so a couple of nights ago i was looking in my tank and saw a stowaway. this morning i woke up and turned my lights on and found pieces of my hermit crab scattered in the tank. the culprit looks like an emerald but its black/ dark brown. what is the best way to catch the culprit?
bad crab
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At night he will most likely come out and I would just take a flash light and grab him.
Hope it isn't my variation of a black crab of death. Thing apparently eats everything.
If it is small (less than 2"), they make some pretty good traps to catch the thing. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3964&Ntt=crab%20trap&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1">http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3964&Ntt=crab%20trap&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1</a> This was recommended to me by several knowledable people.
If it is larger, the way I got mine out was to yank the rock he was in out and use some really long needle nose pliers and a handy flexible screw retriever to get him out. You can also put the rock in your QT tank on some PVC with some food at the bottom of the tank. He will come out to eat the food and likely not be able to climb the pvc. If he is bold and you are handy, put a piece of tasty food on a stick with fishing line string in a loop at the end. When he eats the food, pull the string and wham you got him. Don't pull too hard or a leg/claw will break off. That is what happend to me and then I had to go in after him.
If it is small (less than 2"), they make some pretty good traps to catch the thing. http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3964&Ntt=crab%20trap&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1">http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3964&Ntt=crab%20trap&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1</a> This was recommended to me by several knowledable people.
If it is larger, the way I got mine out was to yank the rock he was in out and use some really long needle nose pliers and a handy flexible screw retriever to get him out. You can also put the rock in your QT tank on some PVC with some food at the bottom of the tank. He will come out to eat the food and likely not be able to climb the pvc. If he is bold and you are handy, put a piece of tasty food on a stick with fishing line string in a loop at the end. When he eats the food, pull the string and wham you got him. Don't pull too hard or a leg/claw will break off. That is what happend to me and then I had to go in after him.
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Lol I have a rod you could borrow Just let me know.
Don't use a hook for obvious reasons. Use a snare, but the end of a fishing rod would be perfect for building one. You can also use a mason jar semi-wedged up against the glass with food inside. The crab will find a way in and won't find a what out... at least not easily.
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Try to be sure he is responsible. Did you actaully find the hermit body? Because the shed their exoskeleton just like all arthropods. Many stowaways are totally harmless, but some are the devil with gills, as Cameron said. I would be sure you have a problem before going the the lengths of starting WWIII to get it out.
I would say it depends on what you are keeping in your tank whether or not you should go after him if you aren't sure what he is or how big he will get. Crabs are opportunity predators first. If I had a FOWLR setup, probably wouldn't care so much. However if he could potentially wreck several hunderd dollars worth of livestock, I would be getting him out of there ASAP.
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Yeah, I agree. Potential is a real spicy meatball. My only concern is that the only indication there is something awry right now is a potentially missing hermit crab. To me that is not carnage. But, peace of mind is peace of mind. Happy fishing!
on the note of the hermit crab it was the crab not it shedding its exo skeleton, right now the tank is only a few (3) months old and i dont have much in there. 2 shrooms and a maroon clown plus a clean up crew. i would like to get "evil do-er" out before i add my next few corals or anything els for that matter.
Inline with what 'panda was saying another hermit crab could be responsible for this as well. They will attack each other if they opportunity presents or they are hungry enough. This is especially true on newer systems that don't have as much "live-ness" (?).
