Emerald/Mithrax Crab and Valonia Question.

[Mandarin333]

Hey reefers. I have an outbreak of valonia bubble algae at present. I was
wondering if the emerald crab can help? I'm leery to put a crab in the tank
since my last anemone crab developed a taste for red mushrooms. Anyone got any
recommendations re: the crab or otherwise? TIA -M333

P.S. It is a 90g tank so how many crabs if they are recommended?

[Mort]

Emeralds are known for eating the green bubble algae. I had 4 in my 75gal.
I'm down to one after a recent move and I am only going to add one more so
if I were you, I'd go with 2 maybe 3.

just my .02

~Mort


"Mandarin333" > wrote in message
...
> Hey reefers. I have an outbreak of valonia bubble algae at present. I
was
> wondering if the emerald crab can help? I'm leery to put a crab in the
tank
> since my last anemone crab developed a taste for red mushrooms. Anyone
got any
> recommendations re: the crab or otherwise? TIA -M333
>
> P.S. It is a 90g tank so how many crabs if they are recommended?

[Marc Levenson]

You had a crab that ate red mushrooms? I could have used
that guy about a year ago. ;)

Small emerald crabs will help. Once they get larger, they
tend to get a little more troublesome in some cases.

Marc

Mandarin333 wrote:
> Hey reefers. I have an outbreak of valonia bubble algae at present. I was
> wondering if the emerald crab can help? I'm leery to put a crab in the tank
> since my last anemone crab developed a taste for red mushrooms. Anyone got any
> recommendations re: the crab or otherwise? TIA -M333
>
> P.S. It is a 90g tank so how many crabs if they are recommended?

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[Mandarin333]

>Subject: Re: Emerald/Mithrax Crab and Valonia Question.
>From: Marc Levenson
>Date: 10/1/04 1:51 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>You had a crab that ate red mushrooms? I could have used
>that guy about a year ago. ;)

Actually "have" is more correct. His name is "The Prisoner" and he has been
remanded to a 30g sump awaiting extradition to the nearest marine retail
facilty. :)

>Small emerald crabs will help. Once they get larger, they
>tend to get a little more troublesome in some cases.

Yes this is what worries me. Troublesome how? Will they get a hankering for
fresh bubble coral or prime fillet of sacrophyton or just go about that
favorite old crab passtime of stalking fish in their sleep?

-M333

[Marc Levenson]

They can suddenly start ripping up zoanthids one by one,
looking for food under the polyp mat. Or they can break off
an SPS branch for no apparent reason. They can try to eat a
fish, although this isn't as common.

I've had some over the years and never had a problem, but
I've read alot of posts and sometimes I've come across some
negative reports.

Marc


Mandarin333 wrote:


> Yes this is what worries me. Troublesome how? Will they get a hankering for
> fresh bubble coral or prime fillet of sacrophyton or just go about that
> favorite old crab passtime of stalking fish in their sleep?
>
> -M333

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[Mandarin333]

>Subject: Re: Emerald/Mithrax Crab and Valonia Question.
>From: Marc Levenson
>Date: 10/2/04 12:12 AM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>They can suddenly start ripping up zoanthids one by one,
>looking for food under the polyp mat. Or they can break off
>an SPS branch for no apparent reason. They can try to eat a
>fish, although this isn't as common.
>
>I've had some over the years and never had a problem, but
>I've read alot of posts and sometimes I've come across some
>negative reports.

Thanks Marc. Then the next question I have is: Do you think that adding a
refugium would be a better control? Right now my two problems are valonia and
cyano. I've seen your tank pics and your tanks look fairly pristine. Did they
always look so good before you started running the chaetomorpha refugiums?
-M333

[Mandarin333]

>Subject: Re: Emerald/Mithrax Crab and Valonia Question.
>From: "Mort"
>Date: 9/30/04 10:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Emeralds are known for eating the green bubble algae. I had 4 in my 75gal.
>I'm down to one after a recent move and I am only going to add one more so
>if I were you, I'd go with 2 maybe 3.

Thanks Mort. I picked up 2 today. I'll see how they do. They are only dime
sized. I hope they don't have a taste for red kelp. How I overlooked that
detail I'll never know.

-M333

[Mort]

>
> Thanks Mort. I picked up 2 today. I'll see how they do. They are only
dime
> sized.


Good Call!

[Pszemol]

"Marc Levenson" > wrote in message . ..
> They can suddenly start ripping up zoanthids one by one,
> looking for food under the polyp mat. Or they can break off
> an SPS branch for no apparent reason. They can try to eat a
> fish, although this isn't as common.

Interesting... I have a couple of emeralds and I did loose
some orange zoos from the rock... I would never blame
crab for that... Does it eat zoos or they float in the tank loose
after the crab will rip them of the rock?

[Marc Levenson]

I prefer to run a refugium. However, I've had my battles
with cyano as well, because I feed way too much.

Marc


Mandarin333 wrote:

> Thanks Marc. Then the next question I have is: Do you think that adding a
> refugium would be a better control? Right now my two problems are valonia and
> cyano. I've seen your tank pics and your tanks look fairly pristine. Did they
> always look so good before you started running the chaetomorpha refugiums?
> -M333

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[Marc Levenson]

According to Travis, he watched his crabs rip them off the
rock while seeking lunch underneath the zoos.

I've had new zoos treated the same, and my guess was that
they were attracted to the super glue gel compound.

Marc


Pszemol wrote:


> Interesting... I have a couple of emeralds and I did loose
> some orange zoos from the rock... I would never blame
> crab for that... Does it eat zoos or they float in the tank loose
> after the crab will rip them of the rock?

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[Ken]

My emerald loved to munch on my giant feather duster and pic apart his
tube and I also caught him tearing at a gold crown toadstool.

Ken


Marc Levenson > wrote in message >...
> According to Travis, he watched his crabs rip them off the
> rock while seeking lunch underneath the zoos.
>
> I've had new zoos treated the same, and my guess was that
> they were attracted to the super glue gel compound.
>
> Marc
>
>
> Pszemol wrote:
>
>
> > Interesting... I have a couple of emeralds and I did loose
> > some orange zoos from the rock... I would never blame
> > crab for that... Does it eat zoos or they float in the tank loose
> > after the crab will rip them of the rock?