Will Crabs eat Zoos?

[gussy]

I about to add some zo polyps, but was wondering if larger crabs will eat them. I know that zos are toxic, but maybe the crabs are immune.

[Witfull]

crabs can do anything...hehe,,,mostly evil!

[gussy]

I guess the only way that I would know is to try putting them in. Between the crabs and zos...I'd keep the crabs.

[Travis]

I had some emerald crabs tear them off the rocks in search of food. It was NOT a fun experience.

I'm sure there are some crabs that will eat zoanthids, just depends on what kind you're talking about.

[Reef Geek]

This, http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...003/invert.htm, talks about some zoanthid predators.

[gussy]

Well, I got two of those green crabs. I'll do some experimeting this coming week.

[yoshiod9]

i had an emerald get banished to my roommates tank because his idea of searching for food was ripping alien eye zoos and red zoos off the rock. most crabs are ok...as long as they are SMALL...otherwise, you might get into some trouble.

[Reef Geek]

I tend to be of the belief that crabs are evil. I even do not like the small "Scarlet Reef Hermits" because they are always crawling over the corals and making them close and open and stuff. A hearty mix of snails can provide the same cleaning abilities with far less disruption to the primary tank inhabitants (corals).

[Reefaholic]

I totally agree with Justin on this one, crabs cause more disruption than good, snails are able to do just as good cleaning up. IMO

[gussy]

I saw my emerald crab eating my Shaving Brush plant. Perhaps I should punish him and move him to the same tank as my giant hermit!

[Woodstock]

I found my small emerald crab eating on one of my gorgonians Needless to say, it is now banished to the sump

[Witfull]

Witty shakes his head,,,please listen,,,Crabs Are Evil~~~

[cheeks69]

Anthony Calfo:

It also explains why some other "controversial" reef invertebrates have contradictory reputations like Mithrax/Mithraculus crabs. Many such creatures are opportunistic feeders. While they favor one type of prey that is convenient or popular to us, like sand bed worms, brown diatoms or bubble algae, they will adapt to eating other food items following the reduction or absence of a preferred food item. Thus, the reef keeper with a persistent growth of microalgae in a garden reef display will likely have less trouble with misbehaving omnivores than another aquarist with an aggressively skimmed and scrubbed tank that supports little growth of the matter. In a phrase, the hungrier that a so-called "reef-safe" creature gets, the less "reef-safe" that creature becomes.

[ScottT1980]

Ding...ding...ding

Keep them feed and keep the zoanthids healthy and you should be ok. Starve them and you are just asking for trouble...

[sharks]

Omnivore is the key word!
They will eat anything if they are hungry.
They suite there purpose. If you have turf or bubble algae they are great.
Once those algae’s are gone time to return to the LFS or sump.
I use crabs to my advantage. When there is a problem I go heavy on the crabs. When all is well less crabs and more snails. Reefs are too dynamic to say all crabs are bad or that all snails are OK. You can only sustain so many snails in one glass box.
I made that mistake early on in reef keeping.
Luckily they all have different jobs.
Do a search on the snails:
Nerite, turbos (Astrea), nassarius, trochus, Margarita, Cerith, limpets, and there are many other “TOP” snails out there.

Then look at the crabs. Just like snails they all have a function in a reef. But unlike the snails the crabs will do what is needed to survive (eat anything at times) while the snails will just starve and dwindle in numbers.