Crab Question

[SeanCallan]

I've never kept crabs in any of my reef tanks previously and I thought maybe I would do it definitely this time. Are there particular crabs that cannot be in the same tank? Is there any reason you couldn't have an emerald and something else? Sally Light Foot, Porcelain, or Pom Pom?

 

I've been told Arrows can be aggressive and nip at fish, but outside of them I only know what the internet tells me.

 

Another slightly related question: What happens if a Pom Pom crab looses one or both of its Pom Poms? :(

[gmubeach]

My pom pom crab lasted 4 mins in my nano I had another hermit crab it damaged it and a narisuss snail finished him off:( I had over 85 pounds of rock in my nano he never got a chance to hide hope your doing well Troy

Edited December 9, 2008 by gmubeach

[Smoothtriqueter]

I have 3 emerald, some hermits, a pom pom, sally lightfoot and an arrow! Non of them have messed with any of my fish and are all amazing to watch in their own ways! (sally light foot is the most aggressive)

 

I don't know about the pom poms being lost as they are anems, but i feel like I saw mine without one once, and the next time it did.

[Smoothtriqueter]

My pom pom crab lasted 4 mins in my nano I had another hermit crab it and damage it and a narisuss snail finished him off:(

 

I have a 65 LOTS of LR and hiding places for all my inverts.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I've kept sally lightfoot and mithrax together in my tank with no issues.

[SeanCallan]

I've kept sally lightfoot and mithrax together in my tank with no issues.

 

 

Don't Sally Lightfoots get to be pretty large? I was googling them and they have pictures of some what are 3-4 inches.

[octopus]

I have 2 red emerald crabs and they are great.

[lanman]

Don't Sally Lightfoots get to be pretty large? I was googling them and they have pictures of some what are 3-4 inches.

I have one that's been in my tank for over a year - and probably approaches 3", with his arms spread wide. They are pretty frantic about food; but keep them well fed, and they probably won't bother anything but the very smallest fish.

 

I have no problems between Sally's, Emerald crabs, and peppermint shrimp. I was even told that you can't have multiple Sally's in a tank - but I had three in my 240, and never saw them really get into it. Sally lightfoot's are bad about finding a way OUT of the tank... at least mine have been. That's how I've lost most of them - found them dried out on the floor.

 

bob

[bcjm]

Emerald crabs ate all my snails and never touched the bubble algae. I will never have that in my tank again.

[mling]

Arrow had my hermits for lunch, dinner and supper

Pom Pom decided he preferred BTAs instead so I return it.

I have many emeralds with no problems.

I also have a huge Porcelain anemone crab, almost 2 inches, he is about 5 years old. I don't see him 95% of the time. For a long time I though it was dead. So I don't really know if it does any damage since I don't see it most of the time. No disappearing corals or fish though.

[jason the filter freak]

Pom Pom decided he preferred BTAs instead so I return it.

 

Please explain

[treesprite]

I had an emerald crab before that ate polyps and was destructive. I had an arrow crab that snatched a healthy fish from in a cave and I found it with teh fish half eaten. I had a decorator crab that tore everything apart. In my 38g clownfish tank I have had 2 large sally lightfoots and 3 emeralds with no fighting, but they have only been in there for 1.5 weeks.

Edited December 10, 2008 by treesprite

[mling]

Please explain

The pom pom starting eating my BTA, bubble tip anemone.

[Tromni]

I have a pom pom in a 14g nano. Definitely the highlight of the whole tank, they're just fascinating to watch. If they appear without their anemones, they may simply have put them down when molting. If they can find them again, they'll pick them back up. If they lose an anemone, they'll often pick other small things up, sometimes including mushroom coral polyps.

 

My pom pom does have a habit of being found on top of dead fish. I even watched him grab a very sick royal gramma and sneak him back to a hole in the rock. So the "opportunistic omnivore" thing is not to be taken lightly.

[Smoothtriqueter]

It sounds like nobody has ever seen the killing just the eating.....isn't that what all of them are in there for, to clean up everything that may sink or die in our tanks?