eek hitchhiker crab! I dont know how to get it out of my rock!

fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
i have the rock he is in, in a bucket. that i am looking at. I tryed to scoop him up with a net because when i turned the moonlights on i was watching my tank and then all of a sudden there is this white crab with i think black claws coming out my green star polyp rock. so i went and got a net and i scooped that rock out and filled it with enough water where the green star polyps would be under..
How should i get the crab out? should i just wait for awhile and see if he comes out? He has a whole bunch of holes in here and he went really deep into it.
And on the side note ive been hearing some clicking.. *scared* i was hoping it was just my lights cooling down since it sounds like small glass sounds.. but.. now that i found him could it be him?
Im hoping its not a mantis... (i know this crab isnt a mantis) i was kinda hoping i had a pistol shrimp if it wasnt my lights cooling down.. so for all of you with halides and stuff do your lights ever make small clicks every now and then after you shut them off?
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
oh ya and what i saw of him (maybe him for 10-30 seconds) he looked to be about an inch maybe a little smaller
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by SoulFish
http:///forum/post/2706901
why would you want him out of the rock?
i want to know if its a good or bad crab to have.. lol and if its reef safe, invert safe etc and what it eats.. and what type of crab it is.
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
well here is describing it a little better..
he seemed to like to keep his claws close to his body when he moved.
His claws are shaped more like a cube, not long and pointy.
He looked pretty much totally white with black claws at the tip..
and thats pretty much all i saw..
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
nobody has any idea on how to get it out??..... or what it might be? Ive been looking at crabs on google and i think it kinda looked like an albino rock crab or something like that..
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
yay i think he might come out on his own!!! i see part of him in the rock, and unless i have a mantis or pistol shrimp in the rock also i think he is the one that is making that cracking sound!
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
grr i spoke too soon... he went back into the rock.. well anyways i decided to try and lure him out so i put a couple mysis shrimp a bit a way from the rock to see if he will come out to get it or not.
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
so far ive noticed, amphipods, copepods, micro brittle stars, and a fire or bristle worm (i think.. those red one with the spines?)
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
woot!!! i think i have somewhat identified my crab and found what i was looking for here is a link..
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/235121/new-hitchhiker-crab-need-id
Anyways thats what my crab looks like. So im guessing its the same thing.
I am about to go to bed cuz im extremely tired. But the rock it was in was making clicking noises.. so im not sure if it was from this crab or if it was something else.. This rock has by far the most live stuff on it i have seen..
Well anyways tomorrow i plan on doing a water change, fragging off my green star polyps from this rock and glueing the mat down to another piece of live rock. And then busting this rock apart and seeing what all is in it, and try and keep all the good things and put them in my tank (a whole bunch of micro brittle stars, amphipods and copepods) and leaving out the bristle worm, crab etc.
I talked to my mom and she is talking about going out and actually buying a hospital tank and just putting the rock in there with a red light hooked up to it. but then i wouldnt be able to use it as a hospital.. She is also thinking about not selling my 72..
She is getting into the hobby!!!

But ya tomorrow i will try and remove the crab, but first frag the green star polyps onto a different rock.
Also if i dump the rock in fresh ro water what will happen? How long should i leave it in without killing anying and letting everything come out of it? or will this kill everything?
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by BBB
http:///forum/post/2707056
This might help you some.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/show...ighlight=hyper
wow thanks! that helped!. So today i will see if i can frag all if not most of the green star polyps onto a different rock and then put the rock in a salinity of 1.35-1.40 for 1 minute and then see what i get, This way i can get my baby brittle stars, maybe amphipods and copepods back into the tank. And keep the crab and brittle worms and whatever else might be in the rock out.
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
ok well that didnt work.. but we ended up being impatient and started breaking the rock he was in. then we found him and started cutting up his tunnels till he couldnt go anywhere to hide. Thats when he started crawling around and my mom shook it in the water and he fell off. So at the moment he is hanging out in my fuge.
My mom finally found her camera so i took some pictures of my tank and of the crab. But then the battery died. Now she has to find the connector to put the pics on the comp and her battery charger..

*edit* but it looks pretty much exactly like the one in the link i showed.
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
Honestly if you want him out that bad and the rocks in a bucket. Take some tweezers or something and just rip his little self outta there.
 
fishygurl

fishygurl

Active Member
Originally Posted by paintballer768
http:///forum/post/2708095
Honestly if you want him out that bad and the rocks in a bucket. Take some tweezers or something and just rip his little self outta there.
he had this holes that curved in the rock so that wasnt an option.. lol i sware it was like he made those holes or something.
 
M

markeo99

Guest
you could have also sprayed some fresh water in his hole they come out like rockets
 
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