Spotted a hitchhiker, good or bad crab?

[Superman]

Here is a pic of a crab that I spotted tonight as I was checking in on the tank with the red flashlight, so I grabbed the regular flashlight and quickly took a pic. If you can't tell in the picture, he is mostly a purpleish color, and is one ugly crab!! He doesn't have hairy legs, so that is good, but I am also wondering if he will beat up or eat my anemone crab. Let me know what kind of crab you think he is and if I should take him out. Thanks guys!

[Buddha]

Bad crab.

[Awestralian]

Any crab is a bad crab IMO.
Weve had baaaaaaaaaaaddddddddd experiences with crabs killing our fish.
I wouldnt leave it in there.

[gumhead]

red eyes = bad crab

[Superman]

Darn, do you guys have any suggestions on catching him? Are there any crab traps that I can make? I have extensive rock work, and this could be a daunting task if I have to try and catch him with just a pair of tongs.

[salt creepette]

do a search on this forum for trap, i know there are several good designs! good luck. and post another pic once you got 'em.

[Superman]

allright, I have a plan for a trap, I will set up the trap tonight, I just hope that I don't catch my anemone crabs, or the pistol shrimp!

[salt creepette]

get ready to catch EVERYTHING in your tank EXCEPT your hitchhiker!!! hee hee. but be patient, youll get him eventually...

[ruhspolostar]

95% of crabs are bad, I think an administrator should change that from an opinion to fact, just kidding

-don't get a sally lightfoot

-Adam #8

[Superman]

I am victorious!! Below is a picture of the fugly little menace, I have exiled him to the sump, where he can munch on nothing but detritus and never harm a living creature ever again!!

[Superman]

Here is a pic of the crab trap with my hand in the picture for scale purposes. I am begninning to form the opinion that frequently placing a trap such as this in our marine tanks may be a good idea on a maintenance level, maybe something we should all do every so often. This is not only a good idea when stocking a tank with live rock, but also should be done once in a while to prevent the unnoticed growth of a baby crab or mantis shrimp, we could all have something menacing lurking in our tanks, and unless we are placing traps in our tanks on a some sort of regular basis, we won't know of it's presence until it has some sort of adverse effect on our tanks, or if we happen to notice it at night. Anyone elses thoughts on this? Below is a pic of the crude trap that I caught my fugly crab with, and by the way, I put the trap right back into the tank butted up right next to the live rock to see if I can catch any other evil critters.

[manderson0805]

How do the fish like the One a Days??? hehe...you planning on coming to the meeting Thursday night..I see you live in MN

[salt creepette]

well I'll be darned, success on the first night!! I'm impressed. and might I say, that is one UGLY crab! congratulations...er, I think...

and it probably IS a good idea to periodically go 'trapping' in our tanks. might even add to the sport of keeping a reef tank! we could stuff and hang our trophies on the wall above the tank....or, have a live display like you said, in our sumps

[Superman]

Originally posted by manderson0805
How do the fish like the One a Days??? hehe...you planning on coming to the meeting Thursday night..I see you live in MN

The fish love the one a days Where is the meeting taking place, and what time? I will make it if I can, so far Thursday is pretty open for me. Let me know.

[ffc3]

I have two of those crabs with the red eyes living in holes in my liverock. They each live in their own hole and plug it up with a rock or something most of the time. I've never seen them leave it and have never seen them harm anything.