Crabs 101

[Sunshine]

How many crabs should I have in my 90 ? I'm not sure how many I bought when I set it up. But, I do know I have a couple of red and a couple of blue leg ones. What do you suggest ?

 

[Smitty]

It all depends of your need for them, but to answer you question, I try to shoot for 1 crab for every 1-2 gallons...so between 45-90 for you. :)

 

[mng777777]

I think it comes down to a matter of what you are planning to keep in the tank. If you have a lot of LPS, the crabs can tend to be very destructive and I would encourage you to use snail, stars, and shrimp instead of crab. If you are keeping SPS or FOWLR, then you can throw a bunch of crabs in there. They are fun to watch.

 

[Bifferwine]

I say zero. I'm not a fan of crabs. They kill snails, steal food from coral, and sometimes will pick at corals' flesh.

 

[mng777777]

+1 Biff... The few I still have are permanent residents of Hotel Sump.

 

[dcantucson]

-1 Justin & Biff (:lol:)

I would recommend the small hermit crabs. I do believe they are beneficial to our systems. It will depend on your needs as to how many you will want to get, but start out on the lower side (around 50) and you can always add more as needed. Keep them well fed and they shouldn't be so destructive.

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

I'd say it depends on how much :pooh: you've got in your tank, literally... how much poop is being produced. If you have enough flow in your tank then the poop shouldn't settle and get skimmed out. So I'd tried about 25-30 hermits and about 15 snails. That's just what I'd try. As mentioned, you can always go with more if needed.

Also, I'd stay away from emeralds because they DO knock stuff down if you don't have it epoxied or glue, etc.

 

[Navarchus]

Ever see finding nemo? You know the crabs at the end of the show on the sewer pipes? I think those crabs pretty much sum up the true personality of real crabs. They are mean and hostile, and will kill your small fish, your snails, and even kill each other. But they do eat Sh**. Get some nass snails instead.

 

[Melosu58]

I`m a big fan of the zebra hermit crab. Reef safe and not as mean.

 

[Sunshine]

I do have one huge crab, he stole the shell from a snail. I'm just not sure how many others I have. When I get in the tank and move stuff around, a lot of crap gets stirred up. That's why I was wondering if I have enough. Am I suppose to have a lot of crap in the rocks ?

 

[winyfrog]

Everytime you do a water change use your power head to stir things up, The detritus is collecting in dead zones (low flow areas)

Crabs won't really eat the detritus, if thats your issue I would go with brittle starfish, nassarius snails or cucumbers like the black, pink, or tigertail.

 

[Sunshine]

Oh, cucumber, that one sounds interesting. Will have to see about one of those. I will look the next time I go to the LFS. Thanks

 

[reeffreak]

-1 Justin & Biff (:lol:)

I would recommend the small hermit crabs. I do believe they are beneficial to our systems. It will depend on your needs as to how many you will want to get, but start out on the lower side (around 50) and you can always add more as needed. Keep them well fed and they shouldn't be so destructive.

+1 Justin/Biff
-10 Tucson

Even the smallest ones will grow large enough to kill snails,crawl on corals-irrating and stealing foods.So my answer is.......

ZERO!

 

[yote]

I'll add my answer to stir the :pooh: a little more.:D

Crabs are like snails.You want just enough that they will keep up with their job.Any more and they get hungry and become destructive.
Add 3 or 4.Then if those cant keep up,and 3 or 4 more.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 Justin/Biff
-10 Tucson

Even the smallest ones will grow large enough to kill snails,crawl on corals-irrating and stealing foods.So my answer is.......

ZERO!

:grumble::grumble::grumble::grumble::grumble:

The Crab wars are on! :lol: