weird crab critter

[andrew pougnet]

i was looking in my tank today and noticed something crawling around digging in my substrate, looked like a crab. it was around a dime size, maybe a bit smaller and seemed to just be pushing stuff around. is this bad? what should i do

 

[AmberSunrise]

Take a picture of it kinda hard to help you going on that description

 

[Lizardgi]

Crrrab people! Crrrab people!

 

[Mandarin66]

crab or mantis.... o shrimp idk ...

 

[lilyicu]

I am very anticrab after spending many months trying to catch two hitchhiker crabs that would kill anything I put in the tank. Keep a close eye on it.

 

[andrew pougnet]

it had black eyes, its a grey color with a body shaped like a spade ( suit of cards ) and has black dots on its head. grey white claws. its not furry that i can see.bad? any ideas to get rid of it

 

[ErinCahir]

I think it's a good idea to trap it. Even if it ends up being a good guy, you can always put it back.

 

[andrew pougnet]

thats true, i have a sunken water bottle tipped up against some liverock with raw basa fish in it, hopefully it will crawl into there? thanks

 

[Waddi]

You will catch everything but the critter!! :D Thats what happened to me, caught some hitchhiker snails and alot of copepods, but my mantis is still loose!!! :evil:

 

[andrew pougnet]

but if its a bad crab what will it do? eat my coral/ fish

 

[ErinCahir]

Yes. Yes it will.

 

[Waddi]

I can picture it now...
Crab - *NOM NOM NOM NOM*
Your face - :pissedof:
Your actions - :chair:
The Aftermath - :censored:

Heheh

 

[AmberSunrise]

Have you tried to google pictures of reef crabs to see if anything similar pops up?

 

[Gooseman]

without a picture its hard to say but it could be a rock crab that came in with your LR ... they start small but do grow big with large claws and can be carnivorous ... something to watch out for

 

[Mandarin66]

trap it and throw it in the toliet?

 

[andrew pougnet]

believes to be a emerald crab

 

[DAvis]

believes to be a emerald crab

Emeralds have hairy legs, even the little ones. That size the main claws would be white, and the body dark greenish. Is it mainly nocturnal? :helm2:

 

[andrew pougnet]

no it came out whenever food was put in the tank, but is died, saw the bugger all pale white laying upside down on a piece of liverock

 

[little_fish]

That sounds like molt, i bet he is still alive in there

 

[Mandarin66]

That sounds like molt, i bet he is still alive in there

i saw mines 2 time