I Caught A Hairy Rock Crab!!!!!!!

[Carol]

Finally. Found the rock he was holed up in & yanked it out. Took it to the sink and flushed it with tap water and out he came. Only took 1 minute. Now I just have the Mantis to get. Ugh!!!!!!!!

[Alice]

Good hunting, Carol!

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi Carol! I am glad you got the crab out and wish you well with the mantis shrimp as well! I thank God I never did have a mantis shrimp in all the LR I got! Johnny:santa:

[TheJ]

Can someone point me to a reference on these crabs? Preferably with pics to ID?

I noticed a small pincer dart out of a hole & grab a bit of algae in some of my live rock... Was dark reddish brown, with the very tip of the pincer white...

[FLHT]

Carol,
I have heard of a "pop bottle" trick to get the mantis.
Maybe someone on this forum can tell you exactly how
it works, but this is what I've been told.
Take a pop bottle glass or plastic. Tie a sting on the opening
end, place some bait in the bottle submerge it and then sit
and wait. The mantix shrimp goes in for the bait and you lift
the bottle up and out of your tank.
A friend of mine had two mantis that came in from some
Florida LR and someone from a LFS came over to his home
one evening and caught both the mantis shrimp.
Good Luck

[Carol]

For an ID on this guy, I did a web search for "Hairy Rock Crab". I started seeing him about a month ago moving in a rock hole - only came out a couple of times. Saltwater.com has good index too.

[Carol]

I have been trying the bottle thing with no success. Caught my flame shrimp one night but no Mantis. I have never seen him but hear the clicking noise and see more and more dead hermits and snails.