local beach crabs in a reef tank

[langley reefer]

I have a story to share. Probably about 15 years ago a friend of mine put a tiny.little crab he found at white rock in his ninety gallon reef. The crab promptly hid and was never seen again. Fast forward about a year and my friend was ver excited about adding a beautiful yellow and purple baby ribbon eel. All was fine on the first night but when he woke up the next morning and looked in his tank and found that crab about 20 times larger with the body of the eel in one claw and the head in the other. Most of the crabs on.local beaches are rock or mud crabs, which are predators.

[mohammadali]

I have 2 emerald crab in my nano tank I had a lil bit bubble algae on LR but the emerlad crabs didn't clean the . I fed my fish lil by lil so the food don't sink still bubble algae is double now

[Nicole.]

Didn't you buy a rhizo?..pretty sure those are expensive

But in all seriousness, why take the risk of endangering a crab or your tank?

Just shell out the $10.

[Samw]

Most of the little crabs on our local beaches that you find under rocks etc are commonly refered to as shore crabs.

The ones larger than a twoonie are not shore crabs and are probably one of the protected ones that require a license to harvest the adults such as Rock or Dungenous crab.

http://www.birdsonthebay.ca/pdf%20fi...ter-FoSBs2.pdf

"
Every kid loves to turn over rocks and chase shore crabs. It’s instinctual with prey of that size and speed and
harmlessness- like a game of cat and mouse. Johnny has a great day at the beach and on the bus home compares how
many crabs he caught with Melvin. Without realizing it, while enjoying the day on the beach, their visit harmed or killed
many crabs and other beach creatures.
The problem is that crabs die in buckets without plenty of water. They
have gills- they breathe water. Between March and June crabs are also
molting and breeding making them very vulnerable. Every year they are
innocently decimated over only 5 weeks when thousands of kids visit the
Beecher Place section of Crescent Beach.

"

"No bigger than a Twoonie
• Crabs that are larger than the size of a Twoonie are not shore or hermit crabs.
• They are most often juvenile Dungeness or Red rock crabs which are legally protected.
• It is against wildlife regulations to remove protected crabs from the ocean for more than the few minutes it takes to ID, size and sex them."
"

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

you're subjecting the poor little crabs to an environment that they are not genetically predisposed to survive in

um, that's kind of what we do in this hobby.

You could argue that due to the extreme difference in temp, it's worse, but really, we are still all doing exactly this.

No need for a high horse.

[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

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by gobytron

um, that's kind of what we do in this hobby.

You could argue that due to the extreme difference in temp, it's worse, but really, we are still all doing exactly this.

No need for a high horse.

+1 on this.

If all of us would really care about well being of the ocean critters we would never put them in the glass box.
If we would care about any animals for that matter we would not buy and eat meat or sea food.
Eating chicken, ducks, pigs and cows will support killing of these animals.
But where do we draw the line? its 500 shades of gray between black and white.

The problem is in the system, where people are slaves to the system, banks, and corporations.
Where people have to work for money. So people will make money by killing animals, because there are other people who will pay to eat them or to watch them die in the fish tank, Zoo or public aquarium.
It is all the same.

[The Guy]

It's hard to believe this thread is being discussed "STILL". It's an easy answer "DON'T" do it!

[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.

Ethical reasons: Don't do it, it's biological torture.

There is no one physically stopping you and watching your sneaky endeavours, and you think you're saving yourself money with free livestock. Still not a good idea.

[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?