My hermit crab moved into my zoa plug

[Drewpy]

I recently got my first coral, a beauty of an ORA zoa colony. Instead of the standard coral plug, it came on a shell. I thought it was unique, so I got it. I introduced it to my tank and it opened up right away. A few hours after introducing it into my tank, my red leg hermit crab moved into the shell and began carrying my corals around. I can tell they’re very stressed out.

I’ve attempted to removed the crab from the shell, but he’s too stubborn. So, I cemented the back of the shell to the rock, hoping the crab will crawl out and return to his old shell. He hasn’t. Now he just peeks out and and picks at my corals. Only a few of the zoa nodes are opening now. What do I do to keep this crab from disturbing my coral?

 

[redfishbluefish]

First off, welcome to R2R! #WelcometoR2R

Buy a dozen or so empty shells....pretty cheap....and sold just for hermits. Hopefully this guy will find one of the others a nicer home.

 

[Peace River]

First off, welcome to R2R! #WelcometoR2R

Buy a dozen or so empty shells....pretty cheap....and sold just for hermits. Hopefully this guy will find one of the others a nicer home.

+1.

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[45ZoaGarden]

First off, welcome to R2R! #WelcometoR2R

Buy a dozen or so empty shells....pretty cheap....and sold just for hermits. Hopefully this guy will find one of the others a nicer home.

+1. What zoas did you get?!? ;)

 

[fl3xlinton]

That would be awesome if they worked in unison and you had a moving zoa colony.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

I’m sure the zoas would love that LOL. My urchin carries zoas around everywhere. He’s got Mohawks and purple monsters actually growing :)

That would be awesome if they worked in unison and you had a moving zoa colony.

 

[fl3xlinton]

I’m sure the zoas would love that LOL. My urchin carries zoas around everywhere. He’s got Mohawks and purple monsters actually growing :)

I’m gonna try to grow some zoas on a shell! Lol

 

[Drewpy]

+1. What zoas did you get?!? ;)

I believe they’re called Emerald On Fire. The crab did not want to participate in a nomadic, symbiotic relationship. He was constantly picking at the polyps - I’m pretty sure he was eating them. I rescued 3 little polyps from the claws of death and fragged them onto a plug. Hopefully they’ll recover. In the meantime, I’ve added some Purple Punch to the garden. I made sure they weren’t on a shell this time.

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r!

 

[Auquanut]

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us. Any update on the little shelljacker?

 

[Brian Kennedy]

none of this happened without pictures!!

 

[Drewpy]

Welcome aboard! Glad to have you with us. Any update on the little shelljacker?

The crab did not want to participate in a nomadic, symbiotic relationship. He was constantly picking at the polyps - I’m pretty sure he was eating them. I rescued 3 little polyps from the claws of death and fragged them onto a plug. Hopefully they’ll recover.

 

[Drewpy]

none of this happened without pictures!!

Here’s the colony nice and happy before the crab moved in. I’m embarrassed to take a picture of how it looks now.

 

[SuncrestReef]

That's way better than the snail I had with aiptasia growing on its shell, carrying it all over the tank before I noticed it!