Crab vs. Feather duster

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QCppg

Carp for brains!
May 4, 2004
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I am currently in the process of stocking my 20. I had put in some feather dusters (I don't know what variety, just that they were super cheap, about $1) which did fine for a few hours. I came home from work to find my decorator crab slicing up one of them, and my arrow crab had joined in the carnage!

Is there any way I can keep the rest of my feather dusters away from the crabs, or are they doomed to being eaten?
 
Arrow crabs eat featherdusters. That's what they do. The only way to save them is to make them physically inaccessible to the crabs.

If you plan to keep other sessile invertebrates, I would suggest getting rid of the crabs. There are few crabs that are considered good bets in reef systems, and arrow crabs are not among them.
 
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This is pretty much a crab tank, so getting rid of them isn't an option. I just got those feather dusters because they were cheap, any other soft creature I'd be keeping would be pretty much crab proof.
 
I have an arrow crab that has never bothered anything including my featherduster. When I first got him at feeding time he would bully everything in the tank. The featherduster quickly learned to retract when he came around. My fix was to target feed the arrow first every night. He quickly learned there was plenty to eat and now patiently waits to be feed.

I can see though if the decorator crab is starting the carnage the arrow would definitely want to participate.
 
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