Goodbye sweet duncan

Intricateart · Nov 21, 2013

A little crab ripped out one of our duncan heads (we only have 2, they are taking their sweet time growing) and I had recently target fed them. I'm not sure if the crab was after the fully swallowed mysis, or if he suddenly discovered he liked coral, but he saw the pointy end of a bbq poker, so it wont happen again

hwell:

TarHeelReefer22 · Nov 21, 2013

What kind of crab? IME any crab even "algae" eaters like emeralds will go after meatys and pull them out of the mouths of corals this is the challenge with most shrimp as well!

Intricateart · Nov 21, 2013

He was a local one, we've had them for years, they stay under an inch and are usually well behaved, especially as they have no natural experience with coral (they come for the mangrove areas a little north in florida, which are bracking when the tide is going out, so coral doesn't grow there) and I'm guessing he was drawn to it cause of the shrimp and discovered he liked it. Thats why he had to die.

Tab28 · Nov 22, 2013

That is sad on both sides. Now you can get another duncan they grow fast once established. I have fragged mine of every head. As long as there is the colored flesh on the stem part of the skeleton it can still send out new heads. My shrimp are always pulling food from my lps. I learned to drop enough pellet food so they will go for that giving the lps enough time to eat. Never had a crab rip at my corals, but no idea what kind you had. A gorilla grab (actually just a stone crab) made its way to my sump before it could live up to its lore.

revhtree · Nov 22, 2013

Sorry!

Intricateart · Nov 22, 2013

Tab28 said:
That is sad on both sides. Now you can get another duncan they grow fast once established. I have fragged mine of every head. As long as there is the colored flesh on the stem part of the skeleton it can still send out new heads. My shrimp are always pulling food from my lps. I learned to drop enough pellet food so they will go for that giving the lps enough time to eat. Never had a crab rip at my corals, but no idea what kind you had. A gorilla grab (actually just a stone crab) made its way to my sump before it could live up to its lore.

You are lucky about the stone crab. They are evil without a doubt lol. I don't know of a name for these, they stay under an inch and resemble a very small emerald without the specialized claws. They are black with red claws and white strip across the eyes. Gulf of mexico native. Little jerk. Thanks for the support!