Id needed with no pic

kratos1028

Active member
Maybe you guys can help me out. I have no picture because this is something I just saw 15 minutes ago. I have had my reef setup since January of this year which was the 65 and recently moved to the 125. While everything was still in the 65, I have this one rock that has a couple of frag sized holes where you can just shove the base of your typical ceramic frag plug into it and it holds it perfectly without it sticking out obnoxiously. Sometimes, I would just stick plugs in just to hold there temporarily until I find a suitable spot. When I didn't have plug epoxied in the hole, somehow the plug would always be out the next day. I always tried to figure out how in the world are the powerheads able to lift up the plugs when I had to do some twisting and pushing to get the plugs in nice and snug. Well a bit ago, the same thing happened from the same rock that I moved to the 125. I turned my blues on to see if it was upside down on any zoas nearby and what I saw kind of freaked me out. I saw 3 legs sticking out of that hole where I had put the plug in and they were kind of hairy. All this time, it was whatever that thing is that was pushing out the plugs from the hole. First thing popped to mind was a spider/tarantula type invert. I didn't see any claws or anything but just a few legs. I took the hood off to see if i can get close enough with tweezers to grab it and pull it out but it went back in and I lost it in the hole.

I haven't had any missing fish/corals since i started the tank in January with the same rock. I actually have a lot of zoas and a few sps around that hole. I was thinking of taking out that rock and just putting it in a bucket of revive to see what pops out but that would be too much. Whatever it was, it hasn't hurt anything. It just looked super weird and first time I have seen an invert like this in an aquarium. Sorry about this long rambling but thought I'd give a little history to see if that might help someone figuring out what it was.
 
It's definitely a tarantula. LOL. It's a hitchhiker crab. I had one for a year. Never hurt anything. NEVER came out in daylight.
 
Lol I have idea but thanks for the chuckle. I can imagine freaking out when a frag keeps popping out when placed in there. Hope it turns out to be not a big deal for ya.
 
Yea def a crab. You could probably place a a tiny trap for it with something meaty inside for it at night if you're worried of it.
 
Yea crab most likely i had few in my corals there shaped like emeralds but super hairy more then likely one of those
 
That thing is but ugly! but no its not that. This one that popped out had hairy legs. Any suggestions on how to set a trap for it? Someone told me to add a tiny bit of peroxide or vinegar to the hole and it will come running out but I double check and the hole goes through the rock so it could just run the other way.
 
Almost caught it last night but I was impatient for it go to go all the way in the trap and when I tried to scare him into the trap, he went back into the hole. Going to try again tonight.
 
I will get it tonight.....hopefully. I am just placing a small tube by the hole with half a silverside in it. Hopefully it will crawl in.
 
lol i tried but failed. Not sure if it moved from the hole now or died because I don't see it anymore in that hole.
 
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