Rick Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Some of you may remember this nasty little critter I caught several months back clinging to my Pagoda Cup. I wasn't sure if it was bad or not so I got rid of it. (I let the trigger make a snack of it) Over the past few months I've noticed flesh disappearing from the Pagoda Cup which has had me a bit baffled. Especially since the outside diameter has grown an inch or so during this same time period. That is I was baffled until today. Low and behold I caught another one of these nasty little crabs feasting on the Pagoda Cup. Hopefully the Pagoda Cup will start to recover again now that this crab is no longer eating it. (Some of you will remember that this Pagoda Cup was close to being dead when I got it) I'll definately be keeping a close watch now for these nasty little crabs now. Here is the damage this thing has inflicted: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Crazy....where are they coming from? My pagoda has been good, taking into consideration the couple times I dropped Kalk on it....doesn't like that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Crazy....where are they coming from? My pagoda has been good' date=' taking into consideration the couple times I dropped Kalk on it....doesn't like that much.[/quote'] I think it's been hiding down in one of the holes it has. When I got it there were two holes completely through it. Now the backside is closed up but the top of the holes were still open. I fixed that a little while ago by closing them up with super glue. Hopefully that will take care of it. I'm going to keep a close eye on it though. At the rate the outside has been growing it should close back in after a few months if this was the cause. What I found surprising (both times) is the grip these things have when they latch on. Both times they were dug in requiring a bit to pull them loose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Does Kalk kill crabs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 Does Kalk kill crabs? Not sure. A strong dose of it kills anemonies and mushrooms. I suspect it would kill other soft corals too (zoas, frogspawn, etc.) but I've never tried it. If you placed it directly on a crab I suspect it would burn it. (The same as it will kind of burn your hand if it's wet and then you get kalk powder on it) You can see the holes this has in it in this picture from shortly after I got this. It had been a few days as I can see the polyps starting to come out here. (The first day or two they didn't come out at all) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Ah sorry to hear that Rick. I suspect something is making a meal of my Montis but I can't find the little culprit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 Interceptor. Wicked cool crab though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 17, 2010 Author Share Posted November 17, 2010 A quick update on this. After removing this crab and then putting super glue over the holes it seems to be making a fairly rapid recovery. Here is a picture from today. The smaller area is grown right back up to the glue and while the larger area still has a ways to go you can see the flsh slowly covering it back up. The brown area has also colored back up and is a deep green like the rest. Based on the quick recovery of this I'm pretty sure this crab was slowly munching this down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfisher Posted November 17, 2010 Share Posted November 17, 2010 Teddy bear crab, if I remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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