Best type of hermit crab?

[simmons797]

What is everyone's opinion on the "best" (most reef safe) type of hermit crab? I know there is always a chance that any crab will go after other things in the tank, but which type has everyone had the most luck with being peaceful?

I have one red-legged hermit now that hitchhiked on a piece of LR, it has never eaten any snails/fish/coral etc., in fact it is still in the same shell it came in 8 or 9 months ago. Since it was added any hair algae that was in the tank is now gone and I haven't seen any since. Are red-legged hermits generally a good choice and are they know to eat hair algae or did I just get lucky?

 

[Pea-brain]

Red legged or scarlet reef hermits are the best IMO. They are too big to steal most snail shells, and almost never steal them anyways. Too slow to prey on anything except algae. And they do chow down on it, even if they are slow as hades. They eat hair algae, leftover food, some cyano and a whole bunch of other types of algae. Only a few complaints:

A) SLOOOW
B)Large and clumsy
C) Them walking on a coral can make it close for a while
D) They eat corraline
E) SLOOOOOW

I don't like other hermits. They eat my snails. But they are more interesting to watch than the lumbering red legs who seem to be slightly nocturnal in my tank.

Dan

 

[Javeo]

orange leg hermits are pretty cool too. very peaceful but quite shy.

 

[lloydkeller]

i like the blue leg hermets have no problem with them

 

[Tennyson]

Scarlets are best and are very attractive. I don't have any because they are 5.99 at my lfs which is waaaay too much. I have blue legs, they are good, but I think theres a difference in behavior between blue legs and scarlets from some article online, don't remember it though, I think it was saying how blue ones are more aggressive towards snails and may eat coral.

But I think all small hermits will eat small snails like ceriths and take their shell.

Good luck with your search

 

[Harlikwin2000]

I like good ol tried and true red legs!

 

[wilawalo]

I had some electric blue leg hermits, they ate my star polyps. So I tried some scarlet I like those a lot better.

 

[Ophidia]

I have both blue legs and Sea of Cortez "Red Legged" hermits at this time. They're both active and fun to watch. The blue legs are feisty, fight a lot, and like to eas Astrea snails. The Cortez hermits don't seem to fight, and just wander around scavenging. None of them have harmed any of my corals.

I've had red legs (the ones that actually have red legs) and scarlet reef hermits in the past. The red legs were almost as feisty as the blue legs, and the scarlet reef crabs were, as mentioned above, slow and deliberate.

I like the blue legs because they're cheap, do a good job at cleaning, and they're fun to watch harassing each other. They do make it so I can't have many small snails, though-- I just have some large astreas and turbos right now.

YMMV