Crab only tank...is it possible?

[aquaman67]

I have some cool LR hitchhikers I'd like to keep, but not in my main tank. I have a orange decorator crab and a large (just the body is bigger than a quarter) purple crab. He has white spots on his legs and his claws are black tipped. He came from Tampa Bay rock, so an ID would be great if you know what he is.

Back to the question. I have a 10 gallon tank I used for a Q tank and I'm not adding any more fish so...what could I do to move the crabs over there? Do I need to cycle it some how? Or is that just for fish? Do crabs even make ammonia waste?

I have a Aqua Clear 300 I could use. If I used media, would it become a nitrate factory even if it never cycles? (No fish waste, ammonia, no cycle, right?)

Thanks in advance!

[aquaman67]

anyone???

Is a crab only tank possible?

[jimroth]

I really like crustaceans and feel they get a bad rap. I have had a small decorator crab in my reef with no trouble. She would periodically cut some star polyps and attach them to change her outfit.
Your crabs can be kept in a small tank, like a 10G with an undergravel filter and some LR. They are not too picky about water quality. Don't put them in your Q-tank, or you won't be able to quarantine fish in there. Just get another small tank.
What I do with animals I don't want to kill but don't want in the main tank is I put them in the sump. It's kind of like the tank dungeon. There were a lot of crabs down there. Until I added the mantis shrimp I found. Now there's only a couple.

[dc]

Sure, but there is no guarentee that they won't kill each other. I have a rock crab in a 5 gal with a Damsel. Both are meaner than H*ll. Plus a lot of crabs hide during the day. I use a flashlight with a red lens to watch him at night.
http://images2.fotki.com/v19/photos/2/28482/171438/crab-vi.jpg

[mars2001]

IF the crab is the same as the pic posted, it is known by several names.... 'rock crab' is pretty non-specific... 'box crab' for the way he will fold his claws in and play dead... they're tough buggers and will take down fish when they get bigger....

and by tough.... I mean the one I had that hitchhiked in on some rock (i thought he was a mythrax at first)... survived out of water for 2 days & went through the tank's first cycle....

[rbaker]

Everything that gets evicted from my main reef gets thrown into the 55 gal reef in my fishroom. I've thrown some pretty tough crabs in there along with a Banded Coral Shrimp and a nasty Coral Beauty. I throw a couple of grocery store shrimp in weekly. It's a free for all when they smell the shrimp hit the water.

I say go for it...

Ryan

[technoshaman]

I have one not intentionally. I have an 18 gallon with an aquaclear filter I use to cure live rock. In it are a very large and unruly emerald crab, a black mithrax looking crab, a huge striped hermit and a dardanus species hermit with anemones named Manson who is downright evil:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=80185

I throw some food in a few times a week and on the occasion when a snail dies I throw it in for them as well. I call this tank 'the Penalty Box'. My 6" peacock mantis 'Queenie' lives in a 20 gallon hex next to it and she watches the goings on in the penatly box with great interest but she hasn't figured out a way in.... yet.

[Aquacris]

Can anyone help me with a id on my crab? It hitched a ride on my lr. It is orange in color with white and black stripes like a clown.

[slylie]

Aqua I am also planning a Crustacean tank with a 20 gal. Just to get some ideas, here are some possible tankmates I Was thinking of.. if anyone has experience with any combonations, please share. Cheers.

Branded Coral shrimp.
Emerald Crab
Decorator Crab
Arrow Crab
Pistol Shrimp
Purple/Pink lobster
Anemone hermit

I'm NOT putting all these in one tank, this is just what I have access to. What combo's do you think would work without anyone getting torn limb by limb?

Also, would it be bad to use a small red light that stays on all night? Like the ones they sell at the LFS, its just like a little LED.

[texasreefer]

I have a 10 gallon w/ a rock crab I caught locally and it has grown from the size of a nickel to about 3-1/2" across now. It will come out and play tug a war w/ you for silversides I feed it. It is funny to watch people try to feed it and watch them jump when it comes out and starts waving it's claws around.

[dc]

Wow technoshaman, that crab looks like a real bad hair day. LOL. I want one.:D Mine is bigger than a silver dollar.

Aquacris can you get a picture?

[vikingkim]

Aquacris, just a wild stab in the dark , but it sounds like a pompom crab,a.k.a. boxing crab. If it is, you are lucky! I 'm dying to get one, but my LFS never get them and they seem to be usually sold out on-line.Look one up on liveaquaria.com and see if that's it. On a side note, I used an old spare 10g to set up a tank for an arrow crab, a sponge crab, a HUGE hermit from my 55 and a really beautiful purple tube anenome that I don't trust with fish. I too LOVE crabs! Uh, well,...I could get weird here and tell off-color jokes, but, uhhh.......

[maroun.c]

i took out 4 crabs that hitchhicked on some LR out of my tnak and put them in my 10 G Q tank. i'm not planning to add fish anymore so i just use them to keep the tank cycled feed them some krill shrimps or mussels weekly. and whenever i need to use the tank for a sick fish i guess i'll just take them out to the 2 G refugium that i just added to my tank. they are great fun to watch at night and believe me you'll spending more time waiting for them to show up than watching your display tank. one thing though they are great in hiding one time i ripped the tank appart and could not find the 1st crab i had for two day si was told they can go out of the tak and live sometime out of teh water so don't be surprised to find them crawling in your bed at night if you have an open tank:D

[wastedincome]

Originally posted by maroun.c
so don't be surprised to find them crawling in your bed at night if you have an open tank:D


Hey thats not funny......I just found a unknown crab w/ body alone size bigger thena quarter lil' smaller then a half dollar. It has gone undetected for aleast 8 months:eek2: .
And guess where the tank is.......... in my BED ROOM :eek2: :eek1: :lol:
If my wife see's the above quote then I'm in some big trouble

Better go crab huntin:hammer: :hammer:

[slylie]

Does any one know if coral brandeds/crabs will do well together?