HOLY!!!! Emerald Crab!

[fishgeeksrus]

Well, we are still in our quest to remove 6 emerald crabs that we purposely put into our tank. So far we have removed two of them. Those suckers are hard to get out once you put them in. My husband and I put in two new 6' VHO super actinics in last night. While we were admiring the vivid color change, my husband noticed that we now have a Jolly Green Giant!!!! This particular emerald crab has quadrupled in size in a matter of weeks. It is unreal! I must have sit there for an hour waiting for it to come out enough for me to grab (with the net of course) because he isn't pinching my finger off. Well he wouldn't (of course). This thing was like a dog. It was scratching his legs, he was scratching his head against a rock above him. He was having his own little party.

I am still trying to get most of them out, but how concerned should I be with him being this size? I am not tearing down my whole tank for this thing!
I have heard of the traps. Do those work on EC's?

[Poseidon]

Be very concerned... once those guys get big their diet changes to more MEATY foods...

[fishgeeksrus]

OMG!!!! The sohal tang doesn't really pay him any mind. But! the purple tang does NOT like him. Even more when the crab is in his space!

[Ninong]

Mithrax species crabs are unpredictable. As they mature and get larger, their dietary habits change to include more protein and they can become a threat to sleeping fish.

I have heard all sorts of methods used to "remove" them from the system. If you know exactly where the crab is hiding in your rock structure, you could try standing a small glass with food it in just under the opening to his lair and hope that he falls into the glass and can't get out. That's what one hobbyist reported as his method. Another person said he preferred to spear them with steel bar-b-cue skewers. (I have no comment on that one, I'm just reporting what someone said worked for him.) People who tried various traps complained that the traps were catching everything except the crabs.

[J4Life]

fishgeeksrus,
I would like to see a picture of it if possible. I am curious to see how big it really is.

Thanks,
Bill

[Samper]

I'm starting to think that my flame hawk didnt attack my pygmy cherub angelfish and take his eye even though he did kill the gramma. This kind of attack seems more precise exactly like a crab of the emerald sort. I might just go ahead and remove him to be safe.

[fishgeeksrus]

I will try to work on that picture! I am definitely working on getting him out. Wish me luck!

[zhenya]

Wish me luck!

Good luck!

Patience is the key here. Have you tried baiting them with food?

I hope they are not as big as this fella I met on the beach while in Bermuda this week

[fishgeeksrus]

Well, the giant has been captured!!!! Patience is definitely the key. It was a dual effort in his capture late last night. I had the dowel rod and my husband had the net. Using both of our highly sophisticated tools, we managed to get him out enough for me to hold him down with the dowel rod and my husband scooped him up with the net. I am amazed at how fast he grew. Phewww! Now only three more to go.