ID this crab for me please

btldreef

Moderator
I'm on my phone, so I can't give a species ID. What i can tell you is that it is a bad crab. 99% of the time a hitchhiker crab w/ black tipped claws is nothing but trouble. He looks fairly small still so you may not have noticed any issues yet, but you will. Try to remove him and banish him to your sump or some LFSs will take them.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by dc2mlbsm
http:///forum/post/3206979
y what do they do?
They're predators. They'll eat your fish, inverts and some have an appetite for corals.
I had a Xanthid crab come as a hitchhiker. He was about the size of a quarter and took out 3 shrimp, some hermits and 3+" fish.
 

btldreef

Moderator
See if a LFS or someone on a local reef forum wants him when you catch him.
As for catching him you can try:
  • Try to lure him out with food (usually doesn't work)
  • Take out the rock, leave it out in air for 3-5 minutes over a bucket, sometimes they'll jump out looking for water
    Take out the rock and dip it in a high salinity solution
    try a trap
 

dc2mlbsm

Member
1st and 2nd options since the 3rd one aint an option for me(I buy my saltwater) and I dont wanna set up a trap. Thanks for your help
 

doggie

Member
I had a few crabs like this in my tank when i added about 100 pounds of live rock. I waited every night for them to come out and started feeding them. after a few weeks they began to trust me and as soon as i put the tongs in to feed them they would come right to the food. Then I just scooped them out with a little net and threw them in the sump. They are all still in there too.
I'm sure someone would take it off your hands.
 

raymond2688

Member
after having tons of crabs in my tank i would opt to a high salt content dip the rock he will come out and you may be amazed at how many others come out. good luck i have tried everything and most works but not as good as dipping your rock. quick easy done
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by dc2mlbsm
http:///forum/post/3208476
the thing is I don't mix my salt...I buy it from the LFS already mixed in the water at 1.024
time to start.

you can buy a bottle of distilled water at the grocery store and a small box of salt at your lfs and it'll do the trick for this purpose. why don't you make your own salt water?
 

dc2mlbsm

Member
well the crab came out already and I took it to the LFS and it got fed to an eel...I dont make my own salt water because I heard it has to be sitting in a bucket mixing for at least a day and I'll rather just go buy it from my LFS
 
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