Crab ID

[Eb0la11]

Hey guys, this is pretty fun for me haha. My first ID thread!

Ok so I got my live rock today. Picked up two chunks from Gold's and one from Pisces just to seed my other rock.

Anyways, got a hitch hiker along the way so far. A brown crab, hes very small, maybe his head or body or whatever (not including legs) is Id say a bit smaller than a dime.

He is hairy or spiky a bit and seems to be grazing on algae without a care in the world right now lol. Any thoughts? I can try to get a pic of him later, but I think hes prob relatively common.

[Leah]

Hairy = Bad!!

[Eb0la11]

haha really? Dang I love this guy! 100% of the time hairy=bad? Also, what kind of "bad" does hairy =?

[Leah]

he he hairy= munch munch on corals

[Eb0la11]

he he hairy= munch munch on corals

haha ok, I'll keep an eye on him. Might put him in my refugium since he's basically my first animal that I've discovered in my tank and am pretty excited about him.

[Eb0la11]

Ok I got another question about a featherduster that has also come along into my tank.

Do you think it'll survive the cycle? I have read they require good water quality so Im a bit worried. It'd be nice but just want to know if I should curve my expectations.

[Myka]

Yes, hairy is usually not reef-safe. Generally, most crabs aren't reef-safe, including many hermit crabs aren't even 100% reef-safe. He could live happily in your sump though. :)

[kien]

Definitely get him out now while you still can :-) Put him in your sump. If you leave him in your display tank you might not find him later. If you add more rock it will become even harder to get him out!

[lorenz0]

haha ok, I'll keep an eye on him. Might put him in my refugium since he's basically my first animal that I've discovered in my tank and am pretty excited about him.

your alot nicer than me when it comes to dealing with these guys

[Lance]

your alot nicer than me when it comes to dealing with these guys


Yeah, if I can't catch him in 10 minutes I skewer him.

[Eb0la11]

Duplicate message, oops.

[Eb0la11]

Got a new crab that Ive found. Hes very small. Body is maybe the size of a pea and in total half the size of a dime. He's light grey, looks really cool. Eats a lot of algae. Ideas?

Also, we have this thing that looks stunningly like a baby tiger tail cucumber. But instead of being somewhat red its got a grey body and has white "spikes" that protrude slightly down its body.

Its very small though, like 1/4 cm wide including the spikes and Im not really sure how long it is. I only saw a portion of it that was maybe 3cm long so far but it could be a bit longer but I dont really think much longer.

It moved really slow so, at first I thought it was a bristle worm, but arent those fast? This thing meandered like a brittle star fish arm kind of. Anyone able to help me out? I wish I could take pics but theres no way with my POS camera.

[Eyford01]

Item 1: crabs are awesome but the sump may be the best home for them (look up porcelin, pom pom and emerald, those would be the only exceptions I would allow)

item 2: the featherdusters I think will survive the cycle just fine, almost all of mine did anyways

item 3: pics would help but you cucumber sounds to me more Like a bristle worm although it could really be a cucumber, I have one from my very first piece of live rock, but if you can catch it turn it over and look for tube feet that it will use to attach to whatever substrate it is on, if it's anything like mine it will try to hold on tight