Acro crab eating the acro?

Joe Fish

Joe Fish

Superstar Fish
#1
Apr 21, 2006
2,126
1
0
Penn State
josy.isa-geek.com
#1
Well, I have posted about this little guy before and I was told he was harmless. After I lost one of my acros he jumped ship and moved to another one. Since then I have been noticing, what looks like he is eating it, missing polyps and the tube things they come out of. Is it the crab that is eating them? This acro was just fine before he climbed aboard. Just above the crab to the left is what i'm talking about.






 

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Lorna

Lorna

Elite Fish
#3
Mar 3, 2005
3,082
4
0
NE Indiana
#3
ahhh I have one of these......"Hairy the Crab" we call him though I haven't actually seen him eating anything he is an original hitchiker from when I first started up my tank.......He lives deep in the live rock and comes out at night. I have seen him eating leftovers but not munching on any livestock. Not sure I could catch the little guy if I wanted to.....and not worth dismantling the whole display to get at.
 

HMarcks

HMarcks

Large Fish
#6
Aug 20, 2007
138
0
0
Palm Springs
#6
Hairy Crab info

Does anyone know much about these hairy crab hitchhikers. I found the exoskeletone out on the rock one day so went hunting around at night. I haven't seen any damage to anything in the tank yet. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to lure him out and trap him without catching my hermits/snails/fish so I can ID him better?
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#7
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
38
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#7
I've heard there are different types of acro crabs. The ones with the fuzzy shells are bad but the ones with the smooth shells are quite good.

HMarcks yours might be a Gorilla crab, which are usually considered a pest. Will eat just about anything it can catch.

Try luring it out with food. Shotglass with food in it, botte with food in it, a piece of shrimp/krill on the end of a stick...all will probably work.
 

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