Let's Play...What is this?

[lunchie]

I hope you all don't get tired of me... :badgrin:

Here is my latest discovery. There are shots that show the underside of the "creature' and then shots that show the top of it...

My husband thinks it is a baby crab of some sort...I just don't know.

 

[wrightme43]

He is right.

 

[dnjan]

For scale, I assume that is less than 1/4"? Little crabs are fairly harmless, but the wrong ones can grow into fish-eaters. Any chance you have a refugium you could move him into, so you can still enjoy him without having him cause problems?

 

[clarkii]

Very hard to tell from the picture but it could be many types of crab, at a guess and this is a very wild guess it could be an emerald or teddy bare crab. The later no really wanted in a reef tank IMO.

As already suggested move to the fug until you can identify him, if its a safe guy then you can always move him back at a later date.

Crabs are crabs and should never be trusted however reef safe they are supposed to be , remember that

 

[lunchie]

We don't have a refugium to move him to. We are fairly new at all of this and only have our tank. Though my husband said we do have a Porcelain safe house for those that don't meet our needs... :lol:

Now we do have two emeralds in the tank so I guess one could have given birth or it may have come with the live rock.

In your opinion should I remove it from the tank? We are still cycling and only have 2 emeralds, 1 damsel, 2 black mollies, snails, and an arrow crab. So I don't think the little guy could do much harm right now. Let me know what you all think.

As for his size. He is about the size of Lincoln's face on a dime.

 

[gobie]

Are You Going To Keep Corals And Inverts

 

[gehidore]

Looks like the baby lightfoots I kept finding in my tank.

 

[lunchie]

No for now we are not going to have any coral but we do plan to have some inverts.

 

[lunchie]

This might be a dumb question, but here it goes. I have looked into getting a sump, price and size etc. One of the problems we have is that we are limited on space. However, I think I have found one that would work. But what I am confused about is once you have the sump/refug does that mean you don't need your filter anymore? We have a canister filter system that cost a pretty penny and I hate to think it will be obsolete if we did the sump/refug.
Thanks

 

[gehidore]

This might be a dumb question, but here it goes. I have looked into getting a sump, price and size etc. One of the problems we have is that we are limited on space. However, I think I have found one that would work. But what I am confused about is once you have the sump/refug does that mean you don't need your filter anymore? We have a canister filter system that cost a pretty penny and I hate to think it will be obsolete if we did the sump/refug.
Thanks

A well designed tank/refugium ~or~ sump won't need much of a filter, but it is always a nice thing to keep one running for particulates. *IMO*

 

[dnjan]

The canister filter is a good place to run carbon and/or phosphate remover if the occaision arises (something dies, etc), and is a good investment to have around even if you aren't using it all the time.

A sump makes a nice place to put heaters, skimmer, etc., and (since the sump is often smaller, it is more sensitive to water-level change due to evaporation) it is useful for controlling your makeup water additions. Plus, you can grow chaeto or other macro-algae for nutrient export (you will need a light for this, of course, but there are a number of inexpensive options for sump lights).

 

[gobie]

my mag 350 has has quick disconnects and is split off my main return so when i dont need it i disconnect it and let it run as a return only i only run my canister 1 week a month.