Emerald Crab - friend or foe?

[Anonymous]

Yo reefers. Who's had bad luck with emerald crabs? They ever pester anything you didn't want them to? The valonia has got to go, it's getting bad. TIA

HD

 

[mountainbiker619]

The one and only emerald that I owned thought it was Mr Scissor Hands. It mowed down all my beautifull Xenea.

 

[Anonymous]

The one and only emerald that I owned thought it was Mr Scissor Hands. It mowed down all my beautifull Xenea.

Eeks. That would not go over well with me.

 

[Anonymous]

The emerald that I had pull the meat of four of my baby Maxima clams out of their shells.

 

[mountainbiker619]

strike two for the emerald.

 

[baseman]

I have an emerald crab. I don't have any chorals in my tank, but I do have velonia. I have not seen any evidence that the crab is eating the velonia. Would that be strike three?

 

[Anonymous]

The emerald that I had pull the meat of four of my baby Maxima clams out of their shells.

8O 8O 8O 8O

Ohhhhh... that bastard would fry. Guess I'm not getting an emerald. Anecdotal evidence is enough for me to invade a tank and liberate the citizens.

 

[Hal1]

I watched one of mine actively hunt and snip a bristle worm in two.

 

[MattGecko]

I've had an Emerald for 6 months with no problems (7G Nano). Maybe I got lucky & found a good one.

Does anyone know how often they molt? Mine hasn't yet.

 

[Anonymous]

I've had an Emerald for 6 months with no problems (7G Nano). Maybe I got lucky & found a good one.

Does anyone know how often they molt? Mine hasn't yet.

Welcome to RDO, Matt! No clue how often they molt, but that seems kind of like a long time.

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes they molt, and we did not realize it. As they get older, they molt less. The frequency molting depends on many other variable, such as growth rate and according to some sources, hormone and chemical (e.g., Iodine) in the water.

 

[reefsnreptiles1]

We have tried three different emerald crabs for a valonia problem. None of them have touched it.

 

[Reefman150]

Mine killed a $18. cleaner shrimp 5 minutes after I put the shrimp in. He then lived in the refugium for the remainder of his days.

 

[fishfanatic2]

For Valonia ( I was just reading this), there is a good chance a yellow tang will consume it.

 

[SnoopDog]

I have at least 20 emerald crabs, never had a problem.

 

[Anonymous]

I tend to keep any and all crabs out of my reef tanks. Since I have done this, my snail population has been able to sleep easier ...plus, I've never had an emerald consume any significant amount of Valonia.

If you have the time and aren't a big "no hands in the tank" guy, I remove Valonia by taking a piece of rigid airline tubing, cut it at a 45 angle on one end and attach a piece of airline tubing to the other end. Start a siphon and use the sharp end to puncture the Valonia and the siphon should suck up most of the spores. When you've popped all you can pop, simply go in with a pair of tweezers or needle nosed pliers and pull the empty husks off the rocks.