reef lobster or arrow crab?

[cherubfish pair]

for a scavenger

[phillrodrigo]

I had a purple lobster and a red lobster both attacked fish. My purple killed a dotty back. I have personally never owned a arrow crab. I ended up giving away both lobster

[Betta132]

Arrow crab WILL kill small fish, lobster probably will. Neither is any good.
Try hermit crabs instead, or an emerald crab or two. Emerald crabs are still opportunistic, meaning they may eat sleeping or injured fish if not fed enough, but they're generally considered okay.

[cherubfish pair]

Also want it to thin down my invert population. Too many snails.

[TangingOut]

I got an arrow crab to control my bristle worm problem and it did a great job of it, then it started killing everything it could grab a hold of. One snail and a couple hermits before I got rid of it. Wasn't going to let it kill a fish.

[Betta132]

If you got too many snails, pick 'em out and give them to a LFS. You can probably get some credit.

[Miz40B]

Skunk Cleaner Shrimp gets my vote Great scavengers, beautiful and very friendly.

[Reef Bass]

My Daum lobster has been well behaved. I have not noticed any predation though it could be taking out the occasional snail or hermit. It is nocturnal, so don't expect to see it during the day or when the lights are on. Too bad, because it's a beauty. The colors on its freshly molted exoskeleton are bomb.

[davocean]

Originally Posted by Reef Bass

My Daum lobster has been well behaved. I have not noticed any predation though it could be taking out the occasional snail or hermit. It is nocturnal, so don't expect to see it during the day or when the lights are on. Too bad, because it's a beauty. The colors on its freshly molted exoskeleton are bomb.

When I had one years ago a neighbor would take my moltings, dry them in the sun after shaping them nice, and then he sprayed clear coat on them, it's pretty cool to do, look at growth stages.
Warning though, as they get bigger they get more aggressive towards fish, and reckless in the tank.
Arrows are just plain mean.
Cleaner shrimp is so beneficial, and your fish will set up a cleaning station around them.

[imkelz]

I had a pink reef lobster and it killed my first Mandarin. Probably would have gotten more if I didn't rip the tank half apart to catch him.

[Kearnel]

I've got a purple reef lobster, he doesn't really bother anything. I know he ate my two fire fish but those poor buggers were so skittish that they never left the rock work. Other than that I rarely see it. Every now and then he'll show up when I feed my green carpet so I'll give him a piece of shrimp to keep it content. I'm sure my almost perfect success is a rare thing though. If I could go back i wouldn't have put him in. Never see it and it's a known fish thief, very opportunistic.

[Reef Bass]

Originally Posted by davocean

When I had one years ago a neighbor would take my moltings, dry them in the sun after shaping them nice, and then he sprayed clear coat on them, it's pretty cool to do, look at growth stages.
Warning though, as they get bigger they get more aggressive towards fish, and reckless in the tank.

Neat idea with the molts davocean! I notice when they dry they look a little pale compared to when wet but maybe the clear coat would help with that.

Thanks for the headsup regarding aggression with larger size. So far so good. It's probably just waiting for me to get some delicate, unusual fish that I really love.

[davocean]

Originally Posted by Reef Bass

Neat idea with the molts davocean! I notice when they dry they look a little pale compared to when wet but maybe the clear coat would help with that.

Thanks for the headsup regarding aggression with larger size. So far so good. It's probably just waiting for me to get some delicate, unusual fish that I really love.

The clear coat totally brightens them up, and it's neat to see the color change as well as size progression.
Yes mine was great when small, couldn't see what the fuss was about on keeping them, and then eventually it got big enough to knock things over and reach for fish w/ it's spiny feelers every time a fish swam near, that's when it had to go, but that took quite a while, mine was pretty small at purchase.