Emerald Crab nipping Devil's Paw

rmeugene

Premium member
So...looks like I am having a diatom and some reddish algae in the refugium. I added 3 emerald crabs on Sunday and noticed one of them taking a nip off of my Devils Claw! It was nipping at a whitish spot but I promptly put him and one of his buddies in the refugium! Have not been able to catch the third yet! Should I leave them in the fuge or get rid of them? Apart from crawling over things the hermits do not seem to bother the corals...

Also noticed a stomatella snail in my refugium!
 
I had a talk with some people at the lfs the other day about them eating coral. I had one get a few polyps but the people there insisted they never bother anything. so it is a personal choice. you could make sure he is getting enough food if you keep him. that's what I have done with mine
 
I have one in my fuge, he does just fine. He has a "buddy" in there too, a sexy shrimp. Can't have the shrimp in the display because my long nosed hawk will eat him, and the crab was a bulldozer. They do fine, i just toss them some food every now and again. Still plenty of pods and stuff everywhere.
 
Never had a problem with the small clawed females but have had bulldozer and frogspawn eating issues with some males over the years. Its worse if you have multiple large males competing for the affection of the ladies.
 
have 10 Emerald crabs and they dont bother any of my Corals , there waiting with the pepperment Shrimp & starfish at 5.00 a.m. to be fed Cocktail shrimp .
 
As with all marine critters, they can be hit or miss with their behavior. I've had "good" critters/fish act bad, and "bad" critters/fish act good. Personally, my emerald is a model citizen. He never messes with corals, fish, or other inverts.
 
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