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

Thank you....It could be a Gall Crab....I don't know...I looked at the pics but couldn't see any image that was big enough to tell. I'll keep looking. The tank is clear now but haven't seen him at all and if he is in there, there is not many places to hide except under frags or in the filter holes. Are they common hitchhikers?

 

An article I just read says there are over 6000 different crabs. I'm sure it is a crab and not a spider.

 

You maybe close on your description with the gall crab ID. It would be good to remove it if possible then.

 

I read that the Gall Crab likes to burrow into coral and seem to like the Elegance. I'm gonna check mine when I get off work and see if anything has been burrowing.

 

I have a suggestion...
Try searching for spider crab. That's what you describing right. Here's the link. http://www.google.com/m/search?source=mog&gl=us&q=spider crab

 

I don't know. Some of the pictures were close but some of the spider crabs were so big, it couldn't possibly be the those and there body wasn't as big as I remember. Mine would be about 3 months old (approximately) or more and was as small as a bumble bee snail. Maybe I'm looking for the large back (that's what I saw), but maybe his back legs were on a rock which made it look like it stuck up more.

 

I checked my Elegance and there is a small hole (a little bigger than a BB) right below where the coral starts. I carefully put my tweezers in to see if it was just on the outside. It wasn't, it goes in a little ways and I was afraid to put it in too far so I'm not sure how far it really does go. Does anyone know if an Elegance is supposed to have a hole in its outer body? If not, any suggestions?

 

There are any number of boring inverts.

I am curious as to why you are so aggressively looking for this particular critter. Curiosity I can see up to a point, I think if you had waited and left the tank as it was the mystery perhaps would have been resolved, when it re-appeared. There is a good possibility it's a benign hitch hiker and does not warrant removal or extermination.

I hope you find resolution to the ID.

 

...I see what you did there.

 

I see your point. I was afraid he would do some damage but so far so good. I will stop worrying about it until there is a problem. I just worried he could bite me mostly.