Arrow Crab

K

kyle

I was at the LFS this weekend commenting about the 6"+ bristle worm that is lurking in my tank. They suggested an Arrow Crab. I hadn't seen it discussed on the board since I've been here so I was unaware of it. For $20 I thought I'd give it a try. Unusual looking fella. Have any of yall hosted them on your reef and what were the results?
 
I have been told their a 50/50 on whether their reef safe or not

the one i have is fine i have never seen him do any thing wrong.
 
I appreciate the link Matt. The LFS did warn me about the Arrow crab and small shrimp and fish. I have no shrimp and my smallest fish are YT damsels.

I can't get a straight answer on bristle worms. The one I have is at least 6" long and is the diameter of a pipe cleaner. I understand if not controlled they can multiple and take over a tank so that's why I introduced the Arrow crab. I also have a Six-line wrasse which I deduce will also go after bristle worms.
 
I've got TONS of bristle worms, some rather large ones, at least as big, if not bigger than what you're describing...

I'll admit, the bigger ones ook me out, but I consider them not only beneficial, but down right vital to a healthy reef...

They are GREAT scavengers...
 
I'm pretty sure the six line won't go after bristle worms, I think it's only flatworms they eat. If you don't want them you could always get a sand sifting goby. My pink spot goby pretty much cleared out my population of bristle worms when I introduced him.
 
While I think people freak out about bristleworms, which are a healthy part of any reef tank, I've found my Orchid Dottyback (Psuedochromis fridmani) eating bristle worms bigger than he is.
 
I had an arrow crab for months and never had a problem with the little guy. He grew to a pretty good size, then one morning climbed to the top of a rock stack, caught food like normal and fell face first...dead. :(
 
If you want to reduce your bristleworm population so you don't have to see them every time you feed, a long nosed hawkfish or an arrow crab is a good addition to your tank.

http://melevsreef.com/id/ln_hawkfish.html
http://melevsreef.com/id/arrowcrab.html

I don't know about them tackling a 6" one though...
 
Thanks for all the great feedback.

I'm in Marc's camp. I like the way he daintily tip toes over the rocks. So far, I'm happy.
 
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