finally got a pic

[raymond2688]

i posted earlier about a crab well i now see i have 2 a big jimmy and a female full of eggs. i got the female out today but the jimmy has been unseen
here are a few pics....please id
thanks

 

[raymond2688]

just got a good look at the jimmy and he is way bigger than i thought he is the size of a silver dollar....i observer him eating a piece of alge sheet. i also am posting a pic of what appears to be some type of anenome.Attachment 234278

 

[fretfreak13]

The Nem looks like a bleached out Aptasia. I had one on my heater for awhile until my peppermint shrimp fianally found it. lol The crabs look like bad news, and now they're breeding. More bad news. I would banish them to my sump.

 

[btldreef]

Yes, that anemone looks to be bleached aiptasia.
The crab, get it out. Big claws and breeding = BAD NEWS
When you pick it up or scare it does it close up into a rectangle, almost like a little rectangle stone?
Either way, these guys need to be banished to your sump, ASAP.

 

[raymond2688]

the jimmy is proving to be very dificult to catch the female i did not even know i had till i caught her this morning. atleast the female is out and i am going to take them to my LFS as i do not have a sump.
as far as the aptasia not sure it is bleached lighting is not a problem in my tank and only the very tips are white the rest is clear if it was not for the tips i may not have found it
thanks all

 

[raymond2688]

ok i now realize i have a crab out break i had the light off for a few hours in order to catch the moster male crab in my tank. as im looking around in the tank im looking in the wholes in my live rock i counted 25 tiny tiny crabs i think i have an issue do they make medication for this kind of crab.....lol
how do you iraticate them just got my 6 month old tank ready for corals and now this.....ugh

 

[yearofthenick]

Originally Posted by raymond2688
http:///forum/post/3168720
ok i now realize i have a crab out break i had the light off for a few hours in order to catch the moster male crab in my tank. as im looking around in the tank im looking in the wholes in my live rock i counted 25 tiny tiny crabs i think i have an issue do they make medication for this kind of crab.....lol
how do you iraticate them just got my 6 month old tank ready for corals and now this.....ugh
Wow that's awful!!! I've never heard of this kind of outbreak before. You could always get new live rock, although it's expensive. I would take your infested live rock out asap.

 

[raymond2688]

Originally Posted by YearOfTheNick
http:///forum/post/3168745
Wow that's awful!!! I've never heard of this kind of outbreak before. You could always get new live rock, although it's expensive. I would take your infested live rock out asap.
i have 225 lbs of coraline encrusted live rock taking it out and getting new is def...not an option 225x5.99=1346 dollars plust cycling the tank again i have been threw so much with this tank it is finally ready for corals i dont even want to think about starting over it has taken me 6 months to get this far

 

[raymond2688]

is there a crab eating fish......i know there is nothing that will eat the monster jimmy i just have to catch him but the tiny tiny ones maybe something will eat them. i got the female out before her eggs hatched AGAIN......i cant be the only one to ever breed crabs...lol
I have crabs for sale.....cheap...lol

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by raymond2688
http:///forum/post/3168767
is there a crab eating fish......i know there is nothing that will eat the monster jimmy i just have to catch him but the tiny tiny ones maybe something will eat them. i got the female out before her eggs hatched AGAIN......i cant be the only one to ever breed crabs...lol
I have crabs for sale.....cheap...lol
Get a mantis shrimp, LOL
WOW! This sucks. I feel for your right now.
This is why I QT everything, even rock (which is such a hassle).
Have you been able to identify what type of crab it is? The rock that the male is in, remove it from the tank.
Okay, your reef is going to be torn apart, but, here's one method that I know from personal experience works:
Get a rubbermaid bucket. Make a saltwater mixture in the bucket with a ridiculously high SG, like 1.030+. Place your rock in there, the high salt will "burn" the crabs out from hiding.
Lowering the salt level also works, BUT, your live rock will suffer.
The other option is to place the rock in a bucket with food and lure them out. This never works for me.

 

[cranberry]

Are you 100% sure they were tiny tiny crabs? Not some other invert like a pod? Crabs can reproduce in our tanks but the larvae won't survive to become little crabs without some intervention on our part.

 

[cherylann]

I have exactly the same crab in my 24 Aquapod and I have had no trouble with it, infact in 30 years of reef keeping I have never had a problem with any type of crabs. People swear that if it has black tipped claw get rid of it. Its your money and I would do more research before rushing to something as severe as taking out all your live rock. But I aqree that ways we QT.

 

[raymond2688]

oh they are definatly crabs about the size of a dash - they look just like the big ones. so what you are saying is that females eggs will not hatch....
i dont mind taking the rocks out i just will not replace it. i have been trying to find out what kind of crab it is so i can research it if it will not eat my corals to be i will leave them.
thanks to all hope to get an id

 

[btldreef]

I am 99% sure that what you have pictured is a Xanthid crab, or a gorilla, but my gut says Xanthid. I had one in my tank that killed numerous fish and inverts. It left the coral alone so in that way it was "reef safe" but yeah, it created absolute chaos in my tank.
I was like Cherylann in the thought that people were just paranoid about these crabs and I learned the hard way why so many people are paranoid. If you're okay with tearing your rock apart, I'd do it and clean these rocks of those little demons.
Google image search Xanthid Crab. Are these images similar to what you have? If so, look up how horrific Xanthids can be and how fast they grow/reproduce.

 

[cherylann]

Ok now I am paranoid now too. I have battled ich, aptasia, and flat worms and now I get to lay awake tonight and worry about them reproducing and eating my prize clowns. How do they reproduce in a tank? They must go through the ususal larval stage, free floating, how do they make past all the filtration and skimmers.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by cherylann
http:///forum/post/3168953
Ok now I am paranoid now too. I have battled ich, aptasia, and flat worms and now I get to lay awake tonight and worry about them reproducing and eating my prize clowns. How do they reproduce in a tank? They must go through the ususal larval stage, free floating, how do they make past all the filtration and skimmers.
I have no idea. I can't even begin to tell you what I went through with just ONE in my tank, I can't even imagine 2, let alone 25+. Apparently, from what I had read at the time, they reproduce easily .. but I don't know that much. All I know is what one did in my tank and how many expensive fish it ate.

 

[raymond2688]

and i counted 25 just were i could see. i am still trying to get the jimmy out i almost had him an hour ago....i think he knows i am trying to get him....lol
as far as the amount of them i can only hope i will be ablle to pluck them off one by one since i WILL have the breeders aout.

 

[raymond2688]

Xanthid crab it is and i have read nothing good about them....i have made 3 traps and placed them around the tan with various food types im hoping to wake up in the morning with my traps full (like deadliest catch)...hehehe
wish me luck i want them out.
thanks all for the input

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by raymond2688
http:///forum/post/3168990
Xanthid crab it is and i have read nothing good about them....i have made 3 traps and placed them around the tan with various food types im hoping to wake up in the morning with my traps full (like deadliest catch)...hehehe
wish me luck i want them out.
thanks all for the input
I was really hoping they weren't, they're little devils. But I'm glad you got an ID. They're not good .... Good luck! I don't wish them upon anyone after what I went through.