Adding SPS crabs to drive away harmful crabs?

[blueheaven]

Hi guys, after catching a huge hairy crab that was munching away my SPS (almost totally ate up my rainbow monti), I was looking for a more natural and hassle free way to keep them at bay.

Would it be possible to buy some symbiotic SPS crabs from the LFS so that they guard the SPS colonies from these nuisance hairy crabs?

[tineng]

didn't work for me....

[Creetin]

erm. is like David vs GOLIATH... oni thing is our sps crabs dont have slingshots for ammo...

[blueheaven]

I was thinking 2-3 crabs vs 1 hairy crab

[Copperband]

Erm/... i dont think any shop just sells the symbiosis crab alone... do they????

[blueheaven]

Yes, they do

[Creetin]

Yes, they do

so where do they sell the crabs?

but still best is to remove the hairy crabs...

[blueheaven]

I've seen a few farms bring them in and I think Henry has some too

[FuEl]

Probably the Trapezia crabs end up as snacks instead. Hairy crabs easily overpower these guys, especially larger hairies.

[Panzz]

ya I agree with taking out the hairy crabs instead and it is quite easy to take them out actually. somehow it may be quite true too that the hariy crabs will win the war somehow as the are pretty strong (like especially the pushing of corals!)

[Creetin]

Probably the Trapezia crabs end up as snacks instead. Hairy crabs easily overpower these guys, especially larger hairies.

like i said David vs Goliath...

Poor hairy crabs - nobody likes them or wants them.

[wedgee]

Me, me, I'd love...............TO CRUSH THEM!!!!!!

Just cant seem to get rid of them in my tank!!! Its like they have a mini crab factory goin on in there...

[damienkee]

but 2-3 acro crab can host in same acro meh?

[blueheaven]

I've got 2 in one of my mille colonies

But can anyone verify this?

[FuEl]

Same species tend to tolerate one another. I've never seen 2 different species of Trapezia crabs in the same acropora colony.