local beach crabs in a reef tank

[babnika]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

... I don't get it.

off j&l website Emerald Crab Mithrax sculptus Valonia $10.95 3/6/8 •Quantity discount amounts are as follows. (A/B/C): A: 20% B: 25% C: 30%
so if you buy 30 your only looking at $7.67 not bad when you figure where they came from.

[Coasting]

Good topic.
Ive been thinking of starting a tank where i live here on the island with only local beach critters at their temp and what not. Though i question what the proper temp is? When tides low in the summertime these crabs are in pretty warm water. Warmer then my 80degree tank in poco. Their temperatures change.so mucb and in such large ranges at the beach....

[Samw]

Good god. Sorry for posting the regulations. The whole purpose of my posts were to respond to previous posts which deemed collection legal and others deeming them illegal with no references. Obviously jaywalking, speeding etc are obvious infractions. But I doubt that marine animal collection regulations were obvious. Thus, my references to the regulations. No where did I tell OP to do it or not to do it (never hinted that the regulations are the be/end all).

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Samw,

I appreciate you posting the regulations in this thread. You can only inform people. It's up to them to take it or leave it.

Anthony

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by Samw

Good god. Sorry for posting the regulations. The whole purpose of my posts were to respond to previous posts which deemed collection legal and others deeming them illegal with no references. Obviously jaywalking, speeding etc are obvious infractions. But I doubt that marine animal collection regulations were obvious. Thus, my references to the regulations. No where did I tell OP to do it or not to do it (never hinted that the regulations are the be/end all).

Was referring the the over all theme in this thread, rather than your post directly.

If you read over the whole thread, you will see that this is essentially the heart of this discussion, even before you posted the regulations.

The debate here has largely been hinged on the legality.

My point was that it is a much broader issue than simply legal or illegal but I also posted that it's good to know the rules.

[Samw]

Originally Posted by gobytron

Was referring the the over all theme in this thread, rather than your post directly.

If you read over the whole thread, you will see that this is essentially the heart of this discussion, even before you posted the regulations.

The debate here has largely been hinged on the legality.

My point was that it is a much broader issue than simply legal or illegal but I also posted that it's good to know the rules.

OK

[RuGlu6]

Originally Posted by kengeroo

In any beach in the lower mainland there is an endless supply of little crabs...

years ago in my fish only SW tank I used to put them in there...

They seem to do fine...

Has anyone done this in a reef tank ????

those darn emerald crabs are pretty expensive... !!!!

shore crabs, shore hermit crabs and shore cone snails will do fine in reef tank.
More so, and better chance of survival if you collect during hot summer days and in tidal pools where temp is high and it will be easier for them to get used to your tank environment.
Don't worry too much about introducing different types of bacteria in your tank because its already a pool of bacteria in billions per ml.
Local crabs will not help you with bubble algae at all, well not in the amount you need anyway.

Survival in closed environment depends largely on the critter's immune system and less so on our tank husbandry.

As for the hitchhikers like worms etc its no different when you buy anything from J&L or any other local pet store.


I hope that this will answer your question little better than the above ideological debate.