Emerald crab

[ngalvin24]

Hi all does anyone have any experience with emerald crabs, I am thinking of getting one tomorrow to help with bubble algie and also because they look cool lol, I have herd they are OK with fish and corals as long as they are fed enough just would like a bit of feedback off people with experience really.

 

[vic67]

I don't trust them with smaller polyps of zoas; they are opportunistic feeders. If they have enough to eat in your tank you should be fine. They don't always eat the BA though.

 

[fishroomlady]

I think it may be hit or miss in terms of them eating BA - I have not had luck with emeralds and I'm not sure why - all other inverts have been ok emeralds just disappear on me - they also did not make a huge difference with my bubble algae either

 

[ngalvin24]

At the minute I don't have many corals just 2 that I got with the tank when I bought it so won't be too bad with that just hopefully it don't eat my fish

 

[Preyou]

I have had as many as six in my display with no issues. They leave my zoas alone and do not bother the fish.

 

[Birddog]

I've had a 28G nano for about 4 years. Bubble algae drove me to the point of insanity during my first year to the point of removing all the live rock and carefully prying it all off without popping it only to have it return as thick as the fur on a cats back. I'm pretty sure I learned here on R2R that Emeralds would help, but initially they did nothing. What I learned in my experience was it was about the size of the Emerald that really dictated whether they cleaned up my BA problem. IMHO Emeralds that are the size of a dine are worthless,but when they're the size of a quarter...now there's a bubble algae eating machine. Three properly sized Emeralds cleaned up all my BA in less than 7 days, and again I had so much of it tat it was as thick as the fur on a cats back and I was ready to quit reefing . As mentioned above by Vic they are opportunistic and yes they will be destructive if they're hungry, but it's pretty to manage dependent upon how much you feed.

 

[EvilVOG]

Mine haven't eaten any bubble algae that I've noticed, but I have lots of hair algae and they love that. Both green and red.

 

[Texas Reefer]

I've heard female Emeralds are more prone to eat Bubble algae than males. The way to tell them apart, I heard, is that the lines between the plates on the underside of a female run straight across, and a male's don't. I haven't been able to test this yet, myself.

 

[reggaedrummin]

http://glassbox-design.com/2008/mit...sex-and-pick-the-valonia-eating-emerald-crab/ You can also generally tell make from female by the size of their pincers the males are generally much larger like they have been working out. Stick with smaller females and it will behave. I've always kept them in my reef and I'm free of bubble algae

 

[ngalvin24]

I bought one yesterday I don't no if it is male or female tbh I haven't seen it since I put it in my tank haha

 

[reggaedrummin]

Yeah they generally stay in hiding for a day or two. Flash light your tank at night and you'll find it

 

[PCygni]

I've had an emerald crab for several months now and have seen no damage. Don't see him much during the day except for feeding time. He's out a lot at night though. I was hesitant about him at first, but so far so good.

 

[ngalvin24]

I've had an emerald crab for several months now and have seen no damage. Don't see him much during the day except for feeding time. He's out a lot at night though. I was hesitant about him at first, but so far so good.

How and what do you feed him?

 

[FL_Reefer]

I bought one yesterday I don't no if it is male or female tbh I haven't seen it since I put it in my tank haha

You can tell by the underside of the body, females will have strait lines from legs to the other legs. Not sure if you want to feed it, I never feed mine

 

[reggaedrummin]

How and what do you feed him?

They are scavengers. There's no need to feed them. They are part of your cuc

 

[PCygni]

Also, he has disappeared a couple of times for what seems like weeks on end only to reappear bigger and healthy than ever. I figure if he ever gets too problematical I'll just drop him down in the fuge (if I can find him). I've got a raging ball of chateo he might dig down there.

 

[dmann]

Havent had any problems wiyh mine. He stays hidden all day and comes out at night

 

[PCygni]

How and what do you feed him?

I should say he sticks his head out when I feed the fish. I'm not sure if he ever gets any pellets or mysis like my hermits do. I guess he just 'lives off the land' so to speak. I'm glad I got him (or her, who knows?); he's seems to be a hearty, peaceful inhabitant so far.

 

[dmann]

I just ordered a blue mandarin from the lfs. Good guy. Said he will get it eating frozen for me before i pick it up. Awesome. Im still going to seed the tank with pods but now i dont have to worry that extra litgle bit. Lol

 

[dmann]

Oops wrong thread