Green vs Blue porcelain crab?

Be102 · Jan 17, 2021

Hi everyone!

I am looking to add two of these guys to my tank (if two is a good number..) I have a 65 gallon display with about 45 lbs of live rock and about 100 more lbs of live rock in my sump.)

I am coming off of a very long fallow period and want to start to introduce CUC and whatnot before I add fish down the line and came across these crabs and was interested as they seem to be reef safe and do not bother much.. I have a blue porcelain crab in my cart and then found a green one but cant find much about the green ones online so I was looking to hear if anyone has them both in a tank together.. or just one and if they have good experiences with them!

Thanks!

ariellemermaid · Jan 18, 2021

I’m curious about this too. Also the spotted porcelain crab. Descriptions of all three (blue, green, and spotted) are same across websites, noting they live in groups. If you do order different colors, post an update and let me know how it goes!
I was also wondering if the same is true of Mithrax crabs - green and ruby.

Be102 · Jan 18, 2021

ariellemermaid said:
I’m curious about this too. Also the spotted porcelain crab. Descriptions of all three (blue, green, and spotted) are same across websites, noting they live in groups. If you do order different colors, post an update and let me know how it goes!
I was also wondering if the same is true of Mithrax crabs - green and ruby.

I actually placed an order last night for both a blue and a spotted porcelain crab from reefcleaners! I’ll let you know how it goes.. I’m curious if they will fight.. or ignore each other or even act different.. I was hoping they don’t bother fish and other inverts down the line.

ariellemermaid · Jan 18, 2021

That’s the exact combo I was looking at on reefcleaners! Let me know how it goes. I might email the store and ask if they have any insight to share..

driftin · Jan 18, 2021

I have had a blue porcelain crab for at least a year. I just received some green and spotted last week from John. The spotted all stayed out in the open, but the greens all disappeared into the rocks. The blue tends to hide during the day, coming out when I feed the tank. But it's very pretty, as are the spotted. I'm not as into the greens, but maybe as I see them come out of the rocks every now and then they'll grow on me.

It's fun to watch them eating. I really enjoy having them in the tank.

Be102 · Jan 18, 2021

driftin said:
I have had a blue porcelain crab for at least a year. I just received some green and spotted last week from John. The spotted all stayed out in the open, but the greens all disappeared into the rocks. The blue tends to hide during the day, coming out when I feed the tank. But it's very pretty, as are the spotted. I'm not as into the greens, but maybe as I see them come out of the rocks every now and then they'll grow on me.

It's fun to watch them eating. I really enjoy having them in the tank.

Sweet! Sounds like I got a good combo of one of the blue and one spotted.. any pictures to share?! What size tank are they in?

driftin · Jan 18, 2021

I have them in a 70 gallon. Lots of rock work. The spotted are mostly white and really stand out on the rocks. The blue and green blend in well. The blue actually looks more red. These are all cell phone photos, so quality isn't great.

Here's a spotted hanging out:

And a blue, which in this photo caught a pretty good sized piece of meat floating past and went to town on it. Usually I only see them use their webs to catch small particles out of the water column. This one was fun to watch, it ran its claws up and down the meat ripping tiny pieces off, like popping kernels of corn off an ear, and then caught them with the webs as they fell off.

Here's a pic of the blue doing what it does, hanging out catching food:

Be102 · Jan 18, 2021

driftin said:
I have them in a 70 gallon. Lots of rock work. The spotted are mostly white and really stand out on the rocks. The blue and green blend in well. The blue actually looks more red. These are all cell phone photos, so quality isn't great.

Here's a spotted hanging out:

And a blue, which in this photo caught a pretty good sized piece of meat floating past and went to town on it. Usually I only see them use their webs to catch small particles out of the water column. This one was fun to watch, it ran its claws up and down the meat ripping tiny pieces off, like popping kernels of corn off an ear, and then caught them with the webs as they fell off.

Here's a pic of the blue doing what it does, hanging out catching food:

Lol! They look so cool! Does anything in the tank bother them? or do they bother anyone?!

driftin · Jan 18, 2021

Nothing seems to bother them, and they seem to leave everything else alone too. Maybe they cause trouble somewhere in the tank, but nothing I can see. Really great tank inhabitants.

Just went to look at them and saw this spotted porcelain hanging out. It was on the underside of the RBTA and then climbed onto the rock for this photo: