Gorilla Crabs and Bimac's

[RCLasley]

Hey guys!

So I received some live rock from KP Aquatics and in my daily routine of spending hours staring at the empty tank with live rock looking at how pretty it is I noticed movement from a crevice in the rock. Turns out we had a hitch hiker on the live rock and it appears to be a gorilla crab. In the process of trying to get my camera up to take a picture I must have spooked the little devil because he disappeared in the blink of an eye!

Will this crab make a good snack for my octopus when he/she gets here or should I try to remove and put in the sump? My initial google search has me panicking slightly over the thought it could hurt or be a toxic snack to my future octo

 

[Tomh]

Hey guys!

So I received some live rock from KP Aquatics and in my daily routine of spending hours staring at the empty tank with live rock looking at how pretty it is I noticed movement from a crevice in the rock. Turns out we had a hitch hiker on the live rock and it appears to be a gorilla crab. In the process of trying to get my camera up to take a picture I must have spooked the little devil because he disappeared in the blink of an eye!

Will this crab make a good snack for my octopus when he/she gets here or should I try to remove and put in the sump? My initial google search has me panicking slightly over the thought it could hurt or be a toxic snack to my future octo

I would put it in your sump until you know the size of your Bimac? Besides depending on size of crab you may want to remove big claw before you feed it. Thanks

 

[Nancy]

I‘ve read many articles about how destructive this crab is to almost everything in the tank. You should remove any gorilla crabs right away. Yes, you could put it in your sump, but if it escapes when you offer it to your bimac, you have a real pest in the tank.

Nancy

 

[RCLasley]

I have not seen it since that day but will try to catch it or trap it if I see it again!

 

[tonmo]

...catching up on forum threads - how did this adventure turn out, @RCLasley?

 

[RCLasley]

...catching up on forum threads - how did this adventure turn out, @RCLasley?

I never spotted the crab again so I am not sure if it perished or is hiding really well! I am borderline obsessive sitting in front of the tank either with the lights on or off with my red flash light and have yet to see any signs of it. It didn't fall for the crab trap either!