Crabs Are Evil Society

[lcstorc]

Here is a list of abreviations that should help you out.
Acronyms / Abbreviations
I know it helped me a lot.
Personally I don't kill any crabs I find in my tank, I simply put them in my sump or return them to the lfs. I can't kill an animal just for being true to it's nature but I also can't have them eating all my snails.
Oh and just in case you don't know. Do not get a mandarin with your size tank or any new tank. They live on tiny bugs called copepods and you need a large well established system to keep enough pods to keep them fed.

[Dentoid]

I don't buy into this hype that crabs are evil, they kill everything in the tank and that Godzilla is going to step on my house. Crabs are an integral part of any SW ecosystem and there is no where in the ocean you can go without some type of crab species. Snails are inexpensive, just replace them as their numbers dwindle. I once lost an anemone, a large chuck was taken out of its side. I blamed it on a crab, but I never witnessed the crab eating it. You can be the kind of reefer that's always interfering in the natural process of your tank or you can be a natural reefer and let your own little ecosystem unfold. I have seen and heard some crazy things that reeferes do with respect to crabs. It's frightening! Also, Prow, your Acropora might be healthier and more protected from parsites and protazoans with its host crab.

[lcstorc]

I agree they are not evil. They are acting in exactly the way they should. That is why I returned mine to the lfs and any new ones that come in get to live their life in the fuge. I just can't intentionally put snails in there to become crab food. It is the same reason I don't have a harlequin shrimp. I couldn't stand to feed it.
I am a firm believer in to each his own.

[BigAl07]

What's the most common and "Widely" accepted reef crab? I need something else in my CUC and don't have any crabs at all.

Allen

[lcstorc]

scarlet hermit crabs are supposed to be the least agressive.

[vdituri]

And alot of people have emerald crabs.
I have both with no problems yet.
Knock on coral...

[prow]

ok, sorry but got to bust your chops on this one. it is the carbs are evil thread . so let see here;

Originally Posted by Dentoid

I don't buy into this hype that crabs are evil, they kill everything in the tank and that Godzilla is going to step on my house. Crabs are an integral part of any SW ecosystem and there is no where in the ocean you can go without some type of crab species.

ok, you can disagree, remember though coral eating starfish, fish killing mantis, even sharks and whales are a integral part of most SW ecosytems too, but they dont belong in my tank.

Snails are inexpensive, just replace them as their numbers dwindle.

now that is not nice. i would rather kill one univited crab and save countless snails. besides, IMO, its better for our oceans and my tank to leave the crabs there, then having some company harvest snails to keep our tank supplied just so we can keep crabs.

I once lost an anemone, a large chuck was taken out of its side. I blamed it on a crab, but I never witnessed the crab eating it

good geuss, its like if i have mantis shrimp in my tank i dont have to see it tear my fish in half to know he did it .

You can be the kind of reefer that's always interfering in the natural process of your tank or you can be a natural reefer and let your own little ecosystem unfold.

anyone with a tank interfers in the natural processess. cyanobacteria and hair algae can be found everywhere and are perhaps the most integral parts of any ecosystem, but we spend soo soo so much time tring to keep it out of our tanks. if we do see it we do everything we can to kill it. same goes with a mantis shrimp, evil or just doing its job? would you remove it if one hitchhicked into your tank and started killing your fish? or just replace the fish as they dwindle. lets see if your a ture natural reefer or a selective natural reefer , like me (i know extreme but i am argueing )

I have seen and heard some crazy things that reeferes do with respect to crabs. It's frightening!

ture, so ture and delicous too

Also, Prow, your Acropora might be healthier and more protected from parsites and protazoans with its host crab.

yeah i know. but i just dont trust them. i think about keeping them everytime i dig them out of my corals. i get them on just about every acro i get. most of my corals are/were fragged or aquacultuerd. all the aquacultured ones i have came with a crab or two. i honestly think many coral farmers keep them on purpose to protect the acros. i beleive some are very much beneficial. however there are just too many impostures, for me the risks of getting one of those impostures outwieghs the benefits they provide to the coral. in the wild yeah the corals get attcked by many things, in my tank i take steps to reduce the likelyhood of introducing those things in the first place, in my tank crabs just are not need to protect it, IMO. still i admit they can be good, but its always a risk.

[reefjitsu]

same goes with a mantis shrimp, evil or just doing its job?

Just doing it's job. Mantis shrimp are another group that has been villified and demonized far beyond what they deserve. In other words, they are not the reef wreckin fish killers they are made out to be. Most that are encountered as HH are smashers and thus are far more interested in your inverts, not your fish. If you like to destroy or kill your HH crabs, I can live with that; but mantis shrimp should always be kept alive. They are just too cool and smart to be killed like a common bug. Plus demand for them is high, there is always someone who will want the mantis. So please spare the mantis shrimps, besides you can always feed those "evil" crabs to your pet mantis.

[Snelly40]

to answer the question above. Scarlet Hermits seem to be quite non-aggressive. I have never witnessed them doing any harm and recently actually added 2 to my tank to see how they would act with the snails since i have heard such good things and in the past when i had them they were decimated by the blue leg hermits.

So far they are model citiczens and eat the algea and stay away from each other and the snails.

but i would be careful not to add too many!!!!

[prow]

humm ok, literally, there are no evil creatures. all things have there place. the lable evil, for me, refers to anything that is likely to be terrorizing things for no real reasons. hermit crabs will terrorize my snails just to have a fashoin parade or because they want something different to wear for that day. others will kill my snials and other things because they crossed into its territory, like its some kind of gangster. thats just evil. a mantis i may just take him to the LFS. but onlly because they dont show up like crabs. if they came on every peice of coral or rock like HH crabs than i would kill them too

hehehe maybe its just me who is the evil one

[vdituri]

hehehe maybe its just me who is the evil one[/quote]

The first step to getting help. Can I get amen brotha!

[kathywithbirds]

Thanks for all the info!!
I think Lynn cautioned me against mandarins, no, no, I agree, I'm "stuck" with some really small species -- my plan is to do FOWLR at first and let it go, then incorporate some inverts THEN try some corals.
The 5g may become the "extra" eventually... are you guys calling this a puge?
You know, though the LFS has this FAB looking reef tank, a 9 g cube with lots and lots of stuff. There's at least one clown, a purple/yellow guy, one of those shrimp I'm learning about who is red with the white stripe, a couple multicolored stiped guys, hermits, plus all the inverts and corals I can't even begin to name.
I asked about it and was told the "salt guy" does tons of water changes all the time to get that small a tank healthy. There is a lot of green algae on the back and sides though. The tank is really packed.
I'd rather do this slow and proper and buy a giant tank when I hit the lottery.

Oh and the point of this... crabs are not necessarily evil, but tell that to the anemone he ate.

No crabs! Long live shrimp!

[Dentoid]

Kathy your avatar sums it all up!

[prow]

Originally Posted by vdituri

The first step to getting help. Can I get amen brotha!

i'll give you a AMEN to that. but wanting to stay on the fence, i have to point out, i did only say maybe ..........................

[vdituri]

Originally Posted by prow

i'll give you a AMEN to that. but wanting to stay on the fence, i have to point out, i did only say maybe ..........................

Tricksy!