Official Pom Pom Crab (Lybia Tesselatta) Thread

[Burks]

Those are some really good looking Pom Poms! The LFS near me (like a block away) carries these every so often. $15 each isn't "too" bad in my opinion.

 

What's the average life span of Pom Poms?

[c est ma]

Good question. I've had mine for 16 months, now, and it's going strong.

 

Of course, who knows how old they are when we get them?

 

--Diane

[eklikewhoa]

I am really doubting it but will a pom pom survive with a sixline wrasse?

[avalanche1201]

so I found some pom poms on ebay....overall its the cheapest way to go w/ an arrive alive guarentee....is it alright to keep 2 of these guys together? or will they fight?

[modularduck]

JUst got one of these guys today, super cool! only has one of its nems but i figure it will maybe split it into two and be fine. does this sound right? anyway super cool little crabs and a welcome addition to my tank, hopefully pics soon.

[Ryan_H]

yeah the last pom pom we got into my store came in without it's claws . we put it in a display NC24 and when it molted it had some tiny claws again but instead of finding something it carry it just started eating coral .

[t0mmyb0y]

man i've had mine for a month now, but i've only seen him maybe 3 times. that's why i've named him waldo

[Blacktone]

I got one also, I saw him come out once when feeding cyclopeze (spell?) thinking about getting a few more. I think he will hold his own against a six line.

[this1fish]

just got mine today,was a little small so i threw it into my refugium until it gets bigger

[mooriginal]

Heres mine noticed for first time after being in tank for 2 weeks

 

which after reading this thread i think is normal !

 

[Machinas]

I had one hitch hike on a piece of lr a few weeks ago. Haven't seen him since though, Think its ok?

[Bodhi-Licious]

I had on a few years back got him for free from my lfs cause he had no pom poms. Every week or two he used to go nip a tip off my torch coral and use it as his nem awesome crabs would love to get a new one.

[brianjfinn]

Just thought I'd try to revive this thread!! There are some great pics on here! I just spent the last fifteen minutes reading through the whole thing. Anyway, I've had two in my 20 gal long for the past two weeks and they're doing great! I have to say they are my favorite addition to the tank, even over my bright purple Caribbean pistol shrimp. I'll try to get some pics in a few days.

[pompom]

We are ready to add a cleanup crew to our 15 gallon nano reef. I am set on two pom-pom crabs as the must have for this tank and want to try and ensure they do not become a meal.

 

I would like some advice on compatible invertebrates for a cleanup crew. I think that Scarlets would be perfect but I've been told I should get a mix of crabs/snails. I've read some posts on blue legs and emerald crabs being incompatible with the pom-pom.

 

What do/would you guys put in with them?

 

Thanks.

KT

[c est ma]

We are ready to add a cleanup crew to our 15 gallon nano reef. I am set on two pom-pom crabs as the must have for this tank and want to try and ensure they do not become a meal.

 

I would like some advice on compatible invertebrates for a cleanup crew. I think that Scarlets would be perfect but I've been told I should get a mix of crabs/snails. I've read some posts on blue legs and emerald crabs being incompatible with the pom-pom.

 

What do/would you guys put in with them?

 

Thanks.

KT

 

Sounds like a great tank you're building! IME, emeralds and pom poms get along just fine. Here's a shot of my emerald & pom pom:

 

 

Emeralds may be most problematic in other ways--though they eat a lot of algae, they may start to sample a polyp or two as they get bigger...I have mine trained to take a sinking wafer from a pair of forceps--I was able to remove the last I had via the forceps when it grew and attacked coral...

 

There seem to be a number of different spp sold as emeralds...my current one, which is more matte blue than green seems more docile and to be staying smaller than my previous emerald, which was shiny green. It may also be because my present emerald is female (as is the pom pom). I've read many times that female emeralds are better behaved...so it might be worth your while to seek out a female (you need to get a look at the crab's ventral surface--see pic on this page: http://chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html ).

 

As I've posted somewhere else, the pom pom is dominant over the emerald, even though the emerald looks so heavily armored and is much less reclusive. When they're together and the pom pom wants to see what the emerald is eating, she'll just wave an anemone or even seem to bonk one on the emerald and the latter will scoot. But usually they are content to be side by side with no interaction one way or another.

