Would it be bad to...

[reefs4life]

So I work as a lifeguard at this local beach here in New Rochelle and there are starfish, hermit crabs, and whole bunch of other crabs. It's LI Sound water so I was wondering if it would be bad to put any of those little animals in my fish tank, I wouldn't put them in my display except maybe the hermint crabs if I could find out if they were reef safe some how lol. Well give me some feedback on this! lol. Thanks everyone!

 

[Bob 1000]

People here use these animals in their tanks.. I personally use the crabs to feed my octopus.. The hermits in my display... The starfish, not to sure about, they might not be reefsafe..

 

[reefs4life]

Ooo ok thanks...I just looked up the starfish and no they're not reef safe as you said. But are you sure the hermits are?

 

[Awibrandy]

Reach out to PaulB, I'm sure he will have answers for you.

 

[Bob 1000]

i found one on my Green slimer acro yesterday.. That was the first time in 2 months.. Not sure if he was trying to eat it or just walking around... They do eat algae though I see them grazing all the time...

 

[reefs4life]

Cool...now I have an endless supply of hermits lol, their shell is usually covered in a lot of crap so would it be safe to use a toothbrush to clean them off and to do it in freshwater for a couple of seconds just to make sure there's nothing malicious in them/on them. And what about snails from the same place? Are those safe too? And can I use the same cleaning procedure on them? I ask too many questions LOL. Thanks for all the feedback so far

 

[Bob 1000]

Try getting some old nass shells that's what I did... They switch in about 30min in a bucket alone.....:shhh:

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I wouldn't put anything from local waters in my tank. The temp and water parameter difference might not be much to you but inverts are very sensitive to those changes.

 

[Reefsaint]

I wonder what are the parameters in these water??

 

[Bob 1000]

The salinity is lower... And I wouldn't put it in your tank unless you can keep your water below 79... 82 is instant death for them.. Don't ask!!

 

[reefs4life]

Ok...well thanks for all the feedback. I also found a cool looking spider crab, I wonder if he's reef safe though

 

[daisy]

I like the concept that if you find it on a reef that is like the reef you're making at home, then chances are greater at least that it might survive in your tank - whether or not it would eat or otherwise destroy what's in your tank (and what you actually paid for) is another question entirely!

 

[reefs4life]

I brought two test hermit crabs home and one of them seems to be doing a good job at eating algae already. Don't really know where the other one is but I'm sure they're harmless from what I've been observing so far.

 

[Paul B]

I have kept a tank of local animals since the sixtees and I still have it. I have found that the hermits do not do well for long, the snails I have still living after three years, that spider crab you found is probably a rock crab and will live for years, I doubt they are reef safe though. Just about all of the crabs you find under rocks now in the Sound are Japanese Shore crabs which escaped here about 20 years ago and took over the habitat of the green crabs. The abundant fiddler crabs will not live long at all unless you put them in a tank which is half sand which is above the water. Even then they prey on each other but they can be kept. Right off New Rochelle if you dive at night you can collect large mantis shrimp about 7" long that will live a long time in a tank by themself. Horseshoe crabs will not live and starfish are fine if you feed them live clams. There are a load of white anemones and soft corals that will die very soon. The grass shrimp will live a long time as will sand worms. Don't collect sea squirts, they will die as will the sponges and jellyfish. Small searobins are good but baby eels don't do so well.
Have fun.
Paul

 

[reefs4life]

Wow thanks for all the info Paul...are there really anemones and soft corals in the Sound? I think I've seen anemones, really small ones, but idk about soft corals, what types? And why do you think they don't last long in a fish tank?

I've also done some research on the crab I found and it is a spider crab (Libinia emarginata) and the starfish is a common sea star (Asterias forbesi). I found out the star is def not reef safe but I'm not sure about the spider crab

 

[Zuska]

hey i life guard at coney island beach and there are star fish all the time there also! and they are Huge

 

[Josh]

You don't want to put those snails in your tank. Some of them will eat corals.

What sort of hermits have you found? I would guess that they won't live too long but I hadn't heard of anyone finding blue leg hermits in this area.

 

[reefs4life]

From my research this seems to be the hermits I've found Flat-clawed Hermit Crab (Pagurus pollicaris). And yeah there's definately no blue legs around here. Check this site out for things in Long Island: http://www.lisrc.uconn.edu/lis_uwtour/diversity.asp

What kind of surprised from that list are the anemones that are supposedly around here, that red sponge, and most of all the nudibranch!

 

[reefs4life]

Like look at this anemone and nudibranch that's supposedly in LI Sound

I think that looks pretty nice for something in that water

 

[reefs4life]

Zuska...take some pics of the starfish at Coney Island if you get a chance, I want to see what they look like