Oh No.....I found a spider in my Salt Tank

Discussion in 'ID This!' started by CODEE111, Apr 23, 2011.

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  1. Renee@LionfishLair

    Renee@LionfishLair 3reef Sponsor

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    LOL! We're all a bunch of misreaders. I've been up since 3pm yesterday.... what's y'alls excuse.;D
     
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  3. CODEE111

    CODEE111 Peppermint Shrimp

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    I didn't think it could over night either but I did wonder if years of evolution could have given it the ability to survive in water. My thought was, if they live near saltwater and walk the beach, maybe they somehow, after generations of being subjected to the water, had acclimated to it but then I think that someone would have spotted some and would have knowledge of this critter if that were the case. I've been told that some tropical species, guppies and ghost shrimp for instance, can acclimate from fresh to salt although I have never tried this myself.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2011
  4. BlueWaters10

    BlueWaters10 Skunk Shrimp

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    This is turning into a great 6th grade science fair project.
     
  5. CODEE111

    CODEE111 Peppermint Shrimp

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    Most likely it is some sort of sea spider. I'm just not finding the water spider image I'm looking for. Until I posted the question asking how to kill it, I just thought it was an ordinary underwater spider and everyone would know what it was and how to get rid of it. 3REEF forum members are very sharp and so helpful, and there were so many images on the internet, I simply could not find it so I thought I would ask. I figured someone would tell me what it was and how to get rid of it. I really appriciate everyones input on this subject. 3reef members are awesome.
     
  6. gabbagabbawill

    gabbagabbawill Pajama Cardinal

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    If somehow through evolution/adaptation a terrestrial spider DID adapt to live in the ocean, it would then BE oceanic, not terrestrial... unless, it could live in both... however, I've never heard of such a thing. We're not talking about a fresh water spider adapting to sea water, we're talking about one adapting from land to sea.

    This still doesn't answer the question of what's in your tank... I'm beginning to think it's a crab of some kind... but we may just have to wait and see when you can get a picture of whatever it is... ;)
     
  7. CODEE111

    CODEE111 Peppermint Shrimp

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    That does make sense. If it is terrestrial it probably would be hard, if not impossible, to acclimate it to both water and land and I can't think of any ocean spiders that would do both but I'm definitely not an expert. Crabs can live on the land and water but at this point we don't know if the spider (?) could survive on land or not. Hmmm....it would be easier to identify if I could find this thing. I'm hoping he's still in the tank so I can find out what he is, and what to do if I do find more. If I don't find him, although he seemed to be more scared of me than I was of him, I'll never feel completely at ease with the 95 gallon.
     
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  9. CODEE111

    CODEE111 Peppermint Shrimp

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    Same topic....Different Question

    Does anyone know of any sea spiders or crabs that are poisonous? I know every critter is different but this might help me to determine how afraid I am of this thing.
     
  10. BlueWaters10

    BlueWaters10 Skunk Shrimp

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    To be safe I would approach the situation as if it wad poisonous.
     
  11. CODEE111

    CODEE111 Peppermint Shrimp

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    That's how I have been approaching it so far but I just hate the thought of being afraid of my tanks.
     
  12. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

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    I have never heard a report of a crab or sea spider being venomous. I would not even bother to look aggressively for it at this point, usually these types of things reside next to where they eat. It must be returning if you have witnessed a slow decline and will return again unless you remove the zoanthids.

    If you do have an allergy to spiders, you would need antihistamines and or epi if you experienced a reaction. Antibiotics take over 24 hours to reach any kind of level of treatment if taken orally and strictly used for bacterial infection.

    The logical explanation is that it's a sea spider (type not commonly seen ) or a crab and probably nocturnal.

    I hope you find whatever it is and get an image.

    Good Luck.