Screw Red Legged hermits!!!!!

[dustintx]

So I have noticed that my Red Legged Hermit Crabs do in fact attack some of my corals. Caught 2 nibbling on my new pink star polyp as it was conpletely closed,they were picking at the purple coraline looking mass as there were a couple bare spots where they were at.
I immediately took them out and tossed them in my sump where they will stay until they die!!!!!!

 

[2quills]

They tend to do that when they're hungry. Or if you spot feed your corals they'll crawl all over them to take the food and damage corals. They're great for pest control just not ideal for reef tanks.

 

[dustintx]

Yes,I will take them all out when I can find them all and possibly exchange them for something less damaging to my corals.

 

[Jesterrace]

Yes,I will take them all out when I can find them all and possibly exchange them for something less damaging to my corals.

Interesting, I have had a mix of red legged, left handed and blue legged hermit crabs and have never had any of them attack my frogspawn, hammer or soft mushroom corals

 

[beth]

Hermits have no place in reef aquariums and it is doubtful that much good would come from them in any aquaria.

 

[dustintx]

Hermits have no place in reef aquariums and it is doubtful that much good would come from them in any aquaria.

So you think I should remove them all? What would I replace them with?

 

[beth]

Do you need to replace them? What did you think they were accomplishing? If you have a sandbed, try Nassarius snails. But with snails, absolutely no crabs are allowed. Snails will out-perform any crab anyway.

 

[dustintx]

Do you need to replace them? What did you think they were accomplishing? If you have a sandbed, try Nassarius snails. But with snails, absolutely no crabs are allowed. Snails will out-perform any crab anyway.

Found culprits Beth. Turns out something else was eating my polyps.

 

[beth]

That is a bristleworm and there are likely a lot of them in your aquaria. Did you find that on a coral? They will might eat a coral that is already dying.

 

[dustintx]

Yes! I caught one on it so I pulled it out to inspect and decided to dip it in revive at which time they both scurried out. I already figured I have an infestation. Some people say they are good CUC,but now I am disagreeing. Maybe they dont eat them so much as they irritate them to the point they get stressed and start to wither away at which point they go to town on them,lol