Pesty Crab

[55semireef]

Not to long ago, I bought a piece of liverock absolutely covered in purple coraline algae and in mushrooms. Well to my notice it came with some type of predatory crab. It had very sharp claws and they were kind of big for its size. Well I couldn't get to it but I figured either my Niger Trigger or my Snowflake eel would take care of it. But one night I saw my Snowflake eel go to bite it but the crab pinched the eel and thwarted the eel off. Ever since my eel hasn't bothered it. My Niger is too busy being in its own world to even notice the crab. I figure the crab is nocturnal because I rarely ever see the crab move with the lights on. Anyways, my question is can I catch the crab and just throw it into my sump? Will it live? I would hate to kill a crab that didn't really deserve to die but its dangerous around my corals and etc. Should I feed it some meet periodically to ensure its well being?

Thanks

[xdusty6920]

in general crabs are oppurtunistic. and in a reef thats a bad thing to have lol. ive caught many different crabs with the bottle trap. take a small aquafina bottle and cut off the top third of the bottle. flip that piece inward and put inside the bottle forming like a funnel. then poke a couple holes for air to escape.
right before lights out, drop a pile of meaty food into the trap and then take it to the area the crab is. make sure its anchored or wedged in.
the idea is the crab goes for the food crawling into the bottle. but once inside its nearly impossible for it to find its way back out because of the design, and the crab just settles for sitting there munching the meat until you come and retrieve the trap.
hope this helps and if all else fails, a fondu fork works wonders.

[powerstruck7.3]

I got a stone crab in my live rock and he has been with my fish only tank for a year. he doesn't even flinch when my snowflake eel is right next to him. he is about 4" across his back, I've never seen one in a store.

[55semireef]

Thats a great trap but my eel would get to the meet first.

[jaymz101]

probably some sort of xanthid species. Not good for corals but will live in sump. Id spear it and mix it in wiht the next feeding though.

[55semireef]

Well I don't want to kill the crab. He's pretty cool. I would like to see him live in the sump with some rock. Plus he would clean it up a bit I hope.

[romunov]

Try suspending the rock above a bucket of water. That way, when the crab heads down to the water, he's yours.