Do you consider hermit crabs a RISK in your reef aquarium?

[\m/reefsnmetal\m/]

I voted somewhat because they become a PITA when they grow big. I used to have tons of hermit crabs because I think they are awesome and even bought them tons of shells to swap. They are clumsy and knock frags off rocks which is somewhat of a threat to coral. The large ones ripped frags out of the epoxy to eat whatever was inside so they get banished to the sump. They are surprisingly skilled escape artists as well; my daughter found one taking a stroll down the kitchen one day lol. I stick to a small number of little red legs now.

 

[tharbin]

I voted somewhat. Many are generally safe to anything without a shell. I have not bought a hermit in 30+ years as I don't think they actually eat much but leftovers and the occasional shell-dweller, whether snail or fellow hermit. I have one right now that snuck in disguised as a Nassarius Vibex and he is fun to watch and so far has been a model citizen but I also keep an eye on him and chase him away when he is getting too friendly with a snail. I think they help with algae control mainly by picking through it for tidbits.

 

[vetteguy53081]

There are a lot of inverts I don’t trust


1. Do you consider hermit crabs a RISK in your reef aquarium?

Somewhat. Emeralds I definitely do not trus

2. What types of hermit crabs have you found to be reef safe?

Caribbean blue leg hermits are the ones I have and trust

 

[spsick]

All crustaceans are opportunists and in less than a year figure out they can just wait for food.
To me they provide no benefit and I haven’t had any in years. Only herbivores and detritivores for my reef.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Hermits can and will pick at corals/nems looking for food, but seldom harm them. If they manage to catch snails, consider those a goner.

 

[TritanopiaReefer]

Honestly, the only reason I have Hermits are so I can watch my Diamond Goby pick them up and throw them around the tank. I have blue leg hermit crabs and I don't know that they do much other than provide a consistent source of irritation to Toby the Goby and he is constantly picking them up and hurling them about. It's honest work and it keeps him off the streets so...what can you do?

 

[Jeffcb]

I consider Hermit crabs a risk..... to snails

 

[Mr Cypher]

I prefer the electric blue striped hermits little bigger but less of a liability for me have caught 2 blue legs eating my zoas but only went after 2 colonys unfortunately one being my GMK zoas so needless to say that they have been banished to the sump but everything else has been on its best behavior

 

[Treefer32]

Hermit crabs would be food in my mixed reef. My Dragon Wrasse leaves no stone unturned looking for things in shells to eat. Every now and then I see a spine sticking out of his jaw. I'm pretty sure he found a bristleworm to eat that day. The next day or two the spine is gone. My Conch is surprisingly still alive despite a beat up shell. The dragon Wrasse attacks it violently dragging it around the tank in frustration. My Conch gets free rides all over and only comes out at night when the wrasse is sleeping in his sand castle. Crabs I believe would not last long in my tank.

 

[Karen00]

I voted "Not Sure" because I didn't have mine long enough to find out if they're reef safe or not. I purchased two teeny tiny dwarf blue legs. Oh my gosh they were the size of my pinky nail. I also added a bunch of extra shells. I think they just ate left over food. They never bothered anything but I could see them struggling to navigate the massive sand dunes my pistol shrimp kept making around his rock. Then they disappeared. My pistol kept taking all the empty shells for his den. I think he grabbed these guys for their shells as well or he buried them in one of the dunes. They were so small I can see them not being able to dig themselves out. I might try a couple more but think I will wait until my pistol passes away.

 

[bnord]

I have small blue and red leg and have never SEEN a problem with them. lots of empty shells for them to squabble over
and I screen emeralds for sex when I can, add the females to the DT and makes to the sump (have one master down there) - may have a an occasional harassed coral due to the females, but the only bubble algae I ever have is on return nozzles where they can't get it, and I can...

 

[Lyss]

I'm between no and somewhat, but that's b/c my experience is having two scarlet reef hermits and they don't cause trouble. They mostly just bop around and pick stuff off the sand and rocks. Sometimes they fight w/each other and I have to separate them, other times I spot them together like this. They have plenty of new shells and have never bothered any snails, but do often seem to only want the bigger shell the other has vs. an empty one.

 

[vabben]

I have blue leg and red leg hermits, they only get on my bad side when I decide the spot feed acans. They have no problems hopping onto the coral and stealing from them.

 

[blaxsun]

1. Do you consider hermit crabs a RISK in your reef aquarium?
2. What types of hermit crabs have you found to be reef safe?

1. No more so than some of my other bored reef inhabitants (melanarus - I'm looking at you!)
2. Blue leg, scarlet and halloween hermits seem to be the best. Algae eating hermits tend to grow rather large and I've noticed them adoring various colorful snail shells.

I kind of collect unusual hermits. I've got several small ones with solid black legs, gold and black striped legs, etc. None of them have every touched a single coral - preferring instead to clamber over the rocks. I rarely see any during the day now - they're almost all nocturnal at this point.

The better question to ask is do they pose a risk to other invertebrates in my reef aquarium, to which I would probably answer "maybe". An even better question is do you have any reef inhabitants (fish) that pose a risk to your hermit crabs, in which case I'd have to answer "yes" - although I don't have any convicted criminals - only potential suspects.

 

[silochan]

I love the small hermits around the size of a dime or smaller. Not those giant electro specialty crabs that comes in once in a while. They some seem to do much other than eat algae in and out of the small cracks in the rockworks that the snails cant get into.

 

[Surskit]

I think they can cause some problems, but personally i just think they're some of the cutest animals to add to a tank so I keep them around for that. I love watching them scuttle around.

 

[Fritz05]

They are 100% a risk to eat snails for their shells. One can mitigate this by leaving empty shells in the tank for them to find and transfer to though.

I haven't run hermit crabs for over a decade. They provide very little benefit.

I do have 2 in my 120 that came on rock from a buddy's tank teardown. I don't recall seeing or looking for them in quite some time

Absolutely agree with this. My blue legs killed a snail ten minutes after putting them in the tank. To what degree leaving empty shells can mitigate that I do not know.

 

[fryman]

Hermits are fun and that's why I get them. I do not consider them particularly effective cuc members.

As for risk, sometimes they kill each other, more rarely they kill a snail. But the risk is low, and I don't really get some people's rage about this particular behavior. Snails are short-lived anyways and will die regularly in your tank regardless. Some reproduce and reach an equilibrium so you really don't need to buy them. So who cares if something eats one every now and then?

Honestly I don't get why people rave about snails. I do not find snails to be particularly effective cuc either, and are less interesting than hermits. While snails eat a little algae they do not have a significant effect on my need to clean the glass or rocks. Urchins and tangs are far more effective ime.

 

[JimmyV]

Most definitely eat all the snails.

 

[GillMeister]

They absolutely provide benefit and what little risk they pose is worth it. I lost a large percentage of my hermits over time and the algae was becoming a real problem. Algae was even going so far as to encroach upon and damage my corals. I added 60 blue and red leg hermits over a periid of a month and the algae has been maintained ever since. Whatever coral tissue damage i had from the algae was cleaned up by the crabs and the coral recovered the damaged areas. I would extend this and say pods have an equally important place in a reef aquarium for the same reasons.