decorator crabs

roberts

roberts

New Member
We saw a decorator crab at the Monterey Bay Aquarium this past week. They're great! SWF offers them for 9.99. What kind of an addition are they to a home tank, and what would they decorate themselves if I have no corals, only rock? Also, I already have a cleaner shrimp and 3 hermit crabs.
Thanks in advance.
 
reckler

reckler

Member
decorator crabs will decorate themselves with anything you give them. I had a freind with 2 and he would put bright colored ribbons in the tank for them. they were just little pieces but they still work for the little suckers. They were pretty cool to look at because they had all these bright colors on them. they will decorate themselves to hide from prey in the wild. lets hope if they dress up in the aquarium that the fish in there won't like bright colors..

I don't know how reef safe they are. I almost bought on the other day from swf but decided to get the red lobster instead.
 
xdave

xdave

Active Member
They are in the dreaded gorilla crab family. They can, and will, kill healthy fish. They are capable of catching the fastest fish in your tank.
 
michaeltx

michaeltx

Moderator
They are in the dreaded gorilla crab family. They can, and will, kill healthy fish. They are capable of catching the fastest fish in your tank.

i second that one
and they wont eat corals but will literally rip them off the rock to decorate themsevles till they move to a different spot and do the same thing again and again and again..
mike
 
garnet13aj

garnet13aj

Active Member
I saw some at my LFS that were about 3-4 inches, I don't know if there are more than one kind or not though....
 
nick76

nick76

Active Member
Originally Posted by roberts
SWF says it's only 1 inch, it can still catch a flame angel or tang?
The Site only gives u the size of the ones they ship...They get much bigger than that lol.
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
there are two commonly sold, the decorator and the spider decorator.
i had the spide decorator for months, he was about 4" diameter, and was very very slow. he never harmed anything, but then the tank was FOWLR. he died during a tank change so i dont know more than that.
 
roberts

roberts

New Member
I have a 55 gal tank with two clown, 1 firefish and a yellow tang. I started my tank in October, so all are farely young. (I also have 2 hermit crabs and 1 cleaner shrimp) I just ordered a flame angel, royal gramma, and a yellow watchman goby. I wasn't aware of how big fish actually get. Am I in trouble with overload?
Also, I was told by the LFS pellet food and frozen cubes was all I needed, and yet I keep reading on this site that lots of things are needed. Could you fill me in. We love our tank, I don't want to mess it up because of ignorance.
Thanks in advance!
 
ginarox

ginarox

Active Member
Originally Posted by Viperboy
I had one that killed one of my clownfish :( .... so be careful if you get one
hello viperboy,,,i see that your from lawrence kansas,,,my daughter graduates in 2007 and that is where she is going to college,,,it was neet seeing that there is someone from this board that is from lawrence,,,have a good day....
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
Originally Posted by roberts
I have a 55 gal tank with two clown, 1 firefish and a yellow tang. I started my tank in October, so all are farely young. (I also have 2 hermit crabs and 1 cleaner shrimp) I just ordered a flame angel, royal gramma, and a yellow watchman goby. I wasn't aware of how big fish actually get. Am I in trouble with overload?
Also, I was told by the LFS pellet food and frozen cubes was all I needed, and yet I keep reading on this site that lots of things are needed. Could you fill me in. We love our tank, I don't want to mess it up because of ignorance.
Thanks in advance!
whoa whoa whoa, u need to slow down big time!
if you can cancel that order i would do it now! your tank is going to have huge overcrowding problems, and everything else that might come about from rushing and stuffing things.
first off, the tang police are about to come down on you hard, because no tang should be in any tank smaller than 75g with 4' of swimming room, and that is pushing it.
second, you should really consider getting a QT tank to protect your existing inhabitants, and treat any future ones.
3rd, you should be introducing one or two fish at a time, so your bio load can adjust...
spectrum pellets are good, and the right frozen food is good as well, but they can add phosphates to your tank. many people choose to make their own food.
 
f14peter

f14peter

Member
One of the LFSs has what I presume to be a decorator . . . he's covered with long green algea or some other plant material.
Looks like a green aquatic shaggy dog.
 
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