Anenome Crabs fighting off Maroon

xian3000 · #1 12/15/2006, 02:58 PM

I bought a beautiful green carpet from the Indo Pacific a few weeks ago. I got to replace a long tenctacle that my Maroon Clown had been hosting. The long tentcale died and I purchased the carpet.

The anenome had two white anemone crabs living in it when I bought it. They looked really fun so I bought the along with the anemone. Now the clown won't host it. I think it's because of the crabs. They snap their claws at him as he stares at the anemone from an inch away.

What should I do? Everytime I reach in for the crabs they run, the anemone shrinks around my hand and stings me. I can handle the sting mostly but they dodge pretty well and I don't want to hurt the anemone grabbing for them.

Will the Clown ever host with them? If I do grab them somehow, can I relocate them to another part of the tank while the clown gets a new home?

TOURKID · #2 12/15/2006, 04:15 PM

ive seen pics of clowns hosting with crabs but i think thats unusual. Crabs are not easy to catch. you can try leaning a mason jar against a rock with food inside it. If it crawls in, they wont be able to get back out.
Unfortunatly you'll also catch every hermit in your tank.

xian3000 · #3 12/15/2006, 04:18 PM

Thanks, my only worry is that they will never have the guts to set foot off their anemone, food or not. But it's worth trying. Thanks

bureau13 · #4 12/15/2006, 04:41 PM

My maroons never showed any interest in hosting my carpet, but I don't think it had anything to do with the anemone crab in there. In fact, I had some angels picking on the anemone, and the crab just runs and hides underneath. So I added a Sebae clown, and he and the crab both host the anemone, pretty much ignoring each other.

jds