Derek Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have been trying to think of a cool crab to get to add to my clean up crew. Right now I have some emerald crabs and some hermit crabs. I rarely see the emerald crabs. What is your preferred clean up crew crab? I think Arrow Crabs are cool, but those things are mean! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Well for clean up purposes, you pretty much have the best choices covered (emerald/hermit). Arrow, sally, decorator, and the like crabs all can get aggressive. Now if you are looking for cool looking crabs that don't necessarily do much in terms of eating algae, then I would look into porcelain crabs (also called anemone crabs) and Pom Pom crabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Porcelain crabs are neat to have and fun to watch. Feeding is accomplished instead by combing planktonPlanktonPlankton consist of any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. Plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than their phylogenetic or taxonomic classification... and other organic particles from the water using long seate (feathery hair or bristle-like structures) on the mouthparts, where they will later be scraped off and consumed into the mouth. Don't know if you have any SPS and don't know if acropora crabs are available in the market....but one of the neat things about getting an SPS--if you get lucky you'll get one nestling in the coral. I have several of those crabs and they stand out because their mainly white and you can see them reaching out for food that goes by as the fish get their feeding for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJMasta Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I think you've got your bases covered. I actually see both of my mithrax crabs pretty regularly (closely related to emeralds), but I have a small tank with a lot of exposed hiding places and no fish to pick on things. They still like to hide in holes or under things, but you can often see them just holding onto the underside of something feasting on some stuff just over the ledge with their claws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 This may not be what you're looking for, but I prefer not to use crabs. I first got the idea of not using hermits or any other sort of crab after seeing what they can do to fish, snails, and knocking down corals. There is quite a selection of cleaner snails and slugs and the oh-so-creepy Sea Hare. Far less violent to other invertebrates in your tank, and they're kinda cool to watch! Not to mention the fact that they can clean algae so fast you, and your fish would be doing back flips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardsfan12 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Well for clean up purposes, you pretty much have the best choices covered (emerald/hermit). Arrow, sally, decorator, and the like crabs all can get aggressive. Now if you are looking for cool looking crabs that don't necessarily do much in terms of eating algae, then I would look into porcelain crabs (also called anemone crabs) and Pom Pom crabs. I have a few porcelain crabs in my tank and love them. They just find a rock with a decent current and stick out their tiny arms with what looks like little fans and filter stuff out of the water. I've never had a pom pom crab because they are hard to come by, but have since stopped trying because I was told that unless you have a tiny tank you will never see them. They appear to be cool little guys though. Lets see, I have had arrow crabs and loved them. They will go to town on any bristtle worms you have. My sally lightfoot is amusing as it scampers across the rocks constantly picking at them. I think of all of them the Sally would fit into the cleaner category the best, because like I said they are constantly grazing on the rocks. I did have a fire shrimp that was not doing well when I recieved it in the mail. I acclimated it and added it to the tank. As it sank in the water twitching I guess the sally sensed the weakness and before it hit the sand he was on it. It was going to die anyway so I got over it pretty quick. Anyway the more crabs the better. I think they are my favorite part of the minireef. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 This may not be what you're looking for, but I prefer not to use crabs. I first got the idea of not using hermits or any other sort of crab after seeing what they can do to fish, snails, and knocking down corals. There is quite a selection of cleaner snails and slugs and the oh-so-creepy Sea Hare. Far less violent to other invertebrates in your tank, and they're kinda cool to watch! Not to mention the fact that they can clean algae so fast you, and your fish would be doing back flips. I really like nassarius snails. I have a lot of them and they lay eggs often. I have an urchin too (thank to Mama). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 My favorite are the army of itty bitty blue & red leg hermits I got from Laura. They don't hurt a thing and they are constantly eating junk off the rocks. They haven't caused problems even as they get bigger. The snails I have are like little buldozers plowing over anything in their path. They knock loose frags down worse than the crabs. Simple fix is to secure all frags! I have turbo, astrea, black foot, bumblebee and a few good hitchhiker type snails whose names are escaping me! Crabs seem so iffy. What about shrimp? My cleaner is a busy, busy little dude and very cute. I have a royal urchin (also via our fabulous forum Mama). Not sure how much he cleans up but he's worth having for the entertainment value. I think my most worthless CUC member is my banded serpent star. He doesn't clean up, he just begs for food when I feed the fish and since I'm a sucker I feed him too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogtrash Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Already some good information here, thanks! I have an unidentified crab that must have hitched with some live rock. He is brown, larger and rounder than an emerald, with redish eyes. Any guesses as to what it is? I can try to take a picture but he hides in his hole most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 I like the scarlet hermits. I have one hermit crab that is different from all the others. He has a blood red body but had white tips on his claws. He is pretty cool. I do enjoy shrimp. I have three cleaner shrimp and a coral banded shrimp. They are really cool. I have tried serpent starfish but they always starve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimD Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 (edited) Already some good information here, thanks! I have an unidentified crab that must have hitched with some live rock. He is brown, larger and rounder than an emerald, with redish eyes. Any guesses as to what it is? I can try to take a picture but he hides in his hole most of the time. Check its claws, if they appear serrated, probably not good, if theres a 'pad' on the tips, it may be ok. I have a black and white one thats like 3" accross with pads on the tips of its claws, been in there for 5+ years and hasent been a problem. My personal preference would be the tiny blue legs. Edited March 4, 2010 by JimD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogtrash Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Thanks for the Tip JimD, I'll check out his claws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offroadodge Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 i have and like emerald crabs, sallylighfoots,halloween,scarlet red leg, electric blue leg, and the left handed crab(hawaiin zebra crab). thats the list of crabs, with that i have alot of snails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Derek I feed my serpent a variety of things, mostly meaty foods with occasional large chunks of formula 2. I've only had it about 4 months but in the time it's central disk has almost doubled! I'm thinking these guys need to be target fed ( so the fish n crabs don't steal from them). I was afraid to just let mine scavenge for survival. I want a couple emerald crabs. I have a little bubble algae going, will they really eat it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I want a couple emerald crabs. I have a little bubble algae going, will they really eat it? Every emerald crab I have ever gotten devoured all the bubble algae in my tank. They love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doktorstick Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 (edited) 1 Mithrax (not emerald), 1 Peppermint Shrimp, 2 Electric Blue HC, 1 Halloween Orange HC, 5 Scarlet HC, 5 Left-handed Zebra HC, and a mix of Nassarius, Nerite, Cerith, Trochus, and Astrae snails (about 15 non-babies). I have a 34g and you can see I'm have a good number. My favorite of the snails are probably the Nassarius because they breed--a lot. I always have little baby Nassarius snails doing work too, getting into those tiny tiny spots. That's it. No urchins, cukes, nada. No algae problems since cycle. Edited March 4, 2010 by doktorstick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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