Crabs fromt the beach - Can I keep him?

those at the beach may be diseased and or carrying pollutants in them.........i had 50 hermits caught at the NJ beach for my first cleanup crew. worked great, never had cyano or algae, until they ATE each other.......

 

99% of liverock you buy is farmed now. The people who collect crabs and other things know what they are collecting, and they are not just picking them up off the beach. They go offshore and dive for them. The downside to picking up things on the beach is... The beach is the oceans protein skimmer. All pollutants end up on the beach. Ever notice the foam you see on the beach? Look like whats in your skimmer? Thats cause its the same thing.

Texas to Mississippi is a no no on collecting because of all the oil rigs in the area. When you collect stuff from that area, you're adding oil to your tank, thats a guarantee.

The crab in question looks a lot like a Pagurus longicarpus, but I dont think thats exactly it. Same species though, but the coloration on the legs a just slightly different. Could be the pic though.

 

I'm currently trying to catch a round goby to add to my tank... went to check my trap today and almost drowned because high tide came in too fast an trapped me on a sand bar! It was crazy. Gonna check the charts and try again tomorrow.

 

I'm going to leave the comments about the beaches in Texas being covered with oil alone. They do offend me, but I'll not comment on that because that's not the reason that I started this thread in the first place.

The crab molted today. Is that a good sign?

 

of its a good sign - It means he's happy and growing! Remember to put some emtpy shells in the tank for him to swap too!

I have often thought about doing a cold water marine tank - as I could go to the beach and fish stuff out - but then i remember i dont live by the coast. (also I live in north britain and the beaches here are actually dirty, also i live inland and not by the coast)

 

Molting is a good sign.

Means crab is growing.

May also mean yours is type that will get really large quickly.

May morph from a friendly sand sifting critter to a real tank threatening monster over a relatively short period of time time.

Keep eye on and use caution.


Rgds,



Scott

 

Good news. He molted and went back to the same spot to sift sand. I hate to say it, but I really like this guy.

He found a spot between the live rock where the water flow through. He just sits there all day and night.

I'll keep an eye on him. I think he's really a little too small for the shell he's in. He can hardly move it. He's too slow to catch any fish.

 

I made a video of him last night cleaning the sand. I don't know how to post it though.

 

I wouldn't take offense to that comment abotu the oil... he was stating a fact. Not that the beaches are covered in oil, but that there is oil in the water. Same thing around here, probably mostly diesel from all the boats. That is why I quarantine anything I capture before putting it in my tank.

 

Wow, you brought his little brother with him. That's makes me very sad because what about the rest of the family?

That's to bad to see, because now the family is looking for them and the ocean is a very big place to go looking for anything.