What to do with a Gorilla Crab?

F

Firewolf4

As I was checking out my tank tonight, I happened upon a small black tipped claw picking away at part of my Green monti Cap.
Being the no-nonsense crab hunter I am, it was Game on.
20 mins later and minus a 10 lb piece of Tufa rock, I was once again victorious. He's just a tiny thing with a body maybe 3/8" wide. I ID'd him off the Web. Black tipped "toothed" claws, etc.
Question is... what do I do with him? and Please verify the ID.
 
Yeah, he's definitely a bad guy. If you like some sport, I'm sure someone has a trigger or a puffer that would love to meet him.
 
If you ever make it over to arlington i have a small mantis that ive been waiting to try and feed it a crab, he has eaten everything else :shock: Loves nassarius snails and shrimp, i think he ate my emerald, but not too sure, to expensive to try and find out again.
 
I'm also for the sump. I think when you pluck something from the ocean (accidental or not), you should take care of it, not feed it to something :shock:
 
@DaveG99 wrote:
Feeding him to something is natural. Do you feel bad when you feed mysis to your fish? I sure dont. said:
If something gets eaten, that's okay...but when you actually feed it to something then I feel bad. I can feed mysis because they're already dead, I'm okay as long as I don't have to watch...or hear details.
Click to expand...
 
This is a predator crab, who will in time get rather large. He eats fish as they sleep. With no fish in the sump he will starve or have to be constantly fed. He will only get harder to give away as he gets larger and faster.
 
In that case, maybe he should become a snack.

This is why I have a husband, he could take it in the drive-way and smash it, then come back in and tell me he found it a beautiful reef home where it'll be loved and taken care of.
 
bad predator for the reef, i wouldnt put him in the sump either. find someone who wants him or 'dispose' of him.
 
Ok, he's a predatory Crab but not a gorilla. So what IS he?
Malo,
Seems as you might be the most... natural solution here. I go past Arlington almost every day; However, before I offer him up to the gods. I'd like to get an ID on him.
 
There are hundreds of species of rock crabs. So to get a 100% id on this guy will be difficult. But i would guess a rock crab, i'll try and find a few pics of small rock crabs, most of the pics that you find are or large tennis ball size crabs. The True Percula has a tank just for a mantis, in there there is a gulf coast rock crab, that thing is HUGE!!! Its even to big for a 8'' peacock mantis!
 
I found this image tampabaysaltwater, as close as i could come. It called is a gorilla crab.
http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/thepackage/id_images/db_37_gorillacrab-patsan.jpg
 
Last time I moved I caught a crab very similar to this one.

I threw him in the sump. He's still in the first section of my sump today. Whether he lives or dies...that's natural. I like to keep as much of a diversity of life as possible. Crabs, even predator type crabs eat the nastiest things floating through their territory. So my thoughts are:

He'll help eat stuff that goes down the overflow (reduced waste for nitrates)

If he doesn't, he dies...either way, he won't harm another fish.

At least he has a fighting chance. If he doesn't pull his weight (what I'm using him for) by eating what floats down, he will perish and be eliminated from the system.
 
I agree on the sump solution as it will allow the crab to eat food bits if their there which will turn to detritus if left on the bottom.
Most all crabs will eat algae if no other food source is available.
I had two large nasty stone crags I got from Terry and the biggest is in my sump right now and has been there for more than a year.
The second was in my daughters nano side by side with a blenny and a angel and several shrimp and it has NEVER bothered them. When I sold the rock it was living in, it went to scottj. Since we could not get the crab out of the rock, I even asked Scott to let me know if he was going to get rid of the crab as I wanted it back.

If you are going to trash / flush or feed it to something, I will be happy to drive out to you and get him first.

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if you put him in your sump, dont put him in your fuge area. he will eat beneficial fauna in there.
 
well, I've decided to exile him to a cordoned off portion of the refugium. It's only 4x6x12H but it should give him everything he needs. it's not a typical seperator as it's made with Plastic canvas for needlepoint or something so he wont clip through it. I do have the bottom 2" lined with think acrylic to prevent climbing. we'll see how he progresses.
 
I have a tub of frozen krill, i can give you a little baggies worth if you want to be a good Killer Crab Keeper and want to keep him well fed. Just let me know.
 
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