Emerald Crabs

[John N. Gretchen III]

looking for negative reports (or positive) before I put 2 in my cycling
75g reef tank, thanks
--
John N. Gretchen III
Port O'Connor TX
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

[Pszemol]

"John N. Gretchen III" > wrote in message ...
> looking for negative reports (or positive) before I put 2
> in my cycling 75g reef tank, thanks

I would never put any inverts into a cycling tank.
They may not survive the ammonia peak.

[John N. Gretchen III]

I hear your concern. The tank has been cycling for three weeks with live
sand and live rock. This mornings test yield sg 1.021, ph 8.4, nitrite
0, ammonia 0, nitrate 0. My problems are the algae and calcium 330 mg/l
level. Is 330 acceptable?

Pszemol wrote:
> "John N. Gretchen III" > wrote in message ...
>
>>looking for negative reports (or positive) before I put 2
>>in my cycling 75g reef tank, thanks
>
>
> I would never put any inverts into a cycling tank.
> They may not survive the ammonia peak.

--
John N. Gretchen III
Port O'Connor TX
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

[reefman MC]

I wouldn't put an emerald in an aquarium where there will be small fish.
Emeralds get huge and will happily eat a fish. The one that i used to
have ate two small maroon clowns that I had. Just something else to
think about.


--
reefman MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reefman MC's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=7
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7916

[John N. Gretchen III]

Thanks for the tip reefman!

reefman MC wrote:
> I wouldn't put an emerald in an aquarium where there will be small fish.
> Emeralds get huge and will happily eat a fish. The one that i used to
> have ate two small maroon clowns that I had. Just something else to
> think about.

John N. Gretchen III
Port O'Connor TX
http://www.tisd.net/~jng3

[reefman MC]

Your welcome


--
reefman MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reefman MC's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=7
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7916

[Pszemol]

"reefman MC" > wrote in message ...
> I wouldn't put an emerald in an aquarium where there will be small fish.
> Emeralds get huge and will happily eat a fish. The one that i used to
> have ate two small maroon clowns that I had. Just something else to
> think about.

I always considered them to be mainly herbivores and occasional scavenger.
Never considered emerald crabs to be an active predator hunting for a live fish.

How sure are you, he did actively hunt for them, and not that they died on
their own and the crab just helped himself to a piece of dead fish?

[reefman MC]

I saw him catch the smaller of the two. I stopped him from killing the
maroon. When i woke up the next morning the smaller maroon was
completely gone. Within a week the larger was gone. I found his dead
body in the crabs mouth. I'm 99.9% sure he killed both of them.


--
reefman MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reefman MC's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=7
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7916

[Pszemol]

"reefman MC" > wrote in message ...
> I saw him catch the smaller of the two. I stopped him from
> killing the maroon.

Was maroon fully healthy or was it weak or dying already?
This is interesting observation.

> When i woke up the next morning the smaller maroon was
> completely gone.

Why haven't you separated them both to different tanks
or at least to the sump??

> Within a week the larger was gone. I found his dead body
> in the crabs mouth. I'm 99.9% sure he killed both of them.

Dead fish in his mouth confirms he is a scavenger.
Does not prove he attacked live fish.

[Pszemol]

"reefman MC" > wrote in message ...
> I saw him catch the smaller of the two. I stopped him from killing the
> maroon. When i woke up the next morning the smaller maroon was
> completely gone. Within a week the larger was gone. I found his dead
> body in the crabs mouth. I'm 99.9% sure he killed both of them.

Here is what I found about emerald crabs on reefcentral.com:

"Emerald crabs are often misidentified, and while some
predominantly eat algae, others don't." - Ron Shimek

[reefman MC]

What i'm saying is I saw him attack the smaller one. He actually grasped
him in his claw. I then removed the maroon from his claw. I went to
sleep. The next morning I woke up the smaller maroon was gone. Within a
week the larger one was to. This was when I first started out with my
reef. The crab has been long since gone. He was gotten rid of
immediately after he ate my maroons. I'm telling you that the one I had
was more predatory. Not that every emerald crab on the face of earth
will be predatory. Just be careful at how large the crab is when it is
bought. Buy them as small as you can get them!


--
reefman MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reefman MC's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=7
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7916

[reefman MC]

ok


--
reefman MC
------------------------------------------------------------------------
reefman MC's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=7
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7916

[twp]

http://www.vividaquariums.com/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=02-1710&ReturnTo=/10Browse.asp?Category=Coral+And+Invertebrates:Crab s

The Emerald Crab is a superb algae eater, and will even eat bubble
algae. It is very useful in keeping reef aquariums clean and free of
undesirable algae. Large specimens can be harmful to small fish
although this is unlikely, especially if there is sufficient algae for
the crab to eat.


"Pszemol" > wrote in message >...
> "reefman MC" > wrote in message ...
> > I wouldn't put an emerald in an aquarium where there will be small fish.
> > Emeralds get huge and will happily eat a fish. The one that i used to
> > have ate two small maroon clowns that I had. Just something else to
> > think about.
>
> I always considered them to be mainly herbivores and occasional scavenger.
> Never considered emerald crabs to be an active predator hunting for a live fish.
>
> How sure are you, he did actively hunt for them, and not that they died on
> their own and the crab just helped himself to a piece of dead fish?

[fishgills]

Emerald crabs are small, usually one half inch to 2 inches for the
carapace width. Emerald crabs are usually deeper green when they are
younger and eating more greens. The green fades to grey as they age and
begin to scavange more. Emerald crabs have "shovel-like" claws as
opposed to the sharp pointy claws of more predatory crabs. and if you
look were the claw bends you'll see a red spot, thats a true Emerald
crab.:)


--
fishgills

http://community.webtv.net/philip711/OLDIESROCKANDROLL
------------------------------------------------------------------------
fishgills's Profile: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=13
View this thread: http://www.reef-chat.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=7916