It's really hard to ID a crab unless they are regularly collected and popular in the hobby. I wouldn't put an unidentified crab in my reef tank because he could grow into a killer. He's cute now but!!! If you are intent on "giving him a new home" I'd recommend you put him in your sump for six months and feed him regularly. If at the end of that time, you can make a meal out of him, you'll thank me. If he's still little and cute you can do what you want with him.
That's my take on it. You know the biggest, meanest crab in the world was once that small.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
If you found it in massachusetts, reef tank temperatures would be much too high for this little guy. If you were going to put it in a colder tank that might work, but since you found it on a beach it is probably an intertidal hermit crab and would probably like to have areas in the tank to crawl out of the water from time to time.
Identification of crabs is not my strong suit, so I'll have to pass on trying to ID it.
If after reading this and it has already been exposed to reef tank water, you should NOT return it to the wild, you could risk spreading some kind of disease back into the wild. The best solution then is to freeze the crab and throw it out the next day.
Alternatively you could set up a dedicated tank with half water and half land for the crab and try to keep the water cold.
I agree with the Amp and BrainPlankis - who knows what this guy eats, and a reef tank may be to warm for him.... probably best to return him home before Nemo comes looking for him!
Welcome to the Talking Reef (Waving at you from Marlborough, MA) Have you looked into Boston Reefers as a local organization for your new hobby? A great group of local folks who are willing to help out anyone at any time...
If you haven't already frozen Mr. Crabby... try setting up a temperate tank for him. I have a small, 10 gallon tank at home with perriwinkle snails, hermit crabs, killifish, ghost shrimp, muscles and other "accidental catches" that I incurr when catching feeder shrimp on Cape Cod. I collect in and around Falmouth, MA. I keep them (not in my other displays) unti I return to get more shrimp, where, if condititions are okay, I release them.
The neat thing is, in an "estuary" type tank, the critters are pretty darned hardy! They live through temp swings, salinity swings, and other environmental hardships just by virtue of their location in and around the marshes of New England.
I put in a shallow sand bed, some rocks from the shore, a macro algae common to the area called Ulva or "Sea Lettuce" and a hang on filter. I don't even use a heater because the temperature remains steady and consistent with the average shoreline temps in Falmouth.
Oh...and for what it's worth.. I've been keeping "Cape Cod" tanks ever since the late 70's...and EVERY hermit crab I've ever had from the Cape has been "ornery".
They are very opportunistic and will eat anything and everything they can get ahold of, including small, live fish.
thanks for the advice guys. i actually just released him back to the ocean about 10 mins after i posted that lol. i couldn't find any sort of id and i had read about temperatures for atlantic crabs and fish and it didn't seem right at this time of the season to change his water 20 degrees. falmouth has some nice beaches! i'm here in hull right on the peninsula, beaches on both sides!! it's actually kind of cool because they are both totally different, even though they are 1/10 of a mile apart, one is loaded with snails and the other loaded with dead jellyfish
it's actually kind of cool because they are both totally different, even though they are 1/10 of a mile apart, one is loaded with snails and the other loaded with dead jellyfish
Kinda what happened in my reef tank. the left side was a barron waste, mowed over by my anemone.. the right side was a carib-oasis!
to Talking Reef Community.
to TR.
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
Linear Mode
