# Crab vs Shrimp



## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

Iv started my cleaning crew and was wondering maybe i can either one nice shrimp or 1 crab.....do crabs clean like shrimps or no? Should i ust stick with one shrimp?

by the way i only have a 10gal so only so much can be put in and if i could get a crab will it take up the amount of space 1 fish would.....casue i plan to get 1 fish after my cleaning crew.

thanks


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## killjoy391 (Jun 6, 2007)

i have both of these in my 12 gallon. the shrimp is more to look at than anything cuz they mostly clean fish. a few small hermit crabs will keep your sand and rock nice and clean though. so if u only want them to keep it clean then go for the hermit crabs


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

The are different functions performed by different animals in the same category. Good examples would be: emerald crab eats algae and will sometimes pick things off the rock and sandbed such as left over foods.
harlequin crab on the other hand will eat only chocolate chip starfish... and anemone crabs gather food from that which is fed to the anemone. Shrimps are the same thing... cleaner shrimp will prefer to eat parasites from the fish, but will take fish foods when nothing else is available, peppermint shrimp will thrive on aptasia, but will also eat brine shrimp and sometimes mysis shrimp. 

For a 10 gallon tank you'll need to find a species that stays small enough, as not all do. Things like an emerald crab can be mixed peacefully with blue leg hermits, provided you find a female emerald crab to avoid aggression, and 1 emerald with 5 - 10 blue leg hermits would fit into your 10 gallon with 1 small fish. Another idea is to find a shrimp goby, since there isn't room for anything that gets much larger, and find its compatible shrimp. This can be a lot of fun to watch, and still leave you plenty of space for corals of various types without problems.

If you have more questions or need more help with choices, let us know... we can help make a list of options for you if needed.


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## Aquatic_Fan (Nov 30, 2007)

bettababy said:


> The are different functions performed by different animals in the same category. Good examples would be: emerald crab eats algae and will sometimes pick things off the rock and sandbed such as left over foods.
> harlequin crab on the other hand will eat only chocolate chip starfish... and anemone crabs gather food from that which is fed to the anemone. Shrimps are the same thing... cleaner shrimp will prefer to eat parasites from the fish, but will take fish foods when nothing else is available, peppermint shrimp will thrive on aptasia, but will also eat brine shrimp and sometimes mysis shrimp.
> 
> For a 10 gallon tank you'll need to find a species that stays small enough, as not all do. Things like an emerald crab can be mixed peacefully with blue leg hermits, provided you find a female emerald crab to avoid aggression, and 1 emerald with 5 - 10 blue leg hermits would fit into your 10 gallon with 1 small fish. Another idea is to find a shrimp goby, since there isn't room for anything that gets much larger, and find its compatible shrimp. This can be a lot of fun to watch, and still leave you plenty of space for corals of various types without problems.
> ...





Ok well i went to the fish store and ended up buying a CoralShrimp and a Green Emerald crab......is there anything specific that i should feed them or are they scavengers? Will i have any problems if i wanted to add a urchin.....i was going to get a blue tuxedo urchin. I only have a 10gal are there any types of starfish that wont get big?  And i also here they are quite fragile and are really sensitive. 

Can you give me any ideas maybe......i know im very limited to space id like to have in the end 1-2 tiny colorful fish in the end. 

Thats what i prefer to have in the end........and is my tank in trouble if i dont have any coppods in it?

Sorry for asking so much.......i was thinking of these questions last night...lol  

Thank You so much


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## bettababy (Oct 12, 2006)

There is not enough space in a 10 gallon to keep a coral banded shrimp and an emerald crab together long term. A standard coral band shrimp gets quite large, and they can be very aggressive when defending territory from another invert. There is no room for an urchin or starfish in that tank now.... without the coralband you could have managed a short spine urchin (purple urchin) but there is no species of starfish available for that size of a tank.

With the coralband shrimp you'll have to be very careful about what fish you add, as if the shrimp feels at all crowded he can also do a lot of damage to a small fish. 

Please remember that a 10 gallon saltwater tank is not the easiest thing to keep going to begin with. The smaller the tank the harder it is going to be to keep stable and healthy. Water params will fluctuate very rapidly, salinity will do the same thing. 1 inch of evaporation in a 30 gallon tank is not equal to 1 inch of evaporation in a 10 gallon. Likewise, an ammonia level of 1.0 in 30 gallons is going to affect the fish differently than an ammonia level of 1.0 in a 10 gallon. Everything in the smaller tank is going to become toxic quicker, and your oxygen levels will deplete faster, too. 

Your best bet at this point would be to return the shrimp and replace it with a short spine urchin. The emerald crab should do ok provided it's a female. If it turns out to be male it is possible it will have issues with your fish later on, so you'll want to watch that closely. 

How long has this tank been set up? How much live rock is in it? What kind of filter are you running? What are your water params at for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and calcium? Have you checked calcium yet? 

Best of luck to you, I hope this helps.


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