Emerald crab and mushroom HELP!!!!

[jamiegrl]

ok so i added 2 emerald crabs to my tank about 1 week ago.
I had lots of algae for them to feed on
they pissed me off when they walked right up to this hitcher zoo polyp and ate it right off the rock... there was a little left over so I had hoped that it might grow back but then the crab came back for seconds and finished it off!
then i have 3 mushroom polyps on this rock and they have been growing and doing great
i came down today to find the two biggest ones gone for them rock
luckily i found them rolling around in the sand in the back of the tank
i think those stupid emerald crabs chopped them off the rock....
i mean the one shroom was so happy he loved his spot so it's really unlikely that he moved himself.....
so i picked up the mushrooms and put them on a different rock and secured them with a loose rubber band.... is there anything else i can do to save the mushrooms??
should i get rid of the emerald crabs? i was planning on picking up another frag cuz the tank was doing so well but with my mushrooms getting chopped of im a little nervous!
any advice???

 

[spanko]

-Sometimes you get the crabs sometimes the crabs get you. Emeralds have always been a hit or miss kind of thing. Some people have the best of luck with them and others have the stupid things eating their corals.
One thing I have found though is that female crabs seem to be a little more on the easy side than males.
Here is the way to tell the difference:
Please do not post link to sites that have links to competitors of SWF.com
Not saying that a female will guarantee them not eating your corals, but so far anecdotal evidence leans that way.

 

[jamiegrl]

uh... i love hearing this after i bought them haha
i researched and they all said they may pick at first but would them leave them alone!
im not sure when to draw the line and get rid of them....
thanks so much for the help.. i definately have a male and a female
the female is definately more bold and seen more often than the male but that doesn't mean the male is not the culprit!! Thanks

 

[brewski4u1]

send them my way! lol my shrooms are taking over and i cant seem to stop them! at least they will have a ton of food! lol

 

[jamiegrl]

they weren't eating them just chopping them off the rocks
so i have this random red kelp plant growing from one of my rocks that i absolutely love
i found almost the entire thing ripped off the rocks
i ripped both the crabs out of the tank and they are on their way back to the LFS
good riddens!!!

 

[dan hanna]

Thats awsome...... Tell the LFS thanks for the great advice

!!! Some times no advce is better then the wrong advice. Good luck!!

 

[big]

Here is a shot from about a year ago when I first got a "Emerald crap.". Yes I misspelled the word! That was a Octobubble coral frag the little beast is munching on. (Yea he was bleaching some he was new.)
And no it is not just eating algae off the coral, he or she is eating the coral.
Sump clean up duty was his next assignment. Never again will one be in my DT..... Warren

 

[amyandbrandon2]

Hmmm....I'm glad I ran across this thread! I have a pretty severe bubble algea problem on my new LR and was thinking of getting 2 emeralds....but maybe I wont now....Next week I'll be recieving shrooms, zoas, and yellow polyps and would HATE to have the emerald get them....

Anything else take care of bubble algea like the emerald?

 

[jamiegrl]

i say do a huge scrub down.
I had the problem as well so with my water change i took the rocks with the bubble algae and scrubbed them off and rinsed them with the old tank water
my tank is bubble free!

 

[keri]

My emerald is eating my GSP's.... it's ok, I don't like them....but NOT ok if he moves on to the corals I DO like!!