Question On Emerald Crabs.

[coop24n9]

JUST WONDERING IF ANYBODY ELSE HAS HAD PROBLEMS WITH THEIR EMERALD CRABS EATING BRISTLE WORMS...
I USED TO HAVE A LOT OF BRISTLE WORMS, ON THE LIVE ROCK, BUT SINCE I BOUGHT SOME EMERALD CRABS, I DON'T SEE ANY.
I HAVE WITNESSED A COUPLE CRABS EATING THE WORMS. THAT IS THE REASON FOR CONVICTING THE CRABS AS MURDERERS.

 

[bang guy]

Do they have any algae to eat? Your Bristle worm population will probably rebound, I'm pretty sure they can reproduce faster than an Emerald could eat them. Does your Emerald crab have a red 'dot' on the inside of the 'elbow' attached to the claws?

 

[tang_man_montreal]

I'm curious as to what the red dot on the emerald crab would mean??

 

[coop24n9]

YES, THEY DO. DOES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE??

 

[megadon]

I also noticed I don't see as many bristle worms in my rock as I did before adding my emerald crab, mine has a red dot in his elbow too, what does that signify? I also noticed less pods running around the rock. I have 1 crab in a 40 with 60 lbs of rock, I also give him raw shrimp every few days hoping to keep him well fed.

 

[buzz]

OK...now I'm dying to know about the red dot on the elbow. Mine has 'em too. Good? Bad? Ugly?

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by Buzz
OK...now I'm dying to know about the red dot on the elbow. Mine has 'em too. Good? Bad? Ugly?
Sorry for the mass hysteria!
Not all green crabs are "Emerald" crabs. "Emerald" crabs have the red dot. It's just an easy way to Id them without a pic.
With Emerald crabs you are going to have fewer 'pods. A lot of the 'pods hide in algae during the day, crab eats the algae, fish eat the exposed 'pods.

 

[irishstout]

Whew!! Bang, you had me sitting hear going "oh s@#t, I just added 3 of these suckers with the red dots a week ago, now I'm gonna find out that they will eat everything down to the LR so get e'm out!!!"
I've had emeralds before and had never noticed the red dots before, good to know that that is an identifier for them. Thanks for pointing it out hopefully not alot of drawls were soiled in the meantime.

 

[coop24n9]

WOULD AN EMERALD CRAB EAT A FEATHER DUSTER??...LOOKING AT GETTING ONE.

 

[bang guy]

IMO it's impossible to predict what all animals will do in an artificial environment.
I have 3 emerald crabs. Two of them hang out here at night -

Needless to say, mine don't seem to eat dusters.
Sorry for the poor pic. It's the underside of an overhang in the dark.

 

[coop24n9]

THANKS FOR THE ANSWERS.
LOOKING INTO CORAL IN A LITTLE BIT. HAVE TO GET THE LIGHTS THOUGH. MAYBE FOR CHRISTMAS. STILL HAVE THE LEMON-PEEL, I'LL HAVE TO GIVE HIM BACK TO THE LFS, BUT IT'S SO DMAN COOL.

 

[bang guy]

Sounds great Coop. Hey, could you do us a favor? The All Caps make your posts very difficult to read....

 

[coop24n9]

Sorry. I do some drafting work at home, and the lettering has to be all in caps. I forget to turn it off at times, and i'm so used to looking at cap letters.

 

[angelofish]

I was reading through the new posts and read that you might get a F. Duster. If you have a large RED hermit beware. I bought a large duster and he ate the whole thing. I caught him in the act the next morning. These were my exact facial expressions to a tee. He ate a whole lot of other stuff in the tank too. I finally got rid of it. Beware!!

 

[coop24n9]

My hermit is a light red, with white polka-dots. looks cool, but he's a monster. If i put my hand up to the tank where it's at, the thing flares up and tries to attack my hand. pretty funny stuff.

 

[angelofish]

Yup thats the one. Hairy legs with white spots. My crab's color lightened up as it grew. He kept the sand real clean but he had to go. I was worried he might acquire a taste for fish. Keep an eye

 

[daisy]

these are different from scarlet hermits, right? Mine is red, but no hair and no white spots.
I just got three gorgeous huge feather dusters, and I'd hate for them to die in my tank.

 

[karlas]

emerald crabs can be called mithrax crabs. some people have problems with their crabs in the tank but i found someting a while ago that there are 3 species of mithrax that are sold as emerald. when people get the other 2 species thats the ones they have problems with. also when picking one out look for the red dots and take a good look at the claws if the end is flat and blunt thats a sign of an alge eater. as far as feather duster our emerald hasnt touched them at all. i dont know if this one has eaten bristle worms or not havent seen it yet but he loves the different plant life on the rock

 

[megadon]

I had a ton of little feather dusters before I put in the Pep shrimp and Emerald crabs, I don't know who munched them all, but I don't many many left. Could it be the red hermits too? My Emerald has the red dot and flat tipped claws but when I put the raw shrimp in for food he grabs and won't let go for his life, he eats it for quite a while.

 

[karlas]

megadon i shouldve said that also crabs are a scavagener and will pick up what they can. mine grabs brine shrimp and clam also. but he leaves the live stuff alone. as far as your feather dusters my guess would be the peppermint shrimp. i added one to my tank and had a ton of small dusters and i caught him mowing them down like a lawnmower. he would poke a hole in the tube stand up and push it over pull the worm out and eat it. it took me 3 days to get him caught. i could be wrong but thats my guess