Tip on emerald crabs

[marine fanatic]

Although I was specifically told this would NOT happen by both my LFS and so-called experienced people here.....I witnessed an emerald crab literally rip another emerald crab apart. Tore 3 legs off his left side and his left claw. Word to the wise, do alot of research on the topic before listening to replies from here or anywhere....they are not always correct in which I found out the hard way.

 

[jakob4001]

crabs can be tarritorial creatures & are in general omnivores but prefer meaty foods not algae despite being sold as such sometimes...as far as emeralds go, well common names abide for more than 1 species that may or may not look very much a like...there is a another more aggressive crab that looks very much like an emerald but grows larger & is meaner...besides you almost never know how inverts will behave in a tank...what works for some may not work for you...if you had did a search here ALSO, it would have pulled up BOTH sides of the story on emerald crabs...

 

[marine fanatic]

hmm, incorrect...I did an extensive search on THIS forum with no hint towards what you are saying.

 

[starfishjackedme]

I have 3 in my 200gal reef. I thought they would be great and eat my hair algae, but they eat my Coralline algae instead! I haven't seen the

[hr]
eat anything else. They pick at the purple and pink, twist pieces off, and eat it. Maybe I just got ones that don't like green stuff. To make things worse, my tangs won't eat it either -

 

[marine fanatic]

Watch to make sure they don't rip each other apart......after watching the bigger one shred the smaller one, I had to put the little guy out of his misery cuz he could not even stay upright.
But I decided if the big one wants to play, I tossed his butt in with my snowflake.....the eel killed him within 5 minutes in a most painful looking way..hehe

 

[rapt0r32]

So because you had one attack the other you are going to blame people here for what happened. To me that sounds wrong. Your Post your choice. I see you said you searched here on the topic. Sure this place has alot of info but did you ever stop to think about the rest of the internet? There is a whole new world out there. If you read alot of posts you see that people get their info as well from outside sources ( Internet and book ) Maybe you should do the same. I am in no means saying don't use this board for all your info. Simple word comes to mind........... EXPAND.
I too have 2 Em Crabs and they are doing just fine. I have never seen then attack each other. Must have been the luck of the draw. Just remember Nature and Animals are unpredictable. And Never say Never........

 

[lu]

I also have 2 emerald crabs and they are very quiet and peaceful. Although they do eat my coraline, there's enough in there for them and still plenty to grow. They are cute little guys and I don't have any problems. Just my 2 cents worth....

 

[shel]

I have 5 Emerald crabs in my 140, I bought them all at diffrent times and they get along fine. They are very peacefull, they just do their own thing. Like someone else mentioned before I think it was just luck of the draw. I have never heard of them tearing each other apart. I really do not think it was the right thing to feed the bigger emerald crab to the eel, I hope you feel better. <img src="graemlins//uhuh.gif" border="0" alt="[U-Huh]" />

 

[crispcritr]

i have two also and have a sally light foot. they have never attacked each other. the two emerald live in the same rock. sorry about yours

 

[heavenly damsel]

I have 3 in a 55 gallon and all is well. 2 of them have mated and we are waiting to see how many babies we have.
IMHO you are no better than the big crab you had....feeding him to your eel was cruel punishment for his crime. If you cannot be a better owner than this perhaps you ought to reconsider being in this hobby.
What we put in our tanks is our reponsibility to care for. I research many sights before I buy. <a href="http://www.reefs.org" target="_blank">www.reefs.org</a> is a great place to look up info on many species. Try them before you buy again.

 

[full of questions]

Sorry,about your luck if you haven't figured out
that in this hobby,there are no hard core facts
then your goin to have alot of suprizes.One can
only talk of their experinces,it's just like
life as we know it,hope for the best but it
doesn't alway's happen.What works for one,doesn't
alway's work for the other.

 

[david s]

i have emralds and some blue legs abd a blk and white one dont know what it is hehe but they get along i am sorry about your loss but if i told u that the dog labs are friendly dogs and get along that would be true but if one lab kicked anothers butt cause he didnt like him would i then be wrong ??? when u deal with animals fish included nothing is for certian i am new and should comment on this but its my oppin thanks

 

[javajoe]

I have 3 or 4 emerald crabs in my tank, and have not ever witnessed them trying to kill each other. I have seen them eat dead hermits, and also watched them eat the shells of crabs that have molted, but never each other.
I HAVE however, seen emerald crabs kicking the living snot out of each other in the LFS, so when i buy them, i look for the ones that are hiding from the "bullies". Like any critter, i think that there are sometimes animals that are more aggresive than the 'norm'.

 

[marine fanatic]

LMAO Heavenly Damsel, what a odd thing to say. However, since the eel must eat and nature is nature as you "hopefully" know.....the emerald was lunch
So, with that in mind I think your reply was rather lacking any informative use.

 

[katara]

Marine..I agree w/Heavenly..I don't think your elevator goes to the top floor..And should we also assume that you regularly feed your eel emerald crabs(since they need to eat and this was his "lunch")..or that Heavenly was correct in her(and my) opinion of your cruelty??