Official Pom Pom Crab (Lybia Tesselatta) Thread

[noirsphynx]

HI all, I just picked up two of these beauties. They are drip acclimating right now. Should I quarantine them for a while with my Rainford's Goby in a small tank? Did you guys add them to the tank right away? I'm worried that the nems will die off if I quarantine them since the water volume is less and more susceptible to changes in parameters and pollution.

 

What are your guy's past methods for introducing them to a new tank? Also how can I sex them? The girl at the store was closing down and told me to check this thread specifically. Is this discussed anywhere here? Id love to have a male and female but won't mind either way since

 

Female = larger abdomen, found it in the last few posts!

 

They are prob the coolest things in the tank (or will be in the tank)!

 

 

I personally would add them directly to the tank. Here's a pic of three of mine.

The first two are males the last one is a female. You can see the female has a slightly larger abdomen. Sooooo, if I remember right(yes, it's me from the store ) yours both had the smaller abdomen so I mixed that gender up and they are probably actually male?

[jphong]

Hey noirsphynx, thanks for the last minute help at the store before closing up! You must be the same noirsphynx from Canreef? Its nice to put faces to the people online, its kinda neat. I have them in the QT but if you thinks its okay I will add them to the main tank tonight. They started boxing each other last night so I put them on opposite ends of the tank and it seemed like they stayed in their own corners until this morning. I think they are both male as well but Ill post some closeup pics from underneath and maybe you can give another look for me.

 

What do you guys feed them at the store? I tried target feeding them (and the Rainford's Goby) some frozen brine shrimp, reef roids with a little garlic extract. I think one of them ate some brine shrimp.

 

The Rainford's Goby just swam past the food so I cleaned it all out and will try feeding him tonight again.

Edited October 26, 2010 by jphong

[noirsphynx]

Hey noirsphynx, thanks for the last minute help at the store before closing up! You must be the same noirsphynx from Canreef? Its nice to put faces to the people online, its kinda neat. I have them in the QT but if you thinks its okay I will add them to the main tank tonight. They started boxing each other last night so I put them on opposite ends of the tank and it seemed like they stayed in their own corners until this morning. I think they are both male as well but Ill post some closeup pics from underneath and maybe you can give another look for me.

 

What do you guys feed them at the store? I tried target feeding them (and the Rainford's Goby) some frozen brine shrimp, reef roids with a little garlic extract. I think one of them ate some brine shrimp.

 

The Rainford's Goby just swam past the food so I cleaned it all out and will try feeding him tonight again.

 

Yup, same person . They will probably feel more comfortable and less stressed in your main tank since there is probably more space and places to hide amoungst the live rock in your DT.

 

At the moment we feed a mix of mysis, brine and a few different blends from Ocean Nutrition(Formula 1, Formula 2 & Pygmy Angel).

 

The rainford may just be stressed. It's normal for fish not to eat for the first day or two in there new environment. If you have a piece of rock in your DT with some hair algae on it you could put that in with him.They are also a sifting type goby so some sand for them is also needed. It might also be a good idea to add some live copepod's to the QT.

 

Diet: Omnivore. The Rainford’s Goby continuously searching among sand and rock for copepods, worms, and detritus. It feeds by taking a mouthful of sand and sifting it through its gill rakers. It’s diet should be supplement with various meaty and herbivorous food such as live and/or frozen brine shrimp, mysid shrimp and prepared food for herbivore, as well as filamentous algae.

[jphong]

Hey thats good to hear. I had the same problem with my other SW fish not eating the first few days. Its really stressful waiting for that first bite! Ill add in a piece of LR with some hair algae on it and some sand from the DT. Cross fingers!

 

BTW great nano tank you have there! I saw the thread and I am definitely going to get a Tailspot Blenny. Where can you find barnacles for them to hide in? I think I may just make my tank into a nano-fish type tank as well since its only a 40G. That way I can fit more small fish in it, I love having lots of activity and things going on in the tank as well. If anything you are probably the person to help me make this happen!

 

Yup, same person . They will probably feel more comfortable and less stressed in your main tank since there is probably more space and places to hide amoungst the live rock in your DT.

 

At the moment we feed a mix of mysis, brine and a few different blends from Ocean Nutrition(Formula 1, Formula 2 & Pygmy Angel).

 

The rainford may just be stressed. It's normal for fish not to eat for the first day or two in there new environment. If you have a piece of rock in your DT with some hair algae on it you could put that in with him.They are also a sifting type goby so some sand for them is also needed. It might also be a good idea to add some live copepod's to the QT.

[jphong]

Heres some pics of the undersides of the two pom poms. Im thinking it looks like they're both male and the fact that they were boxing in the QT last night. Too much crustacean testosterone in that small tank.

 

What do you all think:

 

Crab 1

 

Crab 2

[StevieT]

I just purchased two today, should be in with other goodies early next week

[noirsphynx]

Heres some pics of the undersides of the two pom poms. Im thinking it looks like they're both male and the fact that they were boxing in the QT last night. Too much crustacean testosterone in that small tank.

 

What do you all think:

 

Yeah, I would guess males too.

 

I just purchased two today, should be in with other goodies early next week

 

That's awesome Steve. Can't wait to see them

[rbengal]

Yes, I would say both males too. Mine is a female and there is a pretty clear difference between the sexes. The abdomen on the female is very wide and like a semicircle.

 

Love seeing all the pom poms!

[kristoffer]

I came home earlier last week and saw what I thought was a molt, laying lifeless near the edge of my tank. The nems were still on it, so I figured that my little pom-pom had just molted before I got in and scurried off into the rockwork.

