Acro crabs?

Usatennisfan · Oct 7, 2013

Does anyone with an sps dominated reef have acro crabs? What are the positives and negatives to having them? All my sps corals are small (1"+) so would an acro crab be bad for small corals? Do they make the coral upset and not have the polyps out where the crab is sitting? Thanks,
-Stephen-

classklown90 · Oct 7, 2013

I have had only positive experience with them and they are my favorite symbiotic relationship. Its not the coral id be worried about at that size but rather the crab. They like at keast a mini colony size so that they can have security. Make sure they have a black band across their eyes though and are not the black hairy gorilla crabs. They are very bad

On another note, not to hijack but does anyone know where these can ve bought for a reasonable price?

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Usatennisfan · Oct 7, 2013

Thanks for the info, I didn't realize there were crabs that try to mimic acro crabs. DD has a few on there now for $15 each. I was going to get one from Maryland Corals for Sale | Saltwater Fish | Inverts | Reef | Clams for $12. I'm going to grab a few things from there next week so I figured I'd grab at least one acro crab.

bct15 · Oct 7, 2013

Acro crabs are excellent for sps, but they do need at least a mini colony with a bunch of branches.

Usatennisfan · Oct 7, 2013

So like 3ish inches?

classklown90 · Oct 7, 2013

Usatennisfan said:
So like 3ish inches?

Inch isnt a food estimate for size because a staghorn could be 6 inches with a few branches. Basically something the size of my avatar or a bit smaller. There is a crab in there. Im looking for 4 or 5 but $12 a pop is steep

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Reef Fever · Oct 8, 2013

ive got like 3 or 4 different acro crabs, and even had others. depending on the specific type it varies on how rough they are. I had one migrate from a pocillopora colony to a birdsnest and it cleared out quite a bit of polyps for a new pad. so you definitely need a decent sized multi-branched colony to have the prime commensal relationship

childress5tyler · Oct 8, 2013

I've got 2; one in my ice fire echinata colony and one in my acropora tenius.

Dtech07 · Oct 8, 2013

The + is they will keep that acro they live in very clean and protect it. I had a snail trying to climb up the acro the crab gave him the boot. The - is the little that they call home (a little spot in the interior of each of my colonies) smooth because they rub a dent to lay flat with the acro I assume for camouflage. I truly enjoy mine

Mike&Terry · Oct 9, 2013

We have several acro crabs in our colonies as well with no issues - even the blue-eyed cymo's that some folks have issues with.

LiveAquaria sells coral crabs in the trapezia genus which can grow quite large. They are fine in large colonies, but can do some noticeable damage to a mini acro colony or frags. They also prefer pocillopora, stylophora or seriatora over acropora - so if you have any of them, that is where they will migrate to.

Arkayology · Oct 9, 2013

I have a fairly large red/purple trapezia in a 4''x3'' poccilapora colony and it has never done any damage. I have a really cool little white one that lived in a mille colony, but I have not seen it for weeks now so I suspect it is no longer alive. Regardless, I really enjoy these little crabs.

Usatennisfan · Oct 9, 2013

Cool beans! Now all I need is my corals to grow more and I'll be getting g a few. Anybody have any pictures?

Dtech07 · Oct 9, 2013

I have one but it just the claw because they lives in the inner position of the colonies and are very aware when I walk up to the tank.

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Mike&Terry · Oct 9, 2013

Trapezia:

nt 1622 by terryl93, on Flickr

Cymo:

AEC by terryl93, on Flickr

The colony where the Cymo crab resides:

a_hyacinthus by terryl93, on Flickr

Dtech07 · Oct 9, 2013

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Camaro Show Corals · Jul 19, 2019

Bump I’d love to see more pics of these crabs

LARedstickreefer · Jul 19, 2019

I wonder if they’d take out pests, like AEFW?

smartwater101 · Jul 19, 2019

I have ~5 in my system and will continue to get more as I get more sps. I have one that is huge, like the size of a typical emerald crab. I'll see if I can nab a pic at some point. The big one is the only one that openly explores during the day. But is usually camped out in an acro just like his buddies.