Emerald Crabs - share your stories

Angie Sting Ray

Angie Sting Ray

New Member
Hi there, I have a hitchiker who has been id'd as a white emerald crab (possible Mitrax sp). After lots of research, I a finding as many detractors as promoters. Share your stories with these guys. Id like some practical advice.

Many thanks, reef geniuses!

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Morganrules

Member
I love emerald crabs. I hand feed mine when I have no algae and it's hilarious to watch these guys eat. I don't know why people hate them THEY ARE AWESOME.
 
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PghFishNerd

Member
I agree. I think they are so awesome. The way they eat is definitely the coolest thing about them, but a lot of people don't like them cause they disturb their corals. When I had mine, it was before I really had coral. I just had one gorgonian. So I don't have any input on that aspect. Mine was slightly aggressive toward the fish. It would always have its claws out trying to grab someone by the tail, but never succeeded cause it was so slow. That was a riot to watch. Sadly that ended when my seahorse thought he would have the little fella for a snack. :( I found the poor little guy's claws (without the body) still clinging on to the back of a rock, and then later found the body with the shell peeled back. (classic seahorse move- found my two brand new skunk cleaners the same way.) I would get another one for my other tank because I really enjoyed watching it, but I'm still too sad about the last one (lol I know that's pathetic).
KEEP HIM!
 
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Tab964

Member
Sadly that ended when my seahorse thought he would have the little fella for a snack. I found the poor little guy's claws (without the body) still clinging on to the back of a rock, and then later found the body with the shell peeled back. (classic seahorse move- found my two brand new skunk cleaners the same way.)

How big was your crab? I have a few seahorses and all my shrimp have slowly diappeared. I thought they just died, cab a seahorse with that little month eat a average size crab? Mine eat some pretty large PC Mysis but a emerald crab.
 
Angie Sting Ray

Angie Sting Ray

New Member
great input guys, many thanks. Id estimate his size at about 3/4" to 1 inch. The only show of aggression thusfar could be interpreted as defending his prized mushroom rock territory. A nassar had the audacity to come too close and he waved his claw at the snail like an old man shaking a fist at kids driving too fast. Im too much of a softie to boil him - my concern is for the safety of my beloved blenny, Ladybit.

He's a beauty and I <3 watching him pick at the rocks.

Any other stories to tell?
 
GeoSciGuy

GeoSciGuy

New Member
I have one, and after a recent molt and several days of hiding, he emerged HUGE. He was the size of a quarter originally, but now I'd estimate that he is more than 2" wide. Its creepy watching those big claws working over the LR, but he's been absolutely peaceful so far. I try to keep him well fed, to prevent him from eyeballing any coral polyps.
 
smkndrgn142

smkndrgn142

Member
I've had a few over the years (I have a goby that finds them delicious!) I've never had a problem with them eating corals, but they do a great job on algae. I'm only bummed that mine doesn't come out much during the day.
 
Corailline

Corailline

Member
I have always loved my emerald crabs, they have always been peaceful and done a great job of eating algae. Now peppermint shrimp that is a completely different story, evil things.
 
nightfire76

nightfire76

Active Member
i had 2,one died on me and i thought the other died as well to only find that it molted,i had no clue when they molt its the exact looking crab shell and legs left behind lol i hand feed mine,as soon as i put dried seaweed in there he goes flipping nuts and runs from out behind of places,one night i tried feeding him by holding the seaweed in my fingures....bad idea lol he grabed the seaweed and my fingure....freaked me out lol took a bit to get him to let go but i think he is awesome :D
 
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PeterT

New Member
Hi guys, this is my first post on this forum and this topic here caught my eye. I don't mind emeralds and think they are pretty interesting. I had one hitchhike on LR awhile back when I was setting up a mantis reef tank. I didn't think much of it figuring when I added my mantis he would find the emerald and eat it. Well time goes by and I added the mantis. Not seeing the crab anymore, I assumed he was breakfast for the stomatopod. Well today I added a new zoa frag and not 10 minutes later I see this guy out in the open eating my frag lol. He has not touched any of the other softies (zoas included) I had in this tank. Guess he just liked the colors on this one haha. Had to take this pic of him eating the polyps before I fished him out =D
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shark32

shark32

Active Member
I have three emeralds in my 75 gallon tank. They are fun to watch and they do not bother anything. I hand feed them seaweed or pieces of clam and they absolutely love it!! They are very fun and i would definitely reccommend them!
 
Reefmack

Reefmack

NaClH2O Addicted
PREMIUM
PeterT - was he actually eating the zoas or just cleaning up the rock? When I add anything new to the tank my emerald is usually one of the first to pick at the rock for algae, etc., but not at the coral itself. They'll often eat the wastes that are expelled by some corals just introduced into a tank. It's not unheard of that they could eat coral, but they usually don't, unless the coral is dead or dyeing. Just wondering how your frag ended up?

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary! :)
 
OHmariner

OHmariner

Member
Msigler said:
Will they eat the brown hair algae and diatoms?
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I have an emerald crab that loves the brown hair algea! Ive had my emerald crab for about a month now. I thought he was great, he was doing a good job of eating algea but today I came home to find him ripping peices off my frogspawn so in the sump he went. Im not too happy about it at all, I hope my frogspawn is ok. grrrr
 
Shagon

Shagon

Member
Me and pimp have owned about 30 emerald crabs. They don't last very long. We put them in the tank and about 10 min later they are dead. We keep trying to figure it out. All the water levels are good. Good lighting. Lots of food in the tank. We turn our back and we hear a couple of load pops and they are dead.
















Wonder if it could be our mantis thats in that tank.
 
OHmariner

OHmariner

Member
Shagon said:
Me and pimp have owned about 30 emerald crabs. They don't last very long. We put them in the tank and about 10 min later they are dead. We keep trying to figure it out. All the water levels are good. Good lighting. Lots of food in the tank. We turn our back and we hear a couple of load pops and they are dead.
Wonder if it could be our mantis thats in that tank.
Click to expand...

Are you joking around or are you really putting an emerald crab in with a mantis shrimp? thats like putting a dog treat in front of a dog and hoping the dog wont eat it lol

The loud pop is the give away, pistol and mantis shrimp both make a loud pop when they are fighting or doing various other things.
 
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