kill the crab!

[ntswift]

I was really close today but my knife just glazed off his shell. I tried to harpoon him with my acrylic rod but it wasn't strong enough and just slid off as well...

 

[Airphotog]

I am telling you a shot in the face with boiling hot water and he will not be so hard to get a hold of. If you weren't so far away I would come and help you

 

[ntswift]

Okay Okay Okay.....I will give it a shot! lol...Its a pun, get it....a shot...lol...Nevermind, I am just a little out of it because of the lack of sleep and partial hang over....

 

[returnofsid]

LOL Put down the bottle, boil some water and pick up the turkey baster. Heck, if the "shot" of hot water doesn't work, pick up the bottle and give yourself another "shot!" What do you have to lose?

 

[Peppie]

That sucker is down there laughing at you.

 

[ntswift]

Yeah well now he is in hiding. I have been going down there about every hour and havent seen him since my last shank attempt. Here is a pic of his molt from about two weeks ago. I was so excited when I saw it because I thought my trigger finally killed him but no luck. It was just his molt. At least you can tell somewhat of a size with this guy though.

 

[user 26995]

OMG....I would be pulling all the rock out to get rid of that thing. Actually I would have someone else pulling all the rock out. I wouldnt be sticking my hands in the tank again till it was gone....gives me the shivers.

 

[Krish]

That looks like the crabs we find here running around on the rocks near the ocean. Those things will eat anything if it is the same specfies! Like I mentioned before, those rocks would have been coming out of the tank to catch that crab or atleast moved around LOL!

 

[Frankie]

:fear:

 

[Airphotog]

Boil him

 

[Jesse_emel]

Just so everyone knows, this crab is also very good at hiding. He's so skinny he can fit into places no one can go. Plus he's fast as hell. Good luck Matt. He definitely has grown a little bit since i saw him last.

On a separate note: At Ding How here in Liberty Lake they have a soft shell crab sushi hand roll that is delicious. I think this guys would make a great deep fried treat. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

You can see the legs sticking out....

 

[Peppie]

How long has this monster been in your tank? Did you put it in when it was little? Is it typical for this type of crab to get this large?
Is it a Sally Lightfoot? I had one in my 20gal. It was much smaller. He vanished, somewhere. Thank God.
It may be best to just bite the bullet and start pulling rock.
If or when youget it out of your tank are you going to have it mounted? LOL

 

[lewisriverfisherman]

I think you need to get a bigger shiv I don't think the one your using is quite big enough. Me thinks that is the biggest sally lightfoot that Ive seen. I have heard storys about how big they can get, shame on me for not believing them. These crab look so innocent when they are little.

 

[Chichas01]

Maybe these guys can help? I hear they are like the 'A-Team' when it comes to dealing with saltwater nasties:

 

[Airphotog]

I want to see that thing boiled

 

[ntswift]

I was trying all night last night too. I tore my tank apart chasing this thing and smashed my brain coral, broke off some giant green hairy mushrooms, fragged my tricolor, and scared the crap out of all my fish and still couldn't get to this thing. Like Jesse said, this guys is fast as hell. I cant wait to squirt boiling water in his face! I just cant get to him because he stays under the rocks and scoots across them so quickly its insane. So if anyone wants some green hairy mushrooms or little tips of tricolor let me know! In the mean time I will keep trying and keep you guys updated when I can!

Oh yeah, its is a sally lightfoot and when they are young they are great additions to your reef tank. However, once they hit maturity, thats when all heck breaks loose and they go Dr.Jekyll on anything and everything!

 

[cadillactattoo]

if you were a little closer i would gladly take the musshies of your hand , but im all the way in tacoma , hope they find a good home , and hope you sally gets whats coming to him soon

 

[Jesse_emel]

Not sure if this will help but when i wanted to catch my 3 stripe damsel I actually cleared the rock out of the middle of the tank. slid in some glass (or egg crate) all the way from the front to the back of the tank, from the sand to above the water line. Then i just removed all the rock and fish from one side of the tank to the other till only the 3 stripe damsel was left. then i spent 20 minutes trying to net the damn damsel but i finally caught him. So instead of chasing him around the whole tank i divided it into sections, still a pain in the arse but effective. The whole process took about 1.5 hours from start to re-aquascape and firing the system back up.

 

[fulkerl]

Not sure if this will help but when i wanted to catch my 3 stripe damsel I actually cleared the rock out of the middle of the tank. slid in some glass (or egg crate) all the way from the front to the back of the tank, from the sand to above the water line. Then i just removed all the rock and fish from one side of the tank to the other till only the 3 stripe damsel was left. then i spent 20 minutes trying to net the damn damsel but i finally caught him. So instead of chasing him around the whole tank i divided it into sections, still a pain in the arse but effective. The whole process took about 1.5 hours from start to re-aquascape and firing the system back up.

+1 Divide and Conquer

 

[user 26995]

Sounds like a good idea to divide the tank. It will be so satifying when you get to that last rock that he is hiding under and pick it up and he has no where to go and hide.
Good luck.