 

Now, I'm certain that my little pom is gone. I had him for a little over a year. He was super big (about 1.5-2 toe-to-toe), so I'm attributing it to old age. All my params are stable and no one else in the tank was pestering him.

 

The interesting this is that I kind of assumed his nems would die off too. But, now I've found them wandering within the tank, constantly moving to a different rock (or even the back wall). They are real tiny in the day, and expand nearly 3x its size when lights are off.

 

Anyone had experience with these little nems (sans crab)? And, how long can you expect them to live? I've been feeding them small amounts of mysis at night.

[plantman1028]

Well, i just read this whole thread and made up my mind..... Definately getting a couple for my 5g nano. The search button on here works great!

[Seamonkey84]

I just got my first pom pom yesterday for my 2.5gallon maxi mini anemone tank. I plan on another when the store gets more. I believe mine to be a male. He hasnt moved from where he first settled since I put him in (well other than when I poked him to make sure he was alive). I know he prob just needs to settle in as I got him hours after he got to the store.

 

Edit to add: disappeared after second day and can't find him now, but I was expecting that. Does a any one know if they are really social or just tolerant? If I added another I hear they will share pom pom or is it really one taking it from another? Does having multiples make them more acive and bold or am I just going to have two crabs that hide behind the rocks all the time?

Edited February 28, 2011 by Seamonkey84

[Seamonkey84]

I haven't seen him for five days now, should I be concerned since I haven't seen him even after feeding tank?

[kgoldy]

@ Seamonkey

 

I have three- I can tell the difference between them by their pom-pom colors. For about a month I assumed they were all dead, because I saw no trace of them at all. Then gradually, each poked out once in a while. It's been a few months (I don't know exactly how long) but only one has come out for me to see frequently. The others prefer darkness between the rocks.

[Kweli]

Mine typically hides all the time.... until food hits the water... If i look in the back of the tank I can see her waving their pom poms hoping to catch something....

 

Same with my porcelain crab, always in the back waving his fans

[rO.oster]

recieved mine last week. i placed it on its own rock island where it hung out for a few days, and now it has moved to the main island and is very reclusive. right at last light before they lights kick off I can sometimes catch a glimpse. We call him ATC for air traffic control, waving his arms to and fro directing the airplanes left and right very cool addition

[Seamonkey84]

I just got another one last night and as of this morning he hasnt gone into hiding yet. He didn't have any pom poms so I'm hoping he finds the other and they share as the first one has both and are kinda large.

 

Oh add that I did get to see the first one the other night when I said I hadn't seen it for a week. so I know he has both anemones.

Edited March 5, 2011 by Seamonkey84

[noirsphynx]

Caught in the act. They are in the middle of mating.

 

This is my original male with a new female. I lost the old girl to a power head she got sucked in to during a molt. The new girl came with no pom poms but the male happily shared with her. I didn't witness the actual handing off of a nem to her but I did witness him trying to. He would sit really close to her extending his arm and staying very still trying to offer it to her.

Edited March 11, 2011 by noirsphynx

[Arkayology]

sexy...

 

Caught in the act. They are in the middle of mating.

 

This is my original male with a new female. I lost the old girl to a power head she got sucked in to during a molt. The new girl came with no pom poms but the male happily shared with her. I didn't witness the actual handing off of a nem to her but I did witness him trying to. He would sit really close to her extending his arm and staying very still trying to offer it to her.

[Seamonkey84]

The crab I got last week Is alot bolder than the first. I noticed he the other day that he had something in a claw, I think its a frag off one of the other crab's nems. Looked like a few whit tentacles. The other one I haven't seen in the open, but one of his nems looks like it's "damaged"

[koensayr]

Hello guys,

 

Where is everyone getting their pom pom crabs? I have been looking for quite a while and have never seen any local stores carrying them. I'm afraid of ordering live stock online.

[Seamonkey84]

My lfs usually has them, just ask and they can usually get them.

[woogiekids]

Hi all!

 

I've had a pair of Poms for about a month in my 28G carpet/maxi-mini biotope. The female has been carrying eggs, and the larvae were released into the water tonight. I pipetted some into a holding container, and put in some zooplankton/photoplankton, but I don't have high hopes for this batch. Anyone had any luck with raising any babies? I don't see any online anywhere.

 

Here are some pics:

 

Gravid

 

 

 

Larvae

 

 

 

 

 

[pj86]

woogiekids, that is so cool. Nice pics. Wish you luck with the larva.

[sephly]

this might seem like a dumb question but my friend's pom lost an arm....like the whole arm, and the other arm seemed to be find it had its anemone and everything. We're wondering if it'll every grow back after a molt? or if its gone for good. Does anyone have any insight? also his pom is HUGE compared to mine, are they different types or are they different genders? or is it just that his might be older then mine and as such alot bigger? the difference is pretty staggering when we compare photos.

[Arkayology]

this might seem like a dumb question but my friend's pom lost an arm....like the whole arm, and the other arm seemed to be find it had its anemone and everything. We're wondering if it'll every grow back after a molt? or if its gone for good. Does anyone have any insight? also his pom is HUGE compared to mine, are they different types or are they different genders? or is it just that his might be older then mine and as such alot bigger? the difference is pretty staggering when we compare photos.

You mean are there different sexes, not genders. Gender is a culturally constructed identity, whereas sex is considered a natural maleness or femaleness based on hormones and physical characteristics.

 

To answer your question, the arm will come back after a molt or two. The pom-poms are anemones that the crabs hold in their arms. They will grow at different rates. Mine has one that is slightly bigger than the other.

 

Hope this helps.