Why can't I keep porcelain/anemone crabs?

[sprintermike]

I'm a fairly experienced reefer, but I can never seem to keep these wonderful little crabs alive for very long. Any thoughts?
Other small crabs seem to be fine (so you would think the water is ok)
Feather dusters grow very well and live a long time in my tank (so you would think there would be enough suspended food)

I don't have an anemone, but I've read they are not obligated to host.

Are they just touchy? Anyone else had good long term success?

[derekdelisi]

Did yours die or simply dissappear. They hide really well. Mine has been out of sight for months at a time.

[sprintermike]

I'm pretty sure it's death. I have a small tank. They usually find a place they like and hang out. Then I don't see them, (I do usually see pieces of their exoskeleton over the next few days), ever again.

[likwidglostix]

The white ones will do better with an anemone, they may even require it. I have had good luck with the blue one. It doesn't need an anemone, but requires plankton. I just mix a row of cubes of either baby brine shrimp or frozen cyclops in a tiny gladware with two rows of sw multi pack cubes. It gives me a good mix for all fish and inverts. I keep it in the fridge and mix and portion it with a spoon. Lasts a week or two and feeds planktivores easily.

[jayelblock]

+1 on likwidglostix's feeding advice. I have 4, and they require a lot of food. I've seen one of my larger porcelain crabs snag some floating nori and eat that, along with bits of mysis and other meaty foods. Try target feeding their hiding spots.

[Mangodude]

I too have had this problem and I have a large tank that I feed twice a day. I caught one locally (one of the benefits of living in fl :beachbum: ) but he only lived for about a month. If I ever catch one again, should I try spot feeding him? I observed him eating, he was out all the time, so I'm not sure that's the only problem though.. Is there some other secret to keep these lil guys?

[SushiGirl]

They're largely filter feeders, so while they will eat small food they can catch, they're mostly filtering particulates out of the water column. If there's not enough I would guess that would be detrimental to their health.

[mndfreeze]

My understanding and experience has been that though they do filter feed, and do eat constantly, you do not HAVE to suspension feed them.

I've had blue and green varieties, blue's hid all the damn time, greens were out and didn't care. I know one is from the gulf the other was indo pacific. Anyway,

They will chase food down. I would give mine pellets and they would sit at the end of a turkey baster pulling food out as fast as they could. Then go back to filter feeding when the food was gone or they were 'full'.

Target feed if you think they are not getting enough food as you do need to treat them like you would a fish and not like a CUC member if you don't have a ton of passive nutrients in the tank. However, they will do just fine with a big ole hunk o krill or silverside as much as water full of plankton.

[AC2020x]

I am thinking of getting 1 or 2. Do you think I would be able to keep 2 of them in a 29g tank?

[cside]

Perhaps with feather dusters the porcelain crab is second in line to receive food particles so there is not enough? just a guess. AC2020x I have a porcelain crab in my 29g and it is doing fine. Had it now for around 6 months. Don't know how two would do.

[jdegrasse]

My Porcelains have been doing great for going on 8 months now. I have a 28 gallon and I add Brightwell's Phytochrom (3ml) and Zooplankton (2-3ml) daily. Seems to be enough for all my filter feeders -- and I have a lot.

[Elysia]

I would look for a predator. I use to keep porcelain crabs successfully without issue and fed them like mndfreeze states above. Since moving (and having new tank inhabitants) I can't seem to keep one alive for more than a few weeks, and I think it is because something in the tank is preying on them, because I, too, see shell pieces in the tank after the crab is no longer visible. Either something is smashing them, or something is taking advantage of the crab when it is most vulerable (after molting.)