[logic-pending]

Hello I'm new here, and this is my first thread!

Slightly over a month ago, I set-up a 5 gallon tank (it was a present) and a week later, I spotted this little guy (gorilla crab? It has red eyes)



A few weeks ago, I bought this coral, which I was told might be Pipe Organ coral? One fine morning, I woke up to see about 40% of the whole thing was BALD. And just beneath the rock, I saw the crab, munching away on some purple coral 'body'.



So right now, my poor coral is cooped up in a container (but as you can see, it's doing fine now), and the hairy thing is still on the loose. And what I want to do is

1. Get the crab out of there, and
2. If possible, keep it in a separate tank

I really don't wanna kill the fella

I've read about the glass crab trap, but I'm not quite sure exactly how to set it up. The rock the crab usually hides in is circled in red, so... any suggestions?




And let's say I DO manage to catch the crab, I was thinking of setting up a small little tank (with filter, live rock and etc.) for it. I know it's a little weird, but I think he's quite cute really. So what would be a good tank set-up for a little crab?


That's about all, and just for the record, my tank is currently home to:
1 Yellowtail Damselfish
1 Pseudochromis
1 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Astrea Snail
1 red-and-white swirly snail (looks like Strawberry Sundae, would love it if anyone can ID it!)
4 tiny Mushroom corals
1 Pipe Organ coral (correct me if I'm wrong)
1 Black and white Brittle Star (very tiny, came with the mushrooms)
And a few Majanos that came with the Pipe Organ.


Everyone's help is much appreciated!

[urmomsmin3]

id say take the rock down if u can and put on sum kitchen gloves and get him put him in like a 3 g tank or take him to the lfs maby even sell him on craigs list all up to u gl and welcome to 3 reef

[mattheuw1]

FYI, thats not pipe organ coral, its green star polyps

[acemow]

HI and welcome! Good thing you found the red eye reef crab (xanthid), they will eat snails and fish. I took LR out where crab was hiding and kept in my QT for a while til I gave it to my LFS. Happy reefing!!

[tigermike74]

Get a glass jar, and toss in a piece of krill. Put the lip of the jar on the rock so the crab can crawl in to get the krill. The glass will be too slick for it to be able to climb back out.

[stepho]

Originally Posted by tigermike74

Get a glass jar, and toss in a piece of krill. Put the lip of the jar on the rock so the crab can crawl in to get the krill. The glass will be too slick for it to be able to climb back out.

In my experience traps of any sort are not affective to catch crabs, especially when there are shrimps around. Try the glass trick, but I am betting the shrimp is in the jar eating the krill before you get your hand out of the tank.

Removing the rock is the fastest, most sure-fire way of getting him out, but it is a lot of work.

Since you only have the two fish and the cleaner shrimp you may find it easier to catch those three (or anyone who goes after the krill) and cage them up until you catch the crab with the glass trick.

[LoJack]

Yup, I agree. I had many unsuccessful attempts at the glass trap trick.

I ended up cornering him into a piece of removable rock and just pulled him out.

With a 5 gallon tank .. I would just pull the rock out and re-setup ... the only reason i didn't do it with mine is I had about 200 lbs of lr to dig through

[LoJack]

Originally Posted by logic-pending

I know it's a little weird, but I think he's quite cute really. So what would be a good tank set-up for a little crab?

I know how you feel in this regard. I had a black fingered mud crab (xanthid sp.) wreaking havoc in my tank for about 3 months. Every night I would try to catch the little bugger ... but he was always a step ahead

I swore up and down I'd let him die slowly after the grief, and livestock he cost me.

When I finally had him out and in a little container on the kitchen table ... I realized I had come to respect him ... and no longer wanted him to die.

Survival of the fittest ... Darwins law ... and he was doing a damn good job haha ... he was just doing what he was supposed to do. Eat anything you can, to survive.

Its weird how inconvenience blocks that from our minds sometimes.

He's still alive and well all this time later haha.

[yheartsp]

maybe you can put the shrimp in a breeding container, and use the glass jar trick !

[logic-pending]

Originally Posted by urmomsmin3

id say take the rock down if u can and put on sum kitchen gloves and get him put him in like a 3 g tank or take him to the lfs maby even sell him on craigs list all up to u gl and welcome to 3 reef

Yeah I've thought of that too, but the rock is pretty big (the biggest in my tank), and it's my fishes' favourite hiding spot. I mean, I could just take the rock out and put it in another tank (since I'm keeping the crab), but it would be pretty hard since I have some stuff on the other rocks. And I'd have to get a replacement rock too.

Originally Posted by mattheuw1

FYI, thats not pipe organ coral, its green star polyps

Oh! I've just googled it, and it does look like green star polyps. Thanks!

Originally Posted by acemow

HI and welcome! Good thing you found the red eye reef crab (xanthid), they will eat snails and fish. I took LR out where crab was hiding and kept in my QT for a while til I gave it to my LFS. Happy reefing!!

Hello Yup, will probably do that I guess, it's the fastest way. Thanks!

Originally Posted by stepho

In my experience traps of any sort are not affective to catch crabs, especially when there are shrimps around. Try the glass trick, but I am betting the shrimp is in the jar eating the krill before you get your hand out of the tank.

Removing the rock is the fastest, most sure-fire way of getting him out, but it is a lot of work.

Since you only have the two fish and the cleaner shrimp you may find it easier to catch those three (or anyone who goes after the krill) and cage them up until you catch the crab with the glass trick.

Originally Posted by LoJack

Yup, I agree. I had many unsuccessful attempts at the glass trap trick.

I ended up cornering him into a piece of removable rock and just pulled him out.

With a 5 gallon tank .. I would just pull the rock out and re-setup ... the only reason i didn't do it with mine is I had about 200 lbs of lr to dig through

Yeah, the shrimp will just go scuttling after it the moment he smells it. :S
Hmm, at this point I'm thinking taking the rock out would be the best thing to do. ._.

Originally Posted by LoJack

I know how you feel in this regard. I had a black fingered mud crab (xanthid sp.) wreaking havoc in my tank for about 3 months. Every night I would try to catch the little bugger ... but he was always a step ahead

I swore up and down I'd let him die slowly after the grief, and livestock he cost me.

When I finally had him out and in a little container on the kitchen table ... I realized I had come to respect him ... and no longer wanted him to die.

Survival of the fittest ... Darwins law ... and he was doing a damn good job haha ... he was just doing what he was supposed to do. Eat anything you can, to survive.

Its weird how inconvenience blocks that from our minds sometimes.

He's still alive and well all this time later haha.

Ooh, you kept your crab on its own?
Are you keeping it in a proper tank set-up? Or just a container will do?