The good, the bad, and the ugly: Is there a such a thing as a “good” sump crab?

[JGT]

My wife calls him a hairy, fat bas-****.

 

[Goaway]

Finally caught this guy after 2 years.

Yup, I'd throw that into the sump!

 

[Jbell370]

Sucks! I love those crabs! Used to have one way back. So interesting to watch! Always doing something and eating.
It never bothered my corals like most ppl..
Can't get one now.. I got a small fish in my tank right now trying to catch a rouge gorilla crab.

I plan to setup a pico one day and for sure I'm going to grab me one of these!

Is it me.. or does anyone agree you don't see these for sale much in lfs anymore?
Maybe it's just in l.a. county where I live lol!

I was fortunate enough to get another one last week, just a baby compared to my previous one, but happily out and on the rocks picking away.

 

[NeedAReef]

I put an emerald in the sump fuge part. he keeps the bad algae in check and has a peppermint shrimp friend in there. they go around all the time, kinda neat

 

[sandmanfd]

How big was yours when u finally got em?

Like I said.. mine is half a dime size. Very small!
I only seen him like a handful of times and for like 3 weeks straight I stayed up an hour past my usual sleep time to catch this son of Satan!
Failed... Never seen him at all.. ironically, when I'm not trying to catch him... He appears out of no where and by the time I grab my tongs and open up my lid... He skirts away!! Son of a...!!!...

It's my mission to grab this guy.. or who knows.. maybe the electric indigo dottybvk has already ate him.. this fish is fiesty! Always steals pellets from my serpent star lol

Mine was bigger than a dime. I was so fed up I just took almost everything out and luckily I caught him when I was at midpoint of removing all my rock work. Back then I had a few large pieces so really wasn’t that bad.

 

[iannarelli]

if its hairy- its scary and not worth it
If I didnt buy it- Not willing to try it
and
If in doubt, pull it out

This has kept me safe for years

Hey now, keep it PG... this is an aquarium forum.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I had a white spotted hermit crab that an LFS owner sold me as reef safe. Nope. He started out small but grew fast. I started with a 13 gallon tank. He wiped out a small zoa colony and was trying to take out my Kenya tree coral which I had on a magnetic rock as far up the glass as possible. I put him in a separate 5 gallon tank because I still thought he was coll but he wound up molting incorrectly and died. If I had a sump at the time I would have put him in it.

 

[Makara23]

It took me MONTHS to get this guy. I had to bait him with a cheap coral. It worked, but unfortunately I was too late at stopping the video to grab him and he managed to get a small chunk of the blasto.

I didn't have the heart to kill him so he went in the sump. The dude started eating as soon as he got in.

 

[Tired]

I think I have that exact species.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/663422124760760331/1089675096865656882/IMG_1132.jpg

This match yours? It's in a HOB 'fuge alongside a gorilla crab.

 

[Alexander1312]

The good, the bad, and the ugly: Is there a such a thing as a “good” sump crab?

Whether it is a rogue crab that acquired an appetite for coral or a hitchhiker crab that will likely be a problem in the future, there are times when it is advisable to remove a crab from our reef tanks. In these situations, often the recommendation is to put it in the sump. Even in the sump, some of these crabs can still be problematic (anyone ever had a crab that cut a power cord or damaged a sensor?). Usually when we see a hairy crab or see one with red tips on the claws, we think “sump crab”. But does this mean it is a bad crab? Is there such a thing as a “good” sump crab? Tell us about your experience with sump crabs and let us know where you put sump crabs on the scale of good, bad, and ugly.

Gorilla crab; photo by @sukimu

Gorilla is one example and part of xanthis group

So I have one of these guys inherited as a hitchhiker on live rock, but it seems impossible to get him out, as he is too fast. Does the coca cola bottle trap work with them too, or are there any other tricks to get these out?

 

[Tired]

Bottle traps can work, and leaning a shot glass against the rock with bait in the bottom can work. You can also get some long tweezers (preferably padded) and check at night- I've caught about a dozen small crabs that way. If you see one in a grabbable spot, just go for it, fast as you can. No hesitation.

 

[Alexander1312]

Bottle traps can work, and leaning a shot glass against the rock with bait in the bottom can work. You can also get some long tweezers (preferably padded) and check at night- I've caught about a dozen small crabs that way. If you see one in a grabbable spot, just go for it, fast as you can. No hesitation.

Could you elaborate on how this works with the shot glass exactly? Thanks.

 

[Tired]

Crabs can't climb up clean glass. If you tilt a glass against the rocks so that the wall of the glass is at a not-overly-sharp angle, the crab may be enticed to crawl down inside the glass after the food, and won't be able to climb back out. Would also work with a non-textured plastic cup, I'm sure. Anything smooth.