Crabs?

shihtzu217

Reefing newb
Thinking I might add a small crab to the tank but what kind do you recommend? I don't want any that will kill fish or get into coral. here is my livestock list as of now.

2 Ocell. clowns
1 lawnmower blenny
1 allen's damsel
1 Mandarin
1 royal pincushion urchin
6 snails (don't know what kind)
1 conch
various mushrooms
unidentified soft cocral
pulsing xenia
sponge
LOTS of brittle stars
Feather duster
Paly's


I'm not sure what other fish I'll be adding, I just kind of find one I like that is compatable with what I have. So crab just needs to be friendly as I also plan to add more soft corals in a few months. I haven't done much research on crabs but I'm guessing they are night stalkiers so probably won't see them? and do they require special feeding?
 
no crabs.snails yes

hermits eat xenia coral and bother anmones at feeding time.and most of the others will eat small fish and other inverts.but the anomne crabs are good
 
Are you looking for crabs as part of a clean up crew or more for ornamental purposes?For clean up crew dwarf blue legged hermits and emerald crabs help with algae.Although I'm not fond of hermits since they can kill snails for there shells not to mention they irritate corals that I feed.The blue legged stay small is the only reason I hesitantly recommend them,remember I said hesitantly.

Ornamental?
Porcelain and Pom-Pom is the only ones that come to mine.
 
I was thinking both ornamental and functional, but sounds like I shouldn't get one. My lawnmower likes pellet food better than algea so he doesn't "work" any longer and I just thought it might be cool to have one to watch but don't want to watch it eat my livestock.
 
I had blue leg hermit crabs that prefered live food to the algea and the frozen food that I feed. The ywould wait until I fed and ambush the nassarius(sp?) snails that would emerge from the sand. I know it wasnt for their shells because they were smaller than the hermits shells and I also had a lot of spare shells laying around. Nedless to say, I got rid of the hermits.

Brian
 
This hobby isn't without its risk.Thats why I recommend the blue legged and emerald.I just wanted to give you a head up on the danger although its very slim.I have both and so far so good.

Blennies are algae eaters...give one of them a try.The next time you go to LFS.check them out,they are very comical.I like the Redlip,Tailspot and Bicolor.
 
I love my lil emerald crab, hes a real character.. I plan on have 10-12 in my new 125... My lil guy eats everything, algae, left over food, etc...
 
I'll probably get horse whipped outta here.
But I gotta agree with Hibye one this one.All crabs are omnivores.But 99.9% of the emerald crabs are perfectly safe for a reef tank.
Sally light foot crabs are ok(with caution).
 
I had two sally lightfoots. They were fine for about a year, but then they matured and grew giant claws and killed and ate a firefish and a sixline wrasse :(. Plus they eat coralline. They are excellent scavengers while they are little, but turn into demons when they get bigger.
 
Hibye where the heck did you get 55.7% safe?

The reason I listed the emerald not 100% reef safe is because when they get older they seem to rely less and less on algae.Mine are pretty large now,she prefers meaty fare than algae now.I don't believe it could catch a fish but there's slim chance its possible.
 
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