Blue legged hermit crabs

[IIDRYWATERII]

Hi
Will blue legged hermit crabs cause me any problems, are they reef safe?
Just got fish and a selection of snails at the minute….. the snails I have are Nassarius, orange conch and fighting conch…..Not far off adding corals aswell…. Do they pester corals? Been researching and there’s mixed views…..
Thanks in advance

 

[Rjramos]

Never had a problem with blue leg hermits.

 

[rhostam]

Hi
Will blue legged hermit crabs cause me any problems, are they reef safe?
Just got fish and a selection of snails at the minute….. the snails I have are Nassarius, orange conch and fighting conch…..Not far off adding corals aswell…. Do they pester corals? Been researching and there’s mixed views…..
Thanks in advance

I think every listing I’ve ever seen indicate they are reef safe and peaceful.

Personally, mine don’t bother corals directly.

They pick in and around corals, but not at them. This can cause some like goniopora to retract.

 

[EricR]

I have no corals so can't comment on that part but never had a problem with them bothering other inverts.

Bought two small blue-legged hermits along with some other inverts (including 2 snails) in small tank like 6 months ago.
Jumped up two sizes in tanks pretty quickly.
4-5 months in now in bigger tank and both hermits (and both snails) are still alive.

Also, threw a smattering of varying size shells in there for when they grow -- my 2 hermits are 0% bigger than they were when I bought them 6 months ago but they definitely do their work at cleaning up any food that the fish don't get.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

I love blue legs.

They may attack and kill snails for their shells. As far as corals go, never had an issue. I have loaded my 180 with over 100 of them. Never an issue. After the years I end up with 30-50. I have 5-10 big boys that are at least 3-5 years old. You need to provide larger shells for them if they live a long time

They are better at detris than algae in my opinion, so be sure to buy the CuC for the job you need.

 

[Danroo]

I got two blue leg from my lfs my first clean up crew. One was electric blue the other one was the regular one. The electric blue did stole my scarlet hermit crabs shell after sometime. He’s a pig and just eat everything he tries too find. Had no issue other than that.

 

[Reefer58]

I’ve never had a problem with blue legs in a reef tank :). Try to provide them with lots of empty bigger shells if you get some.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

I really like blue legs because they stay fairly small (some of my red legs are monsters in comparison). We like the call the hermit crabs "the bumblers" because they bumble around the tank all the time, meaning don't be surprised if one falls into a coral or decides to take a shortcut right through the middle of one. I've never known their bumbling adventures to do any harm, though. I even credit them to saving an acro by being the most careful and through algae eaters ever. They're good guys.

 

[IIDRYWATERII]

Nice thanks for the info, how many would you recommend for a 55 gal?

 

[Mr Cypher]

I have about 10 in my tank and 9 out of 10 are awsome no issues however #10 got banished to the sump as I caught him eating my zoas he only went after one colony dont know why but he was super persistent

 

[IIDRYWATERII]

What size tank you got?

 

[Mr Cypher]

100 gal display 30 gal sump

 

[cooltowncorals]

There great.

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Nice thanks for the info, how many would you recommend for a 55 gal?

Keeping in mind that I don't have a algae problems, in my old 46g I had 4 blue legs and in my 50g I have one little old lady blue leg left and 5 red legs which are similar to the blues but slightly bigger. Basically going about one for every 10 gallons but as I said my tank is super clean so they'd probably starve if I had too many more.

 

[IIDRYWATERII]

So blue dwarf and red get along fine together ?

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

So blue dwarf and red get along fine together ?

Just speaking for my own experience of course but I haven't had any issues with the two together, and thank goodness because I hadn't expected the reds. I had put in an order for blue legs and the vendor mistakenly sent the wrong crabs.

One tip, I've found that both reds and blues prefer shells with big round openings, with the smaller ones particularly preferring cerith style shells. None of mine have ever used astraea or trochus shells either.

 

[Karen00]

I love blue legs.

They may attack and kill snails for their shells. As far as corals go, never had an issue. I have loaded my 180 with over 100 of them. Never an issue. After the years I end up with 30-50. I have 5-10 big boys that are at least 3-5 years old. You need to provide larger shells for them if they live a long time

They are better at detris than algae in my opinion, so be sure to buy the CuC for the job you need.

I just came across this post and have the same question as the OP. I just got a pom pom crab hoping he'd do some cleanup in my tank (detritus) but he's turned out to be a bit of a diva and wants me to target feed him. Now instead of him cleaning up leftover food I'm adding more food to the tank for him. Haha. Anyway, now I'm looking for a different crab and came across the dwarf blue legged crab (Clibanarius tricolor). Is this the same one everyone is discussing here? If so do they stay small? My tank is a 5g so they need to stay small. Also, are they fine with other crabs? I don't want my pom pom put in jeopardy.

 

[Reefer58]

I just came across this post and have the same question as the OP. I just got a pom pom crab hoping he'd do some cleanup in my tank (detritus) but he's turned out to be a bit of a diva and wants me to target feed him. Now instead of him cleaning up leftover food I'm adding more food to the tank for him. Haha. Anyway, now I'm looking for a different crab and came across the dwarf blue legged crab (Clibanarius tricolor). Is this the same one everyone is discussing here? If so do they stay small? My tank is a 5g so they need to stay small. Also, are they fine with other crabs? I don't want my pom pom put in jeopardy.

Yes it’s the same one. Blue legs stay small and in my personal experience I have blue, red and pom Pom crabs living in my tank with no issues. The blue legs I have always gotten have been extremely peaceful for me. I’d say you’ll just have to try it out and provide plenty of shells so the blue legs can have lots of home choices.

 

[IIDRYWATERII]

Ye since putting 4 reds and 8 blues in I’ve not notice any issues with them regarding fish, inverts or corals… Can see them through day but most of the activity is at night cleaning all the rock work….

 

[SlugSnorter]

Hi
Will blue legged hermit crabs cause me any problems, are they reef safe?
Just got fish and a selection of snails at the minute….. the snails I have are Nassarius, orange conch and fighting conch…..Not far off adding corals aswell…. Do they pester corals? Been researching and there’s mixed views…..
Thanks in advance

should be fine, if you're really worried Ive heard electric blues are really docile, either way remember to have a decent bit of spare shells for them. Basically all hermits go nuts if they can't find a bigger shell for themselves