Crys Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Hi, I have an emerald crab with a strange white bulge coming out of its side. I have had this crab for at least 6 months and it has never molted. I have trouble with inverts molting. My guess is he is molting in a very bad way. He is still eating and moving around like nothing is wrong. (he is not eating the zoas just cleaning out the algae between the polyps.He is very good at this) If anyone has an idea about what is going on, please let me know. The picture isn't great but hopefully you can see the problem. Thanks, Crystal Quote Link to comment
Crys Posted October 23, 2020 Author Share Posted October 23, 2020 Has anyone seen this before? He still acts normal chowing down on algae, but looks a tad ugly. Quote Link to comment
sadie Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 Have you poked it? It is soft or hard? I've never seen my crabs molt, I'm sure they do, I just haven't seen it, or seen any evidence of it. Not like with my Candy Cane shrimp. I guess I never really thought about it. I have seen my hermit crabs move into bigger shells. that's funny! They try them on like a pair of pants. 😄 Quote Link to comment
Murphs_Reef Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 Not sure but that dude is covered in algae Quote Link to comment
Hazy Posted October 24, 2020 Share Posted October 24, 2020 My emerald crabs always put algae on them self’s for later. Then they pick it off and eat it whenever they feel like it 😂 Quote Link to comment
Justind823 Posted October 25, 2020 Share Posted October 25, 2020 Looks like a sponge to me Especially if it's been on there for sometime and hasn't molted I wouldn't worry about it if the crab is acting normal -- I'd say your crab is just into sponge fashion Quote Link to comment
Crys Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 Yes he is covered in hair algae. I had a gha problem a while back and it grew on the snails and the emerald crab. I just figured it would be gone once he molted but he never has. I have pulled the gha off him in the past. He has always been an odd little fellow. Since he is into fashion, why not add a sponge to the outfit. Pineapple sponges come and go in my tank, but it doesn't have the pineapple top. I don't know what others look like. It has been on it for about 2 months now and it is slowly getting larger. Do you think I should try and pull it off? He acts completely normal otherwise. Quote Link to comment
Crys Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 Everything has stopped molting in my tank. Quote Link to comment
sadie Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 what's your calcium level? I think I read something about snails and crabs needing calcium to molt. Not sure though, maybe someone else will chime in. Quote Link to comment
Crys Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Update on white bulge on emerald crab. It turns out the white growth was a sponge. It was soft and not part of the shell. This is the strangest little crab. It has never molted has long hair algae that I occasionally remove, he even had coralline growing on his shell. I had him for over 7 months maybe longer. Well you can never say this hobby is boring. Quote Link to comment
Craig. Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Great guess by Justind823 🙂 Quote Link to comment
Crys Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 It was indeed. Quote Link to comment
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