I got a delivery of pink birds nest coral today and when I put it in the tank about 4 little crabs escaped into the tank. There's a 5th one still inside the coral, it's about half inch wide pink/orange in color... is my reef doomed? Later I also noticed a little fish... looks like a clown gobie of some kind. Keeping my fingers crossed. Anyone know what kind of crabs these might be?
Hitchikers
- Thread starter EVO
- Start date
Too late now. You have to live with them.
Interesting that you got a little fish. Clown gobies are nice. They like to jump out of tanks though. I've never had one last more than a few weeks before finding it on the floor in front of the tank.
Hitchhiker crabs get a bad rap. They aren't so nasty. I have a large nasty looking black one one that came in at the size of a pea on a coral and is now almost as big as a poker chip. He peacefully picks at algae and eats food that falls to the bottom. Although he did grab a stick I was using to get at an overturned snail and held on so tight I had to let him win or risk toppling the rock structure because he was gripped into a lower rock that supported a lot of weight above it. I was amazed at how strong he is. But he will walk right by a snail and often spends time in a hole with my goby and never hurts anyone.
Interesting that you got a little fish. Clown gobies are nice. They like to jump out of tanks though. I've never had one last more than a few weeks before finding it on the floor in front of the tank.
Hitchhiker crabs get a bad rap. They aren't so nasty. I have a large nasty looking black one one that came in at the size of a pea on a coral and is now almost as big as a poker chip. He peacefully picks at algae and eats food that falls to the bottom. Although he did grab a stick I was using to get at an overturned snail and held on so tight I had to let him win or risk toppling the rock structure because he was gripped into a lower rock that supported a lot of weight above it. I was amazed at how strong he is. But he will walk right by a snail and often spends time in a hole with my goby and never hurts anyone.
Thanks for the info guys. It seems there are more crabs than I thought, I got up at night with a flash light and WHOA... there are at least 10 crabs ranging from ladybug size to over one inch. Seem like there are two different types. This morning I noticed something else crawing around inside, upon close inspection there's a little pistol shrimp. I was relived because I started hearing clicking sounds the other day and thought there might be a mantis. I think I might get some more of this stuff 
These little critters can really pack into a birdsnest.
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