So I got a weird crab

[Kanshi]

Unfortunately, either one is not reef safe. They will go after fish and wipe out your cuc.

 

[littlefoxx]

Gonna try attaching the photo again.

I have a crab that looked like that! Mine is reef safe

 

[littlefoxx]

I have a crab that looked like that! Mine is reef safe

Mine are zebra hermits. Bot sure if thats what yours is but it looks similar

 

[Aeiyr]

Unfortunately, either one is not reef safe. They will go after fish and wipe out your cuc.

This is suboptimal news. I guess I need to offload him sooner. I'll let him stay shortly under a daily watch. Luckily the tank is deskside and I work from home, so if he murders, it's when I sleep.

I'll take more pictures for ID soon. But yeah, if he's one of those species he will have to go. The order was goofed in my favor and I dont intent to have my free bonus trochus snails eaten at 4 bucks a pop. (I paid for 3, they sent me 10, one was DOA, bonus snails!)

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I got my first two fish today. Ordered from Dr.Reefs quarantined fish. With the fish I also ordered a very small Cuc. It's a 14g nano tank. Well they goofed and instead of the small bits, they sent me packs of 10 of each invert I ordered. 30 snails and 20 crabs later, one of the scarlet Hermit crabs doesn't look so scarlet to me.

He lives in an odd shell, conch shell maybe? But he's not a Halloween I don't think. He's also massive compared to the other Scarlets he arrived with. Pictures included. He's a dark brown/burgundy color with specles all over.

Anyways I'm keeping him. I've already named him Gorbathrax the ReefBreaker.

What is he?

Looks like a Blue-spotted hermit crab ( Dardanus guttatus) and not recommended for tank if it is

 

[Aeiyr]

Looks like a Blue-spotted hermit crab ( Dardanus guttatus) and not recommended for tank if it is

Yeah he's looking a LOT like the speckled white instead of the spotted white. If it's the case, he's full grown at just over an inch, but will not hesitate to ruin other snails and hermits if I don't feed him like a king. As cool as he is, he is likely not worth the trouble in a small tanks where his damage could be harder to fix.

dang. I really wanted to keep it.

 

[areohen]

why dont you contact where you got it and ask them to be sure what it is

 

[Aeiyr]

why dont you contact where you got it and ask them to be sure what it is

Got it from Drreefsquarantinedfish. I've since sent them an email and am waiting for a reply. I did check the site and the only hermits they sell are tricolor species, scarlet, and holloweens.

 

[Kanshi]

Yeah he's looking a LOT like the speckled white instead of the spotted white. If it's the case, he's full grown at just over an inch, but will not hesitate to ruin other snails and hermits if I don't feed him like a king. As cool as he is, he is likely not worth the trouble in a small tanks where his damage could be harder to fix.

dang. I really wanted to keep it.

Speckled white can get up to 5 inches.

 

[twentyleagues]

Canidate for a fuge. I had a couple gorilla crabs in a fuge for a bit, til one unexpectedly "exploded".

 

[Aeiyr]

Canidate for a fuge. I had a couple gorilla crabs in a fuge for a bit, til one unexpectedly "exploded".

Lol. Exploded? You HAVE to elaborate. Also it's an IM nuvo AIO, so fuge isn't something I have ATM. I have plants for a hang on fuge in the future but, not yet.

 

[twentyleagues]

Lol. Exploded? You HAVE to elaborate. Also it's an IM nuvo AIO, so fuge isn't something I have ATM. I have plants for a hang on fuge in the future but, not yet.

Lol yeah "exploded". I'm guessing the other crab had a snack. There were legs and shell pieces all over the tank.

 

[Aeiyr]

Lol yeah "exploded". I'm guessing the other crab had a snack. There were legs and shell pieces all over the tank.

Lol, nature do be weird. I've had the nassarius snails all burst from the sand and make a B line for a couple trochus that fell off rocks already that haven't quite "woken up" since I acclimated them this afternoon. I saved them with some tweezers but whatever happens over night happens. I can't save them from Snurder (snail murder) 24/7.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yeah he's looking a LOT like the speckled white instead of the spotted white. If it's the case, he's full grown at just over an inch, but will not hesitate to ruin other snails and hermits if I don't feed him like a king. As cool as he is, he is likely not worth the trouble in a small tanks where his damage could be harder to fix.

dang. I really wanted to keep it.

You can sump it. Its likely a hitchhiker and the LFS it came from will likely not know

 

[Aeiyr]

You can sump it. Its likely a hitchhiker and the LFS it came from will likely not know

I would if I had a sump. It's an IM nuvo14 peninsula. I'll maybe just give him to my lfs free this weekend or offer him free on a local posting to anyone that wants to pick him up. I will not be taking my awful cousins advice of "slingshot" however. Some people man.

Anyways, yeah after a lot of photo digging he looks most likely to be a white speckle. Thanks to all those who chipped in on the ID, much appreciated, wish I could keep the little guy.