Anyone had problems with emerald or blue leg crabs eating Caulastrea or other LPS?

[shelburn61]

My new caulastrea isn't opening and I've caught an emerald picking very near the base of the tissue but can't tell if he's eating algae or coral. ????

 

[gflat65]

I have noticed my blue legs munching around the lower sections of my large maze brain. I haven;t been able to determine if it is actually eating anything, but there is always at least one blue leg on the brain picking away. Anyone else?

 

[Julio]

I doubt that the crabs are eating the corals, check your water parameters as well as flow over the coral.

 

[Meisen]

I have seen emeralds and BLHCs pick at dead or decaying corals as well as algae that is growing at the tissue margins of corals. I have never actually seen either species do damage but I did occasionally remove ones that pester recently fragged corals....until I got a frag box that is.

 

[JotaDe]

I've had 2 emerald crabs that liked to munch on my short tentacled plate coral. And yes they munched on healthy coral tissue, not dead stuff. They went to the LFS, I've had 3 others that were fine with it. The emeralds didn't touch my Torch, Frogspawn, Monti Digi, Monti Cap, and even though they like to climb on my Acro they don't eat that either. My blue & red legged hermits don't harm any of the corals either.

Those emeralds though, watch them when you put new corals in.
In about 15 minutes one emerald caused enough damage on the plate that it took 3 months to properly heal and it's still discolored in that area.

 

[Sk8r]

Never had any trouble with blue legs: they occasionally walk where they're not welcome, but they move pretty quickly once they figure it out. The emerald is very small and under observation.

 

[justincognito]

When you have a whole bunch of crabs in one place and their hungry they will eat coral.