What's a sponge crab?

[sueandherzoo]

I just bought one of these at the LFS but have no idea which tank I'm going to put him in until I learn something about them. For now, he'll go in my QT tank. The petstore manager was honest - he said he really knew nothing about it and didn't have much luck when he did try to look them up in his various books so he was by no means encouraging me to buy it. But the thing was so cool to look at and so many other customers had their eye on him that for $14.99 I decided to take him home and THEN learn about him. Besides, the guy at the LFS will gladly take him back if I learn I don't want him.
How big do they get? Are they reef safe? Are they fish safe?!?!? He's still acclimating into QT but I'll get a photo when I can.
Sue

 

[nw2salt08]

I haven't found a whole lot on them except that they're nocturnal...like caves and crevices and also form a covering for their shell out of sponge...when theyh grow bigger they fashion a new covering...

 

[sueandherzoo]

Thanks - I'm not finding much either. It's probably a sign that they are not great tank inhabitants - otherwise info would be more easily found. I'll keep looking though because he is very cool to watch.
Sue

 

[nw2salt08]

Ok, I found some info...they're NOT reef safe...They are omnivorous and they lean towards more meatier foods. The guy that owns it is feeding him silversides.... Another site says that they are reef safe but from what I've read, if they lose their sponge they'll fashion other things into a covering. They suggest feeding chopped fish and clams as well as frozen, flake and freezedried foods. HTH!

Kinda hard to find a lot of info on them.

 

[sueandherzoo]

Thank you! I'm finding only bits and pieces of info on them and most of it is about their life in the wild, NOT in captivity. So far he seems like a candidate for my 55 gallon FOWLR. I feed that tank homemade food and maybe this crab can help clean up the feeder fish that my puffer misses. And regarding the puffer possibly bothering the crab? Never happen. My puffer doesn't bother anybody. I have peppermint shrimp in that tank that he doesn't even look at, and snails and hermit crabs, too. He won't even eat silversides or krill.
Thanks again.
Sue

 

[nw2salt08]

Glad to help.

Hope he prospers in your tank for a long time.