Acro Crab Question w/ Pics

chriswkbrd · 01-30-2006, 06:53 PM

The other night I saw my acro crab eating (or what looked like eating) the tip of my acro colony that he lives in. Now I have noticed some bare spots on serveral tips.On the next night I saw him on the birdsnest frag after the lights went out. I couldn't tell if he was doing anything. Has anyone had problems w/ their acro crabs picking on their acros? Maybe I'm over reacting but it has me worried. Here are some pics.

Flipturn88 · 01-30-2006, 06:59 PM

Good call--he's the culprit; hairy usually means bad news. I would get him out asap. HTH

chriswkbrd · 01-30-2006, 07:14 PM

Yeah he's a hairy one, thanks I'll try to get him.

Mr.Reef · 01-30-2006, 07:19 PM

I have that same crab i've been trying to catch. Mine is huge and has been destroying my acros.

gwen_o_lyn · 01-30-2006, 07:35 PM

Check out this article: myth #7
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/eb/index.php

chriswkbrd · 01-30-2006, 08:02 PM

Well either good or bad he's now living in my refuge.

gwen_o_lyn · 01-30-2006, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chriswkbrd

Well either good or bad he's now living in my refuge.

good idea!!

phishschtick · 01-30-2006, 10:22 PM

Glad you didn't kill him and decided to let him live in the fuge for wayward critters

. Thanks for not flushing.

chriswkbrd · 01-30-2006, 11:33 PM

He's pretty cool, I couldn't flush him. I just wasn't going to take the chance of him eating my acros.

MattTVI · 01-31-2006, 09:38 AM

if you can get a good shot of him (top of him, not the bottom), post it over at www.*********************** for Dr. Shimek to look at, he can likely tell you what it is... :-)

what the heck happened to my link?

try this

lol, okay, why aren't my links working?

anywho... m.a.i.r.n.e.d.e.p.t.o.com has a forum where someone is who can probably ID that crab for you... :-)

emau · 01-31-2006, 12:33 PM

it seems when it comes to crabs and shrimp that you cannot sterotype a species. each one is different and special in it's own way. just because some are hairy doesn't mean we should pick on them, putting them in the sump, some people like hairy. they do not mean to harm your precious corals on purpose, they just need some love and understanding, show them you care (demensia from to many education courses has settled in) . they tend to eat whatever they can find. some fire shrimp eat aipastia, so do not....(what!?)
peace
e

chriswkbrd · 01-31-2006, 12:42 PM

I'll give that a try Matt.

Uhhh... I'm not exactly sure what you are trying to say emau? If you like hairy and want him to pick at your precious corals, he's all yours. He'll get plenty of love in his new home.

Flipturn88 · 01-31-2006, 03:17 PM

emau, I do respect and agree with your opinion--to a certain degree. On the other hand, the same could be said about aiptasia, flatworms, and other aquarium "pests." Are they as complex as crabs and shrimp? Certainly not, but they are animals (as are our corals we devote countless hours and dollars to keep happy, of course) nonetheless. Even the ich parasite that often plagues our fish is simply an animal--more like a few thousand--having success...

I'm not saying it's ok to unfairly kill or abuse any living creature, but rather I think we are often presented with situations that involve making decisions, such as which animal gets what it wants, and since both are under our care, it's our responsibility to choose. In this case, should the crab be allowed to much on and stress out the coral, or should it be removed (moved to a sump)?

As always, this is just my humble opinion itching to have a voice.

emau · 02-01-2006, 09:40 AM

i was just being silly, sorry i'll try to be more obvious next time. education is filled with to much political correctness and i was playin on that. a few teachers got it, other might not have. i did have a point in their somewhere.
peace
e

Flipturn88 · 02-01-2006, 03:45 PM

Ah hah! Your explanatory post makes more sense...

You must forgive me--I'm around teachers every day and still manage to miss their points far too often.

FWIW...I've had the same problem with pest crabs. I couldn't figure out why a few of my SPS in one specific region of my tank were going downhill. I tried everything I could think of--from changing the flow to shortening the photoperiod--until my boyfriend and I spotted this guy wreacking havok one night...

Needless to say, upon discovering his "lair," we found scraps of all my unhappy corals inside. Here's a pic of one of the unhappy corals:

He was too big to live in the corals themselves, but still enjoyed a midnight snack until he was caught. His fate? Dinner for a trigger--just to add on another link to the food chain, of course.