Hermits...

[vegasgungirl]

I've had my reef up and running for a couple years now. I haven't added hermits or emerald crabs. My only clean up crew is a couple conchs a diamond goby and some wrasses. What's everyone's take on keeping crabs? I've been successful with out them but should I add them?

 

[Dylan J.]

If your tank is doing good without them the. You shouldn't worry but its nice to have something else to watch. They do get in small places that you couldn't get in to clean. Plus its fun to have an ecosystem.

 

[Tahoe61]

I have not kept them for years. When I did I kept only the smallest variety. Personally they bug me when they crawl on corals, and eat snails and stomatella.

 

[ritter6788]

They are a better part of the clean up crew than snails IMO. The little blue leg ones are workhorses. I used to be down on hermits for crawling on corals but I like them more now after they cleaned up an algae outbreak I had.

 

[Dylan J.]

Only reason they would eat snails is because the need shells if you have extra shell for them then they won't harm te snails. I have all types of snails in my tank with hermits with no problem

 

[vegasgungirl]

I had them in the beginning but got tired of them knocking coral over and they just became more of a nuisance than I could handle. It's been two years without them now and so far so good. Sometimes though I see a tank or a pic or read something that praises them it makes me question if I should be more accepting of them. Thanks for the input it's really appreciated. I'm still tossing the idea of adding a few but only want the blue legs if I did.

 

[JMSKI333]

I think they are great. Corals get crawled all over in the wild, what's wrong with that happening in our tank? I say go for it. Maybe just get 5-10 of them and if you don't like them, then give them to a reefer friend. My guess is you will enjoy the visual activity they provide as well as the nutrient export benefits.