Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Need help getting a small crab out of my saltwater tank!?

ok so i have like 2 or 3 of these small maybe 1/2 to 1 inch brown hairy crabs in my tank. I dont know what they are called they kinda looked like a horilla crab but who knows. (any thoughts by the way?) Any ways i have been told it looks like some crab that will eat fish which is a no no lol.
The only thing that contradicts what i have been told is that when i see him he is not munching on my frogspawn or mushrooms. He is nipping at the live rock. I have peppermint shrimp and a royal gramma in my tank and they are both fine.
Any ideas what it is and a good way to get it out of my tank with out having to take apart all my live rock?
Answers:
Here is a website that has traps: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/na... look at the pes-trap and the x-terminator!!
get a small fish net
Do you a net you could use or perhaps some rubber gloves?
Crabs are mostly omnivores.
For picture ID of various hitchhiking crabs
http://home2.pacific.net.ph/~sweetyummy4...
http://home2.pacific.net.ph/%7esweetyumm...
Removal when you see them:
The first paragraph of this next link discusses removing crabs, and others from live rock before you put NEW live rock into your tank 'use a spatula to either whack them or flip them away from the rock (after previous steps)"
http://www.simplifiedreefkeeping.com/faq...
Since, though, you are in a tank, perhaps you can whack them smartly with something when you see them to stun/disable, then pick them up with tank tongs or net. Or, more cunningly, use one of those plastic half-tubes which small creatures can go into to hide under and feel safe but are see-through to outside observers (don't know if will be okay in salt-water), if they like to hide, and hide there, you can catch them live with nets.
maybe they are just emerald crabs, which are fine in your tank. but here's a good way to get them out if you dont want them, take hand, stick in tank, pinch fingers on crab, pull crab out of water. simple, and free.
let the crab pinch you then pull it out

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