Are electric blue hermit crabs the most "reef safe" hermit crabs available?

[SlugSnorter]

I used to think this, but now have a few doubts, what is said to be the most "reef safe" hermit crab of them all?

 

[vetteguy53081]

For me and many others- it’s the tiny Caribbean blue leg hermits

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

I used to think this, but now have a few doubts, what is said to be the most "reef safe" hermit crab of them all?

Old post but scarlet hermits are the best: the bother nothing

 

[GHOSTLY]

Halloween and scarlets imo BUT they might climb on SPS and softies bothing them as they are heavier weight

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Halloween and scarlets imo BUT they might climb on SPS and softies bothing them as they are heavier weight

I want a Halloween but they’re so bug

 

[GHOSTLY]

I want a Halloween but they’re so bug

I know! I had a halloween and it didn't do anything but sit on my zoas and stare deeply into your soul

 

[SlugSnorter]

Old post but scarlet hermits are the best: the bother nothing

size? im in a 15 gallon

 

[ectoaesthetics]

+1 for Scarlets. They also prefer older shells and not shells of fresh kills. Also a huge plus in a nano.

 

[SlugSnorter]

+1 for Scarlets. They also prefer older shells and not shells of fresh kills. Also a huge plus in a nano.

how big are they? would it attack my 3 blue legs or vice versa?

 

[PicassoClown04]

I absolutely adore my Caribbean blue legs, I collect them myself. They’re itty bitty and very pretty, they don’t seem to be picky about shells either- I often find them in shells so worn down they look more like pebbles or they have holes in them. They don’t steal from coral (I have a lot of LPS I feed) and aren’t big enough to bother anything. They’re also good because they can easily be provided with old snail shells and many LFS give them to you for free or very cheap since they tend to have them anyway

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I've come to find out there is no "reef safe" crab. That being said I have Scarlets and the tiny blue legs. I've watched a hermit eat a snail and take its shell, they will steal food from whatever then can, and the least damaging thing they do is crawl over and climb up corals. I haven't caught a hermit eating polyps yet like I have emerald crabs... even with their minor annoyances I still keep them as they do a good job of cleaning up left over food.

 

[flyingscampi]

I know! I had a halloween and it didn't do anything but sit on my zoas and stare deeply into your soul

That stare is more likely to be naked hunger.

 

[GHOSTLY]

That stare is more likely to be naked hunger.

Wish it was but I see it eat more food than my clowns

 

[Lyss]

I have two scarlets. They do get a bit bigger than the blue-legs I think, but not very big. I *think* I read they max out at 1-1.5” shells. Mine are zero serious trouble. A few times I’ve had to shoo them away from irritating feather dusters by picking at their tubes or from sitting on a coral I’d just fed, and most recently one is in search of a new shell and only wants the shell the other is in — I’ve had to pull them apart a couple times over that, but they’re generally very easy and well behaved.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

how big are they? would it attack my 3 blue legs or vice versa?

I have scarlets in my 16 ans 32 gallon cubes. No, neither will attack the other. Scarlets attack literally nothing ever. Blu legs only murder other blue legs. Like I have prolly 30+ old shells in my 32 and they only want the shell another blue leg is in.

Edit: Scarlets are barely bigger than blue legs. I’ve had my oldest one for 4 years and she’s in a shell about the size of a quarter. I doubt they get any bigger than that.

 

[Beau_B]

Scarlets FTW

 

[PR_nano]

Have a Scarlett who picked at a pipe organ a few times but I like the bright red color. I find the small blue go after the aestra snails for their shells but seems to be the best worker crab.

 

[Unitylover]

For me and many others- it’s the tiny Caribbean blue leg hermits

EXACTLY

 

[Breadbox]

I had 3 electric blue, 2 (1st and 3rd) didn't eat corals and they died under mysterious circumstances, their bodies consumed by the time I know they are dead.
The second one is a little monster that started munching on zoas within seconds of being dropped into the water.

 

[AdamNC]

I just had to banish my Electric Blue Hermit to the Clown nano tank. Kept picking on the new Florida Fighting Conch I just got. 3 times I took him off and relocated him the the other side of the tank.