Can someone ID this CRAB! PLZ!!

Cody

I'm afraid I don't know the best way to go around removing the crab.

One is having to remove the rock which you obviously don't want to do (I wouldn't want to either).

Another way requires some patience. You will want to lure the crab into a trap. You could get an empty water bottle, and cut the part on the bottle where it starts to go into a funnel shape off. Then, take the funnel, and put it backwards into where it was so the funnel is in the bottle. Add some raw shrimp, crab, etc (what we would eat) into the bottle. Put the bottle near the hole right before the lights turn off, and leave it overnight. Check if he went in in the morning.

This works like a lobster trap; the can go in, but do not know how to get out. Just don't put too much food, saying it looks like a small crab, and it may mess up your water parameters eventually.

Did that make sense?

tinydove

This is my 55g I hd taken the LR from, it was up about 5 years before I sold it and I kept some of the LR and LS and water when I set up the 12G I have now. All the LR was added to the 55g at the same time when I 1st set it up, then I sold it all and kept about 22lbs of the LR for the 12G, so that crab has lived a very long time in the LR, as I said almost 10 years.

Here are a few pics of the 55 about 8 months in..

my clowns hosted my bubble coral

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tinydove

Thank you Cody, I will trythat tonight, and it did make sense...lol just got to cross my fingers that it works. I am just amazed it is the 1st time I or hubby has ever seen him in the 5 years that the 12g has been set up...lol

onefish2fish

nice setups.

it is possible that the crab hitched in on a piece of coral that you failed to notice.
there are a few ways to go about removing the crab. you can always pull the rock he is on, in and remove him while he is out of water. the method cody mentioned works at times and others wont so really its hit or miss. you could go crabbing and attach a chunk of meat to a string/line and wait until he claws onto it then scoop from under with a net. i wouldnt do a RO fresh bath as you will kill all the life on the rock. alittle patience and it shouldnt be to difficult to remove this guy. good luck.

willow

hi
i can't help with the crab issue.......
i would just like to say welcome,and your tank is lovley.
:)

tinydove

Onefish,
there is no corals in the 12g tank that the crab is in, never has been, the live rock came from my 55g set up b4 I sold it along with all my coral and equipment for it was to much for the 12g. Sold everything 5 yrs ago. the 12g has been set up for almost 5 years and no other LR has been added to the tank., so that little sucker has been in there all this time and we never noticed him until today not even a molt. The only thing new in the tank is my pep shrimp and a few snails that I got on Thursday and they are all fine. My pep hangs out in the same area as where we saw the crab so I am wondering if the crab came out to take a look see at what has been by his front door sort of speak.
I just turned my lights off and put the bottle next to the whole where the crab seems to be living and I hope in the morning I will see him in the bottom of the bottle.

How long do crabs like this live, he is only about 1/2" or a tab smaller,

I am in the prosses of making the 12g into a Nano and just ordered new lights and filters and a Korila PH for it so I want to get the crab out b4 I place my coral order.

onefish2fish

my thought was that it had hitched in on coral in your other tank, then got into the rock you put into this tank. could it be possible that its dead and your just looking at an empty shell? or that its not getting much food so it hasnt grown much to molt. that is weird that it hasnt molted.
i cant say for sure how long these crabs live as im not a fan of crabs due to their picky personalities, literally. its strange that its been so many years that its gone un-detected but then again fish can disapear in live rock for weeks.

something to think about is to look for a local reefing club in your area. my club is $12 a year and we hold monthly meetings and members sell/trade frags for fractions of the price as well as equipment and getting a chance to meet some great people with a similiar interest. it wouldnt hurt to look into it. good luck on getting this crab out.

tinydove

thank you willow, but I do not have the 55g anymore, sold it and all my corals and everything else that went with it ( kept the LR and some LS for the 12g ) about 5 years ago, and set up the 12g for my Percs.the 12g has been a FOWLR/LS for the past 5 years and now I am making it into a Nano for some shrooms and some softies, since I miss my 55g so much Just waiting for new equipment to come in thursday so I want that Crab gone.

tinydove

Onefish
That little sucker is very much alive, he was poping in and out of his hole/home in my piece of LR. I am slowly going blind due to RP and that is why I sold my 55g 5 years ago, hubby was afraid I might get stung and I have a bad reaction to any shellfish, heck I can't even eat Tuna. so he made me sell it and he got the 12g so I could at least keep my percs, but I miss the corals so much he said I could turn the 12g into a Nano and get some shrooms and softies and he would move anything that might be bad for me to touch also gonna get me some gloves I can use just incase.

I do my water changes like clock work every week and I know my eyes are not that good anymore but hubby is like a hawk and he never saw the crab b4 either....so strange.

onefish2fish

that is strange. i personally use coralife gloves. im not to much worried about getting stung more for the fact of putting my hand in with soap residues or something of the sort. besides this past winter ive had some dry skin on my hands and the salt water for sure wouldnt help that. i guess whatever works for your situation.

have you looked into a reefing club? IMO they are fantastic.