Crabs on SPS colonies

Reflective · Oct 11, 2015

So I bought two colonies today from reefapalooza and I was about to dip them and I noticed two tiny crabs on one coral and one on the other.
I can't get a good picture of them. They aren't fuzzy and they camouflage into the coral really well.
I just stuck them as is into my frag tank w/o dipping them.
Is there a way to get them off the coral without hurting them so I can get a picture to see if they are bad or good?

IronVulture · Oct 11, 2015

Google acropora crab. If they are the same they are good and will not harm your corals

MrDJeep123 · Oct 11, 2015

I would venture to say they are trapezias. Extremely reef safe and beneficial to the acro. I would keep them.

Reflective · Oct 12, 2015

I googled it and they look like the lighter ones I see in the images with the black band across the face.
So should I skip dipping the coral and put it in my tank?

Edit: Or if I leave them in my frag tank, when would I start noticing other pests?

bct15 · Oct 12, 2015

Probably bandit acro crabs (white to grey crabs with a black robbers mask across their face). I usually keep them in my colonies when I get them.

You can attempt to chase them out of the colony with a chopstick, dip the coral, then put them back a little while after dipping.

Reflective · Oct 12, 2015

bct15 said:
Probably bandit acro crabs (white to grey crabs with a black robbers mask across their face). I usually keep them in my colonies when I get them.

You can attempt to chase them out of the colony with a chopstick, dip the coral, then put them back a little while after dipping.

Going to try this.

Reflective · Oct 14, 2015

Chasing them out didn't work. They just move to other parts of the coral that I can't get to.

hatfielj · Oct 14, 2015

I would leave them in unless you are sure they are a bad one. In the wild acro crabs protect the coral and keep it healthy.

Reflective · Oct 14, 2015

I do want to keep them, I just wanted to dip the coral before putting it in my tank. So I was trying to figure out a way to get them off so I could dip it, then let them back on.

IronVulture · Oct 14, 2015

Dip the coral and rescue the crabs from the dip

clownfitch · Oct 14, 2015

IronVulture said:
Dip the coral and rescue the crabs from the dip

Probably not a good idea. I don't imagine there would be a positive survival rate for any crabs that land in a medicated dip.

IronVulture · Oct 14, 2015

They will be fine if you scoop them out right away

clownfitch · Oct 14, 2015

How would you handle any of the poisons that they ingest or that makes it to there gills?

maidia · Oct 14, 2015

I dont know it is true or not, some people said the crab which dark color and hairy is not a good crab..Please chim in if I am wrong.

GlassMunky · Oct 14, 2015

Reflective said:
I do want to keep them, I just wanted to dip the coral before putting it in my tank. So I was trying to figure out a way to get them off so I could dip it, then let them back on.

Its taken me 45 minutes or more to get these guys out before dipping. its worth it though. they are great little protectors of the acropora they reside in. I love mine

Reflective · Oct 14, 2015

maidia said:
I dont know it is true or not, some people said the crab which dark color and hairy is not a good crab..Please chim in if I am wrong.

I think the hairy ones are bad. Mine look like this http://www.reefland.com/gallery/files/9/0/4/3/littlecrab_original.jpg

maidia · Oct 14, 2015

Reflective said:
I think the hairy ones are bad. Mine look like this http://www.reefland.com/gallery/files/9/0/4/3/littlecrab_original.jpg

Thanks for the picture..learning about reef day by day.

Reflective · Oct 14, 2015

GlassMunky said:
Its taken me 45 minutes or more to get these guys out before dipping. its worth it though. they are great little protectors of the acropora they reside in. I love mine

Yeah, and they really don't seem scared of anything. Even when I touch them with the chop stick they just move a tiny bit.

IronVulture · Oct 14, 2015

Great I'm glad you were able to save them. The first one I found was when I dipped a mini colony I picked up from my lfs. I scooped him out of the dip and dropped him in the water I had ready to rinse my coral and he was fine. Still alive and kicking today.