Wandering crabs: Are your invertebrates ever a problem for your corals or aquascape?

[bluecheese]

I had peppermint shrimp straight up murder a hammer coral. I caught them all and tossed them in the sump.

 

[aminals]

My hermits and turbos definitely caused me to buy a few frag racks. My sea cucumber has been a model citizen.

Then my crabby crab has hopefully disappeared forever. Not a decorator but a picto/pico/brainfart crab. Oblivious moron of a crab, filtering the water and he slips and falls down into corals. I picture him yelling parkour parkour as he detours over every coral back up the rocks.

 

[StatelineReefer]

My hermits and turbos definitely caused me to buy a few frag racks. My sea cucumber has been a model citizen.

Then my crabby crab has hopefully disappeared forever. Not a decorator but a picto/pico/brainfart crab. Oblivious moron of a crab, filtering the water and he slips and falls down into corals. I picture him yelling parkour parkour as he detours over every coral back up the rocks.

 

[Rothric]

Yep, had to rehome my emerald crab. He was super aggressive and damaged multiple zoas and a chalice. Pulled him and back to the LFS before he could do more damage.

Too bad, he was quite the character and I enjoyed watching him!

 

[The_Skrimp]

I voted regularly. Hermits, emeralds, and shrimp can go rogue and rip up some coral on occasion but I swear that I’m fighting with my urchin on a near daily basis. My halloween urchin has made a hobby out of flipping my frag racks and redistributing my coral around the tank.

 

[Turkey head]

I don’t keep shrimp anymore because they are food thieves and would annoy my corals. My urchins mostly leave the corals alone. Sometimes they go too close / over them but it hasn’t been problematic. The only crabs I keep with corals are emeralds. They haven’t been a problem yet. Snails aren’t a problem that I’ve seen either. My pencil urchin occasionally breaks a small rock loose but it hasn’t bothered the corals at all. Inverts overall haven’t been a problem except for the shrimp

 

[mattdg]

I do not have any issues with crabs knocking over or picking at coral. I have at least 8-10 varieties of hermit crabs in my 120 gallon display. I make sure everything is glued down solid, in my system. If something get's knocked over by a crab, or urchin, IMO, it is my fault. Crabs do, however, snack on the snails. I am convinced that I lose several a year, to a hungry hermit, in need of a new home.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I have blue legs that have figured out how to climb the overflow, and somehow wind up in my filter sock. Haven’t figured out how they climb the Durso PVC Pipes since it is still clean.

 

[Herbie's Reef]

My pincushion urchin is an absolute bulldozer knocking everything that isn't glued down off my rock work. My cleaner shrimp just hang around my hammers waiting for them to catch food so they can steal it.

 

[sbbk]

Wandering crabs: Are your invertebrates ever a problem for your corals or aquascape?

Whether it is an urchin decorating or crabs knocking over aquascaping and dislodging corals, it is not uncommon for invertebrates to create a problem in your tank. In other cases, invertebrates can damage corals or macroalgae directly. Although it can be amusing to watch invertebrates go exploring in our tanks, it can also be problematic and create headaches. Please tell us about your experience and share any tips you have about wandering crabs and other invertebrates. Are your invertebrates ever a problem for your corals or aquascape?

Pro Tip: Rockwork and your corals can be dislodged by a wandering invertebrate which can result in minor annoyances or in major problems. It is helpful to plan in advance and make sure everything is secure if you are going to add large invertebrates to your reef. Also, observe your tank for signs of rogue or opportunistic invertebrates that need the opportunity to be successful elsewhere!

Photo by @Suncrest Reef


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”

I had 4 (large) mexican turbo snails that would occasionally break off or knock over a piece of coral. I took out the 2 biggest and put in 20 bumblebee snails. Problem appears to be solved. My 4 trochus snails don't seem to cause any trouble.

 

[bj274]

‍ stole my zoas!!!

 

[i cant think]

I love urchins but they also love to move coral frags around and just dump them in the sand upside down. Here’s my newest of my 4 Urchins, a Tripneustes gratilla - The Halloween Urchin. I’m still waiting for him to go round carrying everything on his back from coral frags to even small pieces of rock

 

[Slocke]

I have the solution to pesky coral eating crabs:

 

[zoomonster]

Hermits not so much other than occasionally munching snails. He's been pretty good lately, but I have a black urchin I've had close to 10 years that can literally flip rocks. Thankfully he prefers munching coralline of the back glass rather than scraping rocks. I have a serpent star I've had just as long that's huge and has been suspected of snagging a fish before. My conchs can be a bit troublesome bulldozing stuff on the sandbed at times. Oh yeah, mustn't forget Mexican turbos, when they get big, that can be a wrecking crew.

 

[Ghostweim]

I have a fire shrimp that annoys the corals constantly - he is always picking at them for food. He will be the last shrimp I have. My tuxedo urchin and hermit crabs are no issue at all.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I made the mistake of adding a Red Legged Hermit crab about the size of a golf ball a few years back on a new tank. He quickly turned into Doctor Destructo! Not only knocking things down but eventually he started eating some soft coral. Needless to say, Dr. Destructo went back to the LFS

 

[Uncle99]

I removed every crab 5 years ago now.
No more mysterious deaths.
Just snails, just a few.

 

[Spieg]

I've had emerald crabs destroy coral before.

 

[be_ninja_pancake]

Wandering crabs: Are your invertebrates ever a problem for your corals or aquascape?

Whether it is an urchin decorating or crabs knocking over aquascaping and dislodging corals, it is not uncommon for invertebrates to create a problem in your tank. In other cases, invertebrates can damage corals or macroalgae directly. Although it can be amusing to watch invertebrates go exploring in our tanks, it can also be problematic and create headaches. Please tell us about your experience and share any tips you have about wandering crabs and other invertebrates. Are your invertebrates ever a problem for your corals or aquascape?

Pro Tip: Rockwork and your corals can be dislodged by a wandering invertebrate which can result in minor annoyances or in major problems. It is helpful to plan in advance and make sure everything is secure if you are going to add large invertebrates to your reef. Also, observe your tank for signs of rogue or opportunistic invertebrates that need the opportunity to be successful elsewhere!

Photo by @Suncrest Reef


This QOTD is sponsored by: www.tidalgardens.com

“The goal of Tidal Gardens is to offer the highest quality corals to those seeking a piece of that world without destroying it. We hope to instill a deep appreciation for the natural reefs and help develop a self sustaining hobby that no longer requires the collection of fish and corals.”

I have red legged hermits and one just LOVES to step all over the zoas and GSP. The peppermint shrimp also steps on them, but at least it is light on its feet and doesn’t stay long. The hermit is a little jerk and is like, “Hmm yes let me step on this beautiful coral that took hours to open up.”

 

[Tired]

Scarlet reef hermits insist on heavy shells to wear, meaning they're great at toppling things off rocks by being a heavy weight attached to the edge of whatever you've balanced on somewhere. They also like to flip small objects to look for food underneath. I love 'em, and I like that they don't really go after anything else, but by gosh are they irritating sometimes.

I made the mistake of adding a Red Legged Hermit crab about the size of a golf ball a few years back on a new tank. He quickly turned into Doctor Destructo! Not only knocking things down but eventually he started eating some soft coral. Needless to say, Dr. Destructo went back to the LFS

That's not a red legged hermit. Red-legs are tiny. That's a white-spotted hermit, which is not reef safe, or reef inhabitant safe.