What is going on in my tank!!!!

[JosephM]

Glad to hear you found the source of destruction. I would get a pair of pliers/big forceps and a turkey baster full of 'the juices left after you defrost your food' and squirt it in the hole. The crab will come crawling out real fast looking for a juicy meal, and then bam! You pluck him with your pliers. Crabby crab no more.

Smart plan! I’ll try that as well during my feeding tomorrow. I’ll keep you guys updated on when I catch it!

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

Smart plan! I’ll try that as well during my feeding tomorrow. I’ll keep you guys updated on when I catch it!

Rooting for you! Be ware that when I try and grab my crabs with forceps they hold onto the rock so hard I can crack the shell before they let go/slip away, may be worth it to just make sure you get it via crab kabab vs having it run and hide.

 

[JosephM]

Rooting for you! Be ware that when I try and grab my crabs with forceps they hold onto the rock so hard I can crack the shell before they let go/slip away, may be worth it to just make sure you get it via crab kabab vs having it run and hide.

Haha, thank you for the tip! If I can manage it to come out and grab it it’s not getting away, i don’t care if I splatter that demon

 

[JosephM]

Thought I killed him last night :mad: I guess my tweezers aren’t thin enough to fit in or there’s caves inside his hole. He came most of the way out today, is he a gorilla crab that can cause all this mayhem?

 

[zalick]

Thought I killed him last night :mad: I guess my tweezers aren’t thin enough to fit in or there’s caves inside his hole. He came most of the way out today, is he a gorilla crab that can cause all this mayhem?

hard to tell with the blue lights. It looks like really long arms. Are you sure it's not some sort of shrimp?

Never mind I think I can see it is a crab turned sideways right?

 

[JosephM]

hard to tell with the blue lights. It looks like really long arms. Are you sure it's not some sort of shrimp?

Yeah it’s hard for me to cancel out blues. I’m slowly raising my blues and whites up lol
But definitely a crab. Here’s a pic of him outlined, he blends in with the rock a lot

 

[zalick]

Yeah it’s hard for me to cancel out blues. I’m slowly raising my blues and whites up lol
But definitely a crab. Here’s a pic of him outlined, he blends in with the rock a lot

in the future when you take a picture just turn your whites on 100% just for the picture.

I can't tell what crab it is. But I am in the camp of no crabs are totally safe. They are opportunistic and will grab a hold of anything that they can.

since you already had at least one gorilla crab in there I think it's safe to assume that this one is probably not safe.

I've never had to catch a crab in my tank. But I have certainly caught tons of crab in the ocean.

You might try tilting a shot glass up against the hole and putting a little bit of food in the bottom. if the crab goes into the shot glass it might have a really hard time getting out. Also the way this crab is behaving it's clearly not an algae eating crab

 

[JosephM]

in the future when you take a picture just turn your whites on 100% just for the picture.

I can't tell what crab it is. But I am in the camp of no crabs are totally safe. They are opportunistic and will grab a hold of anything that they can.

since you already had at least one gorilla crab in there I think it's safe to assume that this one is probably not safe.

I've never had to catch a crab in my tank. But I have certainly caught tons of crap in the ocean.

You might try tilting a shot glass up against the hole and putting a little bit of food in the bottom. if the crab goes into the shot glass it might have a really hard time getting out

I was just worried to do anything because the slightest movement of me and he scrambles away. Would the shot glass trap be best at night or during the day? Can I just use like a frozen shrimp, tilapia, or salmon? Because all the types of fish food I have will just float or dissolve away

 

[zalick]

I was just worried to do anything because the slightest movement of me and he scrambles away. Would the shot glass trap be best at night or during the day? Can I just use like a frozen shrimp, tilapia, or salmon? Because all the types of fish food I have will just float or dissolve away

At night will probably be best. But if it works like I think it might just leave it in there and the crab won't be able to get out. Just put a little slice of salmon tilapia frozen shrimp whatever all you need is just a tiny little piece for it to smell and try to go get.

