Large emerald crab safe with small fish

[Marco333]

About 6 months ago I purchased a small emerald crab for my 40 breeder reef tank to combat bubble algae. Since then the crab has tripled in size and grown HUGE claws. The crab is very friendly, always eating algae around the tank and I usually spot feed him when I feed my fish. He loves chunks of shrimp. So far he has been a model citizen. Does not bother corals, sexy shrimp, snails, or clownfish. However, the size of his claws really freaks me out. He could easily slice my clowns in two and I really don’t want that to happen. For those of you with large emerald crabs, have you had any issues with them attacking fish?

 

[JumboShrimp]

In my experience, while the claws may look menacing, the emeralds don’t have the ‘skill’ to trap a live fish, except perhaps in a nano tank. Now a Coral Banded Shrimp? They have eaten many of my $7 damsels (caught red-handed in this photo). Let’s see what other people think...

 

[jda]

I find emerald crabs to be safe and reasonable citizens as long as they are fed. If you starve them, then they can start to eat corals and try and catch stuff... and who can blame them. If your tank is low on algae, some pellets can keep them fed. They cannot just scavenge poo and live.

I would not sweat the emerald crab much since you keep it fed.

 

[mta_morrow]

The crab will be fine as long as it is fed.

 

[alton]

Mine is a red emerald, larger than most and only eats algae.

 

[Marco333]

Thanks for the replies. Hopefully he remains peaceful. Here is a picture I just took of him.

 

[JumboShrimp]

He’s a monster! Lol