Bad crab or worse crab

[Jeff]

I found this guy on an aquacultured coral I just recieved. I have heard that hairy crabs are bad, as in maybe eating sps. I have also heard that they just have a bad rap like bristle worms. What do you think should I keep him or toss?
I think that he is actually kind of cute. Despite the picture he is only maybe a little over a 1/4" and has neon green eyes.

 

[mattseattle]

my view now is all crabs are bad so i'd give it away or eat it!

 

[Jeff]

Yeah, that seems to be a pretty common view. The only other crabs that I have in my tank are acropora crabs and boxer crabs. I love both of them.
Oops, I almost forgot about my porcelain crabs.

 

[mattseattle]

well definitely stay away from emerald crabs and sally lightfoot crabs. i've had bad experiences with both of them.

 

[Elmo18]

Notice that crab is HAIRY and HAS BLACK TIP CLAWS. I would not deem it reef-safe.

Off to the fuge....sump...err or...to the LFS?

- elmo

 

[Beckmola24]

I agree that it's kind of cute. Throw it in the sump.

 

[Witfull]

ah hemmmm,,, "Crabs"....Waits for audience repy....

 

[Jeff]

Alright, well I guess that off to my refugium he goes.

 

[Shoreliner11]

I agree that a lot of hairy crabs are bad news, but often times the crabs which come with sps are beneficial symbiotic crabs. With that being said I have only seen one hairy one, and have not observed it for more than a couple hours to determine how "safe" it is. I do although have a hairy crab about an inch across who ate a shrimp goby of mine. Off to the sump he went too....

 

[Jeff]

Yeah, I have heard that they my be symbotic as well. The coral that it came in on looks very healthy, but whos to say how long it was on there or if it just moved over in the holding tanks.

 

[The R/C Man]

Ok, I always hear that crabs are bad but nothing about why.... What do they do that is so bad?

 

[MtnDewMan]

I don't believe all crabs are bad. I have a very hairy crab living in an acro stag and it doesn't hurt the acro at all. If you can get to the crab or acro fairly easily, let it stay there and see how it does before you decide possibly prematurely that the crab is bad. If it is tough to get at and you had the chance, then probably take the opportunity to keep it away.

 

[Elmo18]

Notice that not all hairy crabs are bad, which was I exaggerated the fact that it is HAIRY and HAS BLACK TIP CLAWS, i.e. chela. IMO and IME when both observations are true, it is more of an opportunist rather than scavenger; and thus, not reef-safe.

Definitely a cool crab, though

- Elmo

 

[lizardarm]

my experience has shown to me that not all hairy crabs are a danger to our reefs, and not all the methods and charecteristics for determining which are safe and which are not are entirely accurate. what i do know is that i have usually had to find out the hard way which ones were not reef safe. i've also noticed that crabs in sump end up being crab puree in main tank.
but all that means nothing, so we might as well fail on the safe side.
if you've already got him caught, you might as well take action now, as it might be harder to catch next time

 

[Jeff]

i have usually had to find out the hard way which ones were not reef safe

So what did they do? Eat fish, eat corals, both?

 

[lizardarm]

there have been two times when i have ended up having to remove a hairy crab (of the four times that i have found them in my aquarium) and both times it was becuase i found that they were eating my stars

 

[Stircrazy]

I had one that looked exactly like the one in the picture and didn't get rid of it untill I observed it rip a hunk of acro off and eat it.

Steve