Day or night actually doesn't really matter. just at a time when there's no movement around the tank so it doesn't get spooked and stay in its hole

 

[JosephM]

At night will probably be best. But if it works like I think it might just leave it in there and the crab won't be able to get out. Just put a little slice of salmon tilapia frozen shrimp whatever all you need is just a tiny little piece for it to smell and try to go get.

Day or night actually doesn't really matter. just at a time when there's no movement around the tank so it doesn't get spooked and stay in its hole

Sweet. I’ll do that tonight if I think about it after work. Should I soak it in a little garlic to make it smell real good? Or maybe that’ll hype the fish up and they’ll try and get it

 

[zalick]

Sweet. I’ll do that tonight if I think about it after work. Should I soak it in a little garlic to make it smell real good? Or maybe that’ll hype the fish up and they’ll try and get it

No need to soak it in garlic. The crab will go after it no matter what.

 

[terraincognita]

Yeah it’s hard for me to cancel out blues. I’m slowly raising my blues and whites up lol
But definitely a crab. Here’s a pic of him outlined, he blends in with the rock a lot

Def hard to see.

If he is the culprit of fish killing he's probably in the Xanthidae family.

Kind of looks like it. But again really hard to see.

Might be Chlorodiella species but normally those aren't so aggressive.


Are his pincers Sharp looking and not always sometime tips are black? If so def in the Xanthidae.

If they're more dull and "spoon" like then not.

 

[JosephM]

Def hard to see.

If he is the culprit of fish killing he's probably in the Xanthidae family.

Kind of looks like it. But again really hard to see.

Might be Chlorodiella species but normally those aren't so aggressive.


Are his pincers Sharp looking and not always sometime tips are black? If so def in the Xanthidae.

If they're more dull and "spoon" like then not.

The pincers are definitely on the larger side and not as sharp. Hopefully I can catch him and get some better pics for you guys to identify

 

[99problemsandatankisone]

I was just wondering if you could poison the guy... some sort of thing you could inject in a piece of shrimp then put in front of the cave for it to eat... something that killed only crustaceans

 

[JosephM]

I was just wondering if you could poison the guy... some sort of thing you could inject in a piece of shrimp then put in front of the cave for it to eat... something that killed only crustaceans

That’d be interesting to hear if someone knows. I did try baiting him out but I was too slow or he was too quick and stole the krill right out of my tweezers

 

[zalick]

That’d be interesting to hear if someone knows. I did try baiting him out but I was too slow or he was too quick and stole the krill right out of my tweezers

Any update on catching this guy?

 

[JosephM]

Any update on catching this guy?

I’ve tried baiting by hand, shot glass, bottle trap, trying to squish him, and out of pure anger shooting some aiptasia-x at him :mad:. Absolutely zero luck. Thinking about buying some scallops next time at the store because I’ve heard crabs love scallops way more then the shrimp I’ve been using.

 

[zalick]

I’ve tried baiting by hand, shot glass, bottle trap, trying to squish him, and out of pure anger shooting some aiptasia-x at him :mad:. Absolutely zero luck. Thinking about buying some scallops next time at the store because I’ve heard crabs love scallops way more then the shrimp I’ve been using.

Wow. Tough and Wiley little #$&@!

 

[JosephM]

Wow. Tough and Wiley little #$&@!

Honestly. I’m not too too worried because he doesn’t seem to be bothering any other corals and my remaining fish. So however least invasive I can be I’m coming to be

 

[SlugSnorter]

I’m freaking out right now. Verge of a breakdown. Earlier today my fire fish got badly injured. Created a hospital tank for him. Got home from work just a little bit ago to find my Dracula goby dead! There’s a crab that I’ve barely seen make appearances dead right outside of the pistol and gobies cave. The Dracula goby is dead on the other side of the tank though. what the heck happened. It looks like a massacre. No way a 3/4” Randall’s pistol could do this right??? Please any insight. This is my second time trying a Dracula and it pains me. Not only the price but they’re so hard to find

murder or uronema