PomPom Crab

[crabman]

ok so i bought a pom pom crab a while back from voodoomach, which was a great buy! then about a month or so ago we bought a bunch of LR and took everything out of our tank and redid all the rock work. after all of this we noticed that our pompom had lost both of his anemones. he is not shy at all and comes out often. he was a little desperate for a while and pulled off a piece of this green polyp below (which if anyone has any idea what this is please lmk i've got 5 now) and carried it around for about 2-3 days. well anyhoo, i heard that these crabs never grow these anemones back... but i'm not so sure anymore! today i noticed that he had one, and it was nearly identical to the anemones he carried when i first got him. i got a picture so if anyone has any idea how this happened please fill me in!

this is the green polyp he pulled a piece off of and tried to carry for a couple of days:

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/5893/greenpolypnu8.gif

and here is a picture of him earlier today:
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/202/pompomil5.gif

[Mr Cob]

No answers for you....but he is super sweet!

[erebus]

When I had one it would molt and drop the anemones then would find them later. Most likely he molted or lost them when you changed the rock work, then he found it again. They can't grow them back because all they do is pick them up, three creatures living together.

[SoLiD]

I bought a pom pom crab with one claw\anemone. 1 month later I spotted him in the corner wit 2 claws and 2 anemones. I guess these guys are smarter than they look.

[crabman]

When I had one it would molt and drop the anemones then would find them later. Most likely he molted or lost them when you changed the rock work, then he found it again. They can't grow them back because all they do is pick them up, three creatures living together.
thats what i thought about, but i'm positive he went back into the tank without the anemones! we had all the critters in a safe spot outsite the tank while we were working, and he went back in empty handed. and even if he did drop them, our sand has been turned over so much it would have never been seen again!


I bought a pom pom crab with one claw\anemone. 1 month later I spotted him in the corner wit 2 claws and 2 anemones. I guess these guys are smarter than they look.
i def agree! he looked really cool with a bright green little polyp in his hands for a while, i guess it just withered away though. then out of nowhere, he's got another anemone!

[crabman]

No answers for you....but he is super sweet!
thanks! yeah i love the little guy, he isn't very shy which is cool because i hear they can be put in a tank and never seen again. i would say i see him every other day.

[lhoy]

I suspect the little anemones they use could just as easily split as the larger anemones we tend to keep? Just a thought.

Lee

[crabman]

I suspect the little anemones they use could just as easily split as the larger anemones we tend to keep? Just a thought.

Lee
i have read this on more than one occassion and it is very true. in the wild pompom crabs with two anemones have been known to set down one until a boxer crab without any picks it up, and then they each grow it and split into two. i just have know idea how he was able to pull one out of his pocket almost out of nowhere! :confused:

[crossxfire2]

The animal world is so cool!!!

[Chris]

I've been wanting to pick one up so bad! I actually saw one at a LFS (can't remember where) about 2 months ago before my tank was ready... :(

[crabman]

I've been wanting to pick one up so bad! I actually saw one at a LFS (can't remember where) about 2 months ago before my tank was ready... :(
the last couple of times i've been to aquatek they've had one there.

[Kristy]

So, did anyone know what the coral was in the first photo? cool little crab...

[crabman]

So, did anyone know what the coral was in the first photo? cool little crab...
yeah i really wanna know what that polyp is! its been driving me crazy for a couple of months now! i have a name to almost everything in my tank but that! and thanks for the compliment on the crab! i think he's an awesome addition!

[seatrueblue]

That green thing is an majano anemone. They are considered pests. I know some people that put them in a species tank, they may be pest but they are nice looking pests.
I have a pom pom crab too, mine is a female, I know this because she had a clutch of eggs months ago. I wish I could find her a male.
Here is a picture of my pom pom crab climbing all over my red grape algae.
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/3338/picture202822smallwu7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

She does this often and she takes mysis shrimp from the feeding tongs around feeding time.

[crabman]

That green thing is an majano anemone. They are considered pests. I know some people that put them in a species tank, they may be pest but they are nice looking pests.
can any confirm? i have seen pics online of majano anemones and this doesn't look like them completely, but then again i've never seen one in person! they are for the most part on the same little one pound rock and i would be able to remove them. just wanna make sure i should be removing them first! thanks for the id seatrueblue!

[seatrueblue]

Are you going to kill it?:( Those are the pretty majanos/tulip anemones. I don't think they spread nearly as fast. Here are some links to the majano anemones that look like yours.
http://www.reeftraders.org/corals.php?coralid=36
http://www.michiganreefers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53119&page=2

[crabman]

i'm not yet sure if i'm going to kill them, they're all on one rock so they can easily be removed. i've heard many people purposely put these in their tank because they're so beautiful. but my tank isn't big enough for something like that i think. they multiply and it probably wouldn't be bad if i had a huge tank... who knows though i might keep them. they are REALLY nice looking, and my girlfriend loves them. the one thing i've read after researching them, which i see them called "tulip anemones" on wetwebmedia, who also say that if you have pristine water condition they should be no problem whatsoever, is that they aren't anywhere near as much of a pest as majanos.