Alright alright, I take back some of the mean things I've said about emerald crabs.

Discussion in 'Algae' started by SaltyClown, Aug 15, 2015.

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  1. SaltyClown

    SaltyClown Sea Dragon

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    Well, it's been around a month or so since I took down my kessil lights, took out every coral and placed 2 emerald crabs into my 75 gal. I gotta say, those are doing a good job eating up the bubble algae. Since there are no lights over the tank to aid in the growth of BA and my fish eat all the food I give them. The emerald crabs really only have one option for food, the BA. I do plan on getting 3 more emerald crabs to help them out. Hopefully I will be able to add the corals back in and put the lights back up by Christmas. However, the tank that my corals are currently in, has some HA. I hope this won't transfer to my 75, seeing how the 75 has a simmer and fuge. But, I've seen emerald crabs eat HA too.

    Anyways, in my case, yes emerald crabs eat BA.
     
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  3. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    Never had much luck with emerald crabs. They do eat different types of algae and leftover fish food when young, but tend to need more meat in their diet as they mature. Some became opportunistic and began destroying tankmates. Those that did not were short-lived.
     
  4. SaltyClown

    SaltyClown Sea Dragon

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    How big do these guys get? I have one that's small and the other is bigger than a quarter.
     
  5. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    2.5 inches according to LA. I've never see one quite that large; they were between 1.5 - 1.75 inches when they started killing tankmates. They are a type of mithrax crab btw, a family of known destructive hitch hikers, which IIRC, includes the dreaded gorilla crab. :eek: