algae, and pulled a little hard. I see mine pick things off corals all the time, but they have never actually eaten then. lol some how i knew you would reply to this saying pretty much exactly that. Link to comment
keithfullermusic Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 lol some how i knew you would reply to this saying pretty much exactly that. I know that crabs seem to be the luck of the draw, but slightly overfeeding helps. Link to comment
Dark_ice Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I know that crabs seem to be the luck of the draw, but slightly overfeeding helps. I think you just got a amazing set of emeralds. Link to comment
HVani Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Poor crabs get such a bad rap If they are fed enough they are not a problem. I've had a lot of my emerald crabs through the years and not a single one has bother a coral or fish. They might pick in between polyps of walk over a zoa but have not eaten or destroyed them. Link to comment
BluCrab Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 That Coral Beauty and the emerald crab could both be doing a # on the zoas. I've had that happen before with both but the coral beauty actually will eat them vs the crab just pick the polyps apart. Link to comment
ASAP-Reef Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 I know that the crab is the one that pulled the zoas off the plug. The angel is being very good thus far, just grazing on the rocks. I have seen the crab pull on the zoas shredding some as he picked at them. He is definitely the culprit. I do not have another place for him right now. From your responses, it sounds like these guys can be pests. Thanks for the help!!! -If I add a torch coral, do you think he would leave it alone, I am planning on adding one soon. Thanks again!!! Link to comment
Chrisl1976 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Yes, they will pick Zoa's off. I had a colony of Zoa's I cut and glues to a number of frag pieces and placed them around the scape. That little bastard went around and pulled every one off the frag pieces. Maybe he liked the taste of superglue.....got me. Here comes the really odd part. He never touched the main colony, just the new fragged pieces. It was really sad since they really do a good job of picking the scape pretty clean. Talk to your LFS and see if they will exchange him out for another one. Link to comment
masterbuilder Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I had several emeralds over the years and eventually everyone I had pulled or tried to pull softies apart. The females seem less prone but still cant be trusted and all became destructive when they got larger. I had them to pick away at some bubble algae for which they did a good job. But I see no benefit in having them for any other reason. If it were me...return or give them to your LFS. Link to comment
keithfullermusic Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I had several emeralds over the years and eventually everyone I had pulled or tried to pull softies apart. The females seem less prone but still cant be trusted and all became destructive when they got larger. I had them to pick away at some bubble algae for which they did a good job. But I see no benefit in having them for any other reason. If it were me...return or give them to your LFS. i can think of at least one reason - crabs look awesome! Link to comment
DC5 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I added an emerald crab to my tank awhile back, and he would just go about his business until I added a couple of frag plugs that I stuck in between some rock work. He would climb up, knock them both down, and shuffle away. We played this game for a few days, and finally I had to embed the plugs on the sand bed and leave his rocks alone. Funny thing is, I had a wrasse that would act the same way. Literally anything I put into the tank, he would attack/eat/knock over anything new. Link to comment
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