ok...now my emerald crab is eating my shrooms

frozenguy

frozenguy

Member
i come home from movies....
and AGAIN.....i see my mushrooms almost down to nothing with my emerald crab on top of them...i swear, i think i see some missing....it could just be my immagination...but i swear i think i do...is it unusual for an emerald to eat my mushrooms? i'm gonna go count it.....
 
waterwolf

waterwolf

Member
Emerald crabs should not eat mushrooms or any other soft corals. Mithrax sculptus(Emerald crab) occasionally eats meaty foods but is mostly a planktivore. Are you 100% sure of the identity? A close family member is Neopetrolisthes(porcelin crab) It eats planktonic food and mucus from an anemone. If one food source is absent it must adapt and use the other. Another one is Micrtyridae(soldier crab) which is a pure omnivore which could pose a threat to sessile inverts. Personally I do not like keeping crabs in a reef. You need to spend some time even at night with a black light and see if you can catch the villian. Wait on the polyps until you are sure you don't have a problem.
 
frozenguy

frozenguy

Member
i'm sure that it is an emerald...i bought 2 last night with the shrooms....i have counted 18 mushrooms...when i first got it, i think there were 20..but it was a rough count...but i have recounted about 20 times...maybe more and all came out to 18 so i am going to wait it out and see....he and the other emerald seem to be eating great...i fed them last night..they ahve been having a blast with some left over food on the ground, the shell that my blood shrimp molted off...i dont see why they would be hungary......
 
frozenguy

frozenguy

Member
slightly OT...
is it odd for my cleaner shrimp to be cleaning his tail?
but, i would rather answer for the crab/shroom...two answers would be great!!!!!
thanks in advance.....
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
I wouldn't put it past just about any animal to eat polyps, 'shrooms, etc that are stressed or dying. They can often tell this long before we can. So that is a possibility. However, they may just as easily be picking algae, etc from around the the 'shroom, and this may cause the 'shrooms to close/shrink. Really there aren't many crabs at all that are completely reef safe, and I have heard of emeralds causing at least some trouble now and then. For now, I wouldn't be too concerned until you have more definitive proof that something is up. In which case, I reckon the problem is with the health of your mushrooms, considering both your emaralds and hermits seem to be interested in them...if I recall correctly.
What color are the mushrooms...were they all open and extended when you bought the rock?
 
frozenguy

frozenguy

Member
the mushrooms are a crimson red....there are 18 on a rock about 5 inches by 4 inches...roughly...i'm just eyeing it now from my desk...all the mushrooms were opened fully...when i got them home, they were tightened up, but the next morning, after the lights had been on for about an hour, they were fully open...they weren't extended...but i heard that they only extend outwards if they are trying to collect more light....there is one on the side of the rock that extended out though, but he is on a shadowy side...but yes, since then, every day, all day, the mushrooms have been opening up to their normal size...even when a hermit is on the rock, untill he starts moving back and forth and moving trudging around....like hermits do....but they all seem to be doing fine......still..and i still count all 18...fully open and everything.....
now about my cleaner shrimp, is that normal for him to "clean" his tail?
 
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