catching emerald crabs

[sandlot13]

Hey, just curious on the best way to catch an emerald crab(s) in a nano tank with lots of rocks for them to hide in........ so far its been about 2 weeks and nothing ive tried has worked. I almost caught one today when i went in with just my bare hand, but the bugger got away.... any tips? thanks!!!

 

tanner g.

[thefishofdoom]

i let them learn the way of hand feeding i feed mine by hand so he hangs out on me every time im in the tank almost

[Toomin]

is there any thing that will eat them?as in predators?

[gretsch02]

I caught mine after dark with moon lights only and a 15" pair of tweezers...Good Luck!

[sandlot13]

ya, i think they come out out night more often in theopen, and they cant see as well then, so i might try another sneak attack again then. They are just really strong and dont let go of my rocks!!!! Ill catch em sooner or later though.

 

no, there are no predators in my tank with them, but where they are going is going to be hell for them..... hehehehehe aka my mantis shrine

[bil2k]

I just grabbed the rock it was chillin' on and then pick him off.

[audiocontrol]

i used tweezers with a shrimp on the end. The crab grabbed onto the shrimp, and if he his hungry enough, he will hang on as you move the shrimp around even if you pull the shrimp out of the water.

[sandlot13]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! i hate trying to catch these guys...... i probably try at least three times a day. The closest i got was i had one of them by the anterior claw, but he was trapped solidly to a rock and my grip slipped..... so needless to say, he got a way and now im back to watching them laugh at me all day and all night. i might ahve to try the shrimp trick here pretty soon...........

[bozzy]

its worse when your working at ur lfs and trying to catch them for a customer....

[Paladin]

I have the solution for you! This trap has worked for me 2 or 3 times without fail. Get a small empty water bottle, like a 16.9 oz Arrowhead or Evian bottle, and at around 2 inches below the neck of the bottle, get a knife or scissors and cut off the top. Then take the top, invert it, and stick it into the bottom part of the bottle. Place a chunk of food, like a piece of shrimp, into the bottle, then place the bottle into your tank (and angle it so the crab can easily access the opening). The crab will enter the trap to get to the food, but then won't be able to get out. Then just take the bottle out and voila!--a safe easy way to get your crab out. It may take overnight for the crab to enter the trap, so be patient. Here's a crappy diagram of it:

.

Good luck!

Edited March 31, 2006 by Paladin

[alizarin]

Paladin's trick seems perfect. I had a hitchhiker crab (from local tampa collected macroalgae) with the same body shape and size of an emerald crab (but not an algae eater) that I caught in a similar way. I just put a piece of frozen shrimp in a small somewhat long glass jar with the top open part buried in the sand at a 45 degree angle. He knew I was up to something from trying to catch him with the tongs for a couple hours but once he got to the bottom of the jar I got him out no problem. Unless they trust you I think you're likely to break their legs if you try and chase them down with tongs (imho).

[Canad_ian]

So even though this thread is old, I had to add my own experience. I found this thread, went to my tank and used a glass - regular drinking glass - put a shrimp in the bottom and leaned up against the rocks at the 45 degree angle. This morning, voila, emerald crab in the bottom of the glass. He did a great job eating my algae, there was nothing left, then he devoured my sun polyps, took him tow days but he eradicated them, so he had to go! Just wanted to say thanks for this thread as it saved me a lot of grief!!

 

 

Paladin's trick seems perfect. I had a hitchhiker crab (from local tampa collected macroalgae) with the same body shape and size of an emerald crab (but not an algae eater) that I caught in a similar way. I just put a piece of frozen shrimp in a small somewhat long glass jar with the top open part buried in the sand at a 45 degree angle. He knew I was up to something from trying to catch him with the tongs for a couple hours but once he got to the bottom of the jar I got him out no problem. Unless they trust you I think you're likely to break their legs if you try and chase them down with tongs (imho).

[Sunny the Reefer]

On 3/22/2006 at 8:44 PM, sandlot13 said:

Hey, just curious on the best way to catch an emerald crab(s) in a nano tank with lots of rocks for them to hide in........ so far its been about 2 weeks and nothing ive tried has worked. I almost caught one today when i went in with just my bare hand, but the bugger got away.... any tips? thanks!!!

 

tanner g.

 

On 3/22/2006 at 8:44 PM, sandlot13 said:

Hey, just curious on the best way to catch an emerald crab(s) in a nano tank with lots of rocks for them to hide in........ so far its been about 2 weeks and nothing ive tried has worked. I almost caught one today when i went in with just my bare hand, but the bugger got away.... any tips? thanks!!!

 

tanner g.

You could put a glass cup in your tank, lean it against a rock where the crab could climb to reach in, then put bain in the cup, like mysis shrimp. The crab would soon climb into the cup, but won´t be able to climb out