evil crab

[paine43]

today while looking at my tank, i saw something moving inside a rock i have. what i found was a hairy crab lite brown in color and from what i saw has pinchers. i'm not sure how he got there as i have not bought LR in a long time. is there any way to get it out of the tank without taking the rock out?

 

[davidrupe]

How do you know he is evil?

 

[paine43]

from what i've read all crabs with pincher and that are hair are evil.

 

[super cook]

How big is he, the evil crab is a small one Think it is called a teddy bear crab hangs out on acros but unlike the one that lives with them it eats them has this guy caused any damage most crabs have pinchers take a look at night and see what he is doing he could be harmless

 

[shawn]

Does it look anything like the one in the picture to the left ?

I still have a bunch of small ones. When they get bigger I pull them out and put them in with my mantids. The two methods I have used most are to:

1. Wait until they get themselves into a place where you grab them with a net
2. Build a mini crab trap, and bait then in and trap them

 

[paine43]

he looks like that one but not as purple, more brown. i'm going to try to use the inverted bottle trap to see if that works tonight. as far as trying to grab him with a net i have yet to see him come out of the rock he is in. the only place i can think of where he came from is some live sand i bought about two ago. also i have no corals in my tank at this time so i don't think he's doing anything harmful. but i do plan on putting some in the tank in the next few months

 

[starrfish]

I have a big hairy crab with one red eye. He came out of my live rock after 6 months. Yours definitely could have hitchhiked on the live rock. I was afraid of mine at first too - but he turned out to be fine. Now I direct feed him shrimp pellets. He's fun to watch. Maybe you should give the little guy a chance before you yank him - he might grow on you!

 

[paine43]

i just really want to see his whole body so i can find out what he is.

 

[shawn]

Yeah, I've got brown ones, too. These guys have sharp claws, and they'll eat anything meaty they can get a hold of. I've never really had any problems with them bothering corals, but I have seen them be aggressive towards small shrimp and the like. I leave the small ones alone, and if they get too big, I put them in my mantis tank - as I did with the one in the picture after it wouldn't leave the limpet alone.