 

I also have a scarlet hermit, a Mexican red-legged hermit, several snails and lots of voluteer bristle stars. When I feed, the crabs often end up center front where some pellets are likely to fall. I believe that having other active inverts, esp. clueless ones like hc's that blunder around all over, may actually serve to make the pom pom less shy, in the way that "dither fish" are used to relax shy FW fish by some hobbyists...

 

The snails really won't interact with the pom poms, of course; you'll just want to get a variety of grazers (e.g., Trochus, nerite, cerith, Turbo, Astraea), and maybe a Nassarius or two for sand-stirring, scavenging, and entertainment.

 

(IMO it's best to add CUC as needed, rather than dump a dozen or so in at once just because your tank is at "that stage." This also allows you to try different kinds of snails as they show up over time at your lfs...)

 

--Diane

Edited June 5, 2008 by c est ma

[Machinas]

Hey everyone, I need to move my pom pom crab into my main tank, will it be ok with an emerald crab, banded coral shrimp, shrimp goby and a few hermits?

[CGNano]

CBS might be a BIG problem.

 

I don't think they really belong in mixed reefs anyways, just my opinion.

[Machinas]

Thanks for the info.....If the CBS wasn't in there would it do ok with everything else?

Edited November 12, 2007 by Machinas

[c est ma]

I would say yes, definitely.

 

--Diane

[pompom]

Diane,

Thanks so much for your reply. Great information!!!! I like the approach of adding the crew slowly also - and the larger mix than I was originally planning. Lots of people really push the emerald crab and with your information it makes me less nervous.

 

I'm curious if you have any shrimp in your tank?

 

Also how long after we start adding the clean up crew should we wait before getting our two pom-poms? We are debating about adding a small fish or two until the new year. We are just going to enjoy the inverts for now

 

Thanks Again!

 

KT

[Riverspirit]

I'm thinking about buying an pom pom from LiveAquaria, as they have some in. But, I'm not sure how well they would do in my tank, it's an 24 gallon NC with a purple firefish, an true perc. clown, and an hi fin red banded shrimp goby and pistol shrimp pair. I am slightly worried about the corals, but i won't mind it much if the pom pom bumps the corals with it's anems. Does everyone think that the pom pom will be fine in my tank?

 

P.S.: The tank is about 8 weeks old now and the CUC is made up of hermits, snails, and some emerald crabs.

Edited November 22, 2007 by Riverspirit

[Burks]

I've had my Pom Pom for roughly a month and he's doing just fine. He even recently molted (which scared the crap out of me, thought he was dead).

 

$18 is a pretty good price for such a cool critter!

[c est ma]

I'm thinking about buying an pom pom from LiveAquaria, as they have some in. But, I'm not sure how well they would do in my tank, it's an 24 gallon NC with a purple firefish, an true perc. clown, and an hi fin red banded shrimp goby and pistol shrimp pair. I am slightly worried about the corals, but i won't mind it much if the pom pom bumps the corals with it's anems. Does everyone think that the pom pom will be fine in my tank?

 

P.S.: The tank is about 8 weeks old now and the CUC is made up of hermits, snails, and some emerald crabs.

 

From your list, the only thing I wouldn't be sure about would be the pistol shrimp, as I've never had one myself. But it seems that somehow these various crustacean denizens tend to work out their relationships and coexist...My pom pom prefers to stay in the rock, and since goby-paired pistols tend to stick to the substrate, that's probably another factor that would minimize interaction.

 

You have proceeded rather quickly in 8 weeks (I know it seems like a long time to you!), and your tank no doubt still has some maturing to do...but IME pom poms are very hardy...

 

I have also never had a problem with its nems bothering coral. I've only seen it use its nems (aside from waving them back and forth in the water column) to bop my emerald on the snout.

 

--Diane

[Riverspirit]

Ah, thank you C est ma! I have heard various times that the anemones on the crabs claws won't cause any real damage to anything, so I'm fine with that. And the pistol shrimp was my biggest worry, but I almost never see him, even with his goby buddy, and I have NEVER heard him snap at anything. So I guess we will see how it goes with the pom pom, I'm very excited for him. Oh, and one more question, if the pom pom is very small (it said "Tiny" for the size of the crab on LiveAquaria), how big of a risk is there that something in the tank will eat him?

[c est ma]

Well...I don't think you'll have a problem with the crew you have now. Pom poms never get very big...but they seem to be able to defend themselves quite well. They're also most adept at hiding.

 

See mine's size next to some zoas--and I've had her nearly 2 years, now:

 

 

--Diane