Resolved Sand sifting crab from North Pacific Ocean

1 week ago , we got some sand from the beach for our amphipod 10g breeding tank. Today we caught this monster 1"x0.5", any1 knows what a hell is that? Should I keep it in breeder or transfer him to DT?

 

sand shifting crab.

 

Criolanid (isopod) I believe, parasitic to fish. Best flushed asap and keep an eye out for others.


Error: Sand crab.

 

^^^^^ yup

 

so should I keep him in my DT to shift my sand? Is he ok with LPS, snails ect? He stay in SB all the time, it was just a luck that we saw him, cuz he was out of sand for like 1 sec.

 

Thats a typical sand crab. They live a few inches under the sand and filter things out of the water when the water washes up on the sand. If you go down to the beach and use a shovel you can dig those up by the hundreds. Lots of people use them for surf perch bait. There are times of the year that when I walk in the water about ankle deep I will walk into a large area of those crabs and the feeling of hundreds of those moving beneath my feet is enough to creep me out big time. Pismo Beach about 3 hours south of the OP has those everywhere. You can check out the write up about sand crabs from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and it will explain them in great detail.

 

Cooooool.

 

I think it's really cool too.

TBH, since this is an amphipod breeding tank, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If it's really a predator, you'll likely see it at some point preying on your amphipods, or notice that you never get a good population up in the tank. If you don't see it preying on amphipods, but it is preying on yours, crustaceans tend to have a relatively short lifespan. If it's just a filter feeder, there's no worries.

Basically, there's little risk to leaving it in, except on the extremely unlikely chance that it's a dangerous isopod and it happens to be bearing fertilized eggs.

 

Well I think I move him into my DT, I really need sand sifter I don't want to keep any predators in my pods breeding tank. Thnx for info guys

 

Well aren't you the silver lining