Seeking IDs - pics included (large)

WetShepherd · 08/04/2011, 12:52 AM

After receiving such great advice on my clean up crew options in another thread I thought I'd push my luck and ask for help with some IDs. I'm surprised by something new coming out of the live rock almost daily. I've already removed a rock crab as I was able to identify him with an adequate degree of certainty and didn't feel safe leaving him in the tank. I tempted him with some frog pellets in a clean mason jar and nabbed him in the dark

Following that successful venture, i started flipping my lights on at night from time to time to see if I could surprise any other creatures - I have. I've found 3 additional crabs which only seem to come out at night. I have pics of two, but the other is way too fast. Do I need to get these guys out asap? (The tank is still cycling so no fish yet)

The one I didn't get pics of is a very light cream color, smooth and has a body about an inch and a half across. I once saw him crawling upside down under a rock, the other time we both spotted each other at the same time like deer caught in the headlights - staring .... then he sped sideways out of sight incredibly fast. I haven't seen him since.

Here's another guy - about the size of two blue leg hermits. He moves like a spider, and he's not very fast.

The third one is very small as you can see by comparing him to my tiny substrate - i found him picking at the rock, eating - and then vanishing after being spotted. I assume into the substrate.

Since we're already busy identifying, I'm wondering what these guys are as well - good or bad? The pics I've looked at have some similar things, but I haven't seen any exact matches yet.

Thanks!

AlexS95 · 08/04/2011, 12:58 AM

Looks like a Gorilla crab and a Mojano: both bad.

tetra-tag · 08/04/2011, 01:03 AM

No idea about the crabs, although the conventional wisdom seems to be that fuzzy crab=bad.
The second to last may be a brown button polyp, zoanthus or proto-palythoa. Not a problem except in abundance, take up real estate better used for more attractive invertebrates.

The last appears to be a majano anemone, unwelcome in a reef tank due to its tendency to sting more desirable life forms.

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/majano.html

AlexS95 · 08/04/2011, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tetra-tag

fuzzy crab=bad.

If I don't knowingly put the crab in he tank on purpose, I don't want it in there. I just took this crab out, because even though he's cute, I don't want to risk it.

zigzag1 · 08/04/2011, 07:34 AM

IME, all except the zooanthid in your third pic need to go.. And, the green stuff around the zooanthid could go too. GL!

Lynnmw1208 · 08/04/2011, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zigzag1

IME, all except the zooanthid in your third pic need to go.. And, the green stuff around the zooanthid could go too. GL!

+1 Those crabs look like bad news. I had one similar to that first one that was a ripper and tear-er.

WetShepherd · 08/04/2011, 09:55 AM

Thanks so much for all the info and advice. After posting I found yet another crab, this one with stripes, hiding up in another rock - I won't even bother with an ID on him as it sounds like I should just start a mass eviction.

My trouble now is how to get rid of them. The rock crab I was able to trap because he was hungry - but by this point I've had an algae bloom and these guys appear to have enough to eat (assuming they are omnivores).

I can use buckets and check in on them trying to pull the rock before they get back in, but they are pretty fast. The only thing I can think of that seems fool-proof is to put the rocks in buckets, suspended on something that the crabs can't climb back up and wait for them to come out looking for water - but will I kill my rocks? If not, how much time is it safe to keep the rocks out?

Anyone have some experience with this? Catching them by hand in the tank isn't an option. They are all nocturnal and vanish back into the rock within seconds of turning the lights on.

Raggamuffin · 08/04/2011, 10:05 AM

1: gorilla crab
2: mithrax crab, still would sump him
3: zoo/paly who knows what color it will turn out to be, have had brown wild ones turn every color of the rainbow
4: majano

08/04/2011, 12:52 AM	#1
WetShepherd Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 522 Blog Entries: 5	Seeking IDs - pics included (large) After receiving such great advice on my clean up crew options in another thread I thought I'd push my luck and ask for help with some IDs. I'm surprised by something new coming out of the live rock almost daily. I've already removed a rock crab as I was able to identify him with an adequate degree of certainty and didn't feel safe leaving him in the tank. I tempted him with some frog pellets in a clean mason jar and nabbed him in the dark Following that successful venture, i started flipping my lights on at night from time to time to see if I could surprise any other creatures - I have. I've found 3 additional crabs which only seem to come out at night. I have pics of two, but the other is way too fast. Do I need to get these guys out asap? (The tank is still cycling so no fish yet) The one I didn't get pics of is a very light cream color, smooth and has a body about an inch and a half across. I once saw him crawling upside down under a rock, the other time we both spotted each other at the same time like deer caught in the headlights - staring .... then he sped sideways out of sight incredibly fast. I haven't seen him since. Here's another guy - about the size of two blue leg hermits. He moves like a spider, and he's not very fast. The third one is very small as you can see by comparing him to my tiny substrate - i found him picking at the rock, eating - and then vanishing after being spotted. I assume into the substrate. Since we're already busy identifying, I'm wondering what these guys are as well - good or bad? The pics I've looked at have some similar things, but I haven't seen any exact matches yet. Thanks!

08/04/2011, 07:34 AM	#5
zigzag1 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Anderson, Indiana Posts: 1,276	IME, all except the zooanthid in your third pic need to go.. And, the green stuff around the zooanthid could go too. GL! __________________ :beer: Mixed Reef, started 10/2004: 6' BB 125g DT, 100lbs LR, 40g sump, Dual Ehiem 1000 returns, Eshopps dual overflow, JBJ ATO, Vertex IN-180, PM Ca reactor, 250w MH w/VHO Actinic, AC3 w/Aquasurf, Tunze 6105 pair & 40B frag tank 8 Fish, 20+ corals, shrimp, snails, worms, bugs, etc.

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08/04/2011, 12:58 AM	#2
AlexS95 Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Brandon, FL Posts: 1,065	Looks like a Gorilla crab and a Mojano: both bad.

08/04/2011, 01:03 AM	#3
tetra-tag Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Southern CA Posts: 167	No idea about the crabs, although the conventional wisdom seems to be that fuzzy crab=bad. The second to last may be a brown button polyp, zoanthus or proto-palythoa. Not a problem except in abundance, take up real estate better used for more attractive invertebrates. The last appears to be a majano anemone, unwelcome in a reef tank due to its tendency to sting more desirable life forms. http://www.melevsreef.com/id/majano.html

08/04/2011, 09:55 AM	#7
WetShepherd Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 522 Blog Entries: 5	Thanks so much for all the info and advice. After posting I found yet another crab, this one with stripes, hiding up in another rock - I won't even bother with an ID on him as it sounds like I should just start a mass eviction. My trouble now is how to get rid of them. The rock crab I was able to trap because he was hungry - but by this point I've had an algae bloom and these guys appear to have enough to eat (assuming they are omnivores). I can use buckets and check in on them trying to pull the rock before they get back in, but they are pretty fast. The only thing I can think of that seems fool-proof is to put the rocks in buckets, suspended on something that the crabs can't climb back up and wait for them to come out looking for water - but will I kill my rocks? If not, how much time is it safe to keep the rocks out? Anyone have some experience with this? Catching them by hand in the tank isn't an option. They are all nocturnal and vanish back into the rock within seconds of turning the lights on.

08/04/2011, 10:05 AM	#8
Raggamuffin Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Brandon SD. Posts: 541	1: gorilla crab 2: mithrax crab, still would sump him 3: zoo/paly who knows what color it will turn out to be, have had brown wild ones turn every color of the rainbow 4: majano