crabs

[bmw]

Mentioned this quite some time ago--
They came out of nowhere. Thought i had two. now I know at least three. The claws ends are a cup shape, and, thankfully, they have not grown any in the last 3 months-about the size of a quarter on the body-little less.
How worried should I be? Nothing unexplained missing unless its xenia, which they could have. But I worry. And I don't have a clue how I would ever get them out of there--very fast and very shy.
http://members.home.net/wagerb/stuff/crabs.jpg
thanks,
b.

[rshimek]

Originally posted by bmw

Hi Bruce,

How worried should I be? Nothing unexplained missing unless its xenia, which they could have. But I worry.

Most crabs are relatively generalized predators and like a preferred prey animal, but will take most anything else. A few are all purpose omnivores and eat anything. Fewer yet, are herbivores. Personally, if these were in my tank, I would be worried. The question of their food may be addressed in another way. Is there anything in your system that is not growing the way it should be? Or do you notice a drop or shift in sand and rock microfauna populations?

And I don't have a clue how I would ever get them out of there--very fast and very shy.

There are number of DIY crab traps that been made by various folks. You might do a search through the main RC archives for this. ;)