local beach crabs in a reef tank

[reeferious]

75 shorecrabs from outside lower mainland that's what I or my niece brings back from Vancouver island few times a year. in their niche habitat they hide to escape from innumerable predators, harsh environment but i take time to acclimatize them into my reef setups and believe probably doubling their lifespan as I often see quite a few larger ones that come out and gaze around. weight wise would 75 of these little guys equate to one dungenese or rock crab?

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by gobytron

No need for a high horse.

No High Horse intended. It's a forum and typing can't relay one's thoughts.

I was only pointing out my personal thoughts about taking cold water critters and placing them in a warm water environment, and the associated risks

I was also taking a poke in fun at the OP for doing something that is subjectively dangerous for both their tank and the introduced critters, and expected it to be taken as so.
After all, I did use a twisted emoticon

[Samw]

Originally Posted by noisetherapy

I looked into this kind of stuff when I went on vacation to Hawaii. Was going to bring back some dead rock to put in my tank.

The laws are nearly identical for Canadian livestock/rock.

Legal reasons: Don't do it, it's illegal.

Specifically, it is illegal in the Lower Mainland (Area 28 and 29) but in other areas of BC it is legal to retain 75 per day with a tidal license. Children under 16 can get a free license.

In the context of the OP who is in the Lower Mainland, it is true that it is illegal to retain them. That said, I don't know if anyone is going to get fined for retaining a few shore crabs.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/r...html#attention

"Children under 16 years old are required to obtain a licence, however there is no fee. "

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/r...quille-eng.htm

"Crab, Shore
Area 1 to 27 Limit: 75 Apr 1 - Mar 31
Area 28 and 29 Limit: 0 Closed "

[Samw]

...and if OP was able to find hermit crabs or some other type of crab not listed in the "Shellfish - Species and Limits Table", he can retain 4 in all Areas in BC including Areas 28/29 (Lower Mainland) with a tidal license.

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/r...quille-eng.htm

"Crab, Other
Area 1 to 29 Limit: 4 Apr 1 - Mar 31"

[gregzz4]

I'll say it again ...
Adding local shore crabs to one's tank is a risky business.
You run the risk of adding pathogens/diseases whatever to your tank.
And now are potentially adding them to the reefing community.
Diseases, pests and so forth come from somewhere;
Flatworms, nudibranchs, whatever.
We all do our best to keep them out of our tanks.

It would be different if these critters were coming from the same places we buy our crabs and shrimps from

You have NO idea what you are adding to your tank by adding crabs from your local shores.
And by doing so, you are adding them to our community.
Have fun with your crabs and I hope you don't incur any issues ...

[Samw]

Not sure if this was a reply to my post. The point of my post was to simply state the laws and regulation. I am not suggesting OP to add crabs to his tank nor to add them to a species only tank either. I'm not giving advice. I am actually trying to minimize posting advice on this board lately But I sometimes post when I see misinformation. Just wanted to make sure there is no misinformation here as well. I kept posting the laws and regulations but people weren't reading them.

Some people keep saying they are legal, and some say they aren't even after the regulations have been posted. So I wanted to repost the regulations.

[gregzz4]

Sam, I'm sure many people saw your posts concerning the laws and such.
But I'm also sure 10x as many people missed them

[gobytron]

Jaywalking is also illegal.
So is speeding.

The legality of something isn't always the be all/end all of many scenarios.
It's good to know the rules though.

I wonder how many instances of the kind if rampant outbreak described above there actually have been within the aquarist hobby.

I just did a quick google search and didn't see anything come up.

It certainly sounds like something that could happen, but I'm no carcinologist and not privy to how their pathogens or pests and predators work.

In any case, It seems to be something that has been done, I imagine it happens fairly often.

That being said, I think it would be far more rewarding to create a natural environment, at least as far as salinity and temperature goes.

Then go and collect...IF you decide you want to run the discussed risks or get a licence rather than to go and grab something and toss it your tank, hoping for the best.

[Coasting]

Good topic.
Ive been thinking of starting a tank where i live here on the island with only local beach critters at their temp and what not. Though i question what the proper temp is? When tides low in the summertime these crabs are in pretty warm water. Warmer then my 80degree tank in poco. Their temperatures change.so mucb and in such large ranges at the beach....

[Samw]

Good god. Sorry for posting the regulations. The whole purpose of my posts were to respond to previous posts which deemed collection legal and others deeming them illegal with no references. Obviously jaywalking, speeding etc are obvious infractions. But I doubt that marine animal collection regulations were obvious. Thus, my references to the regulations. No where did I tell OP to do it or not to do it (never hinted that the regulations are the be/end all).