Elegance Coral and hermit crab

[anilme]

Hi All,
Attached along is my 3 week old elegance coral, its been expanding nicely and eating well. I would like to introduce a hermit crab to take care of minor hair algae but will it be ok to add a crab with a elegance ? the coral is placed in sandbed, thought of a sand sifting goby as i had a golden head goby initially which used to keep my sand very clean but probably the elegance might get covered fully with sand, hence not going for a goby.

Have heard of hermit crabs climbing on elegance and puncturing their bodies.

Please advise.

Thanks,
Anil

 

[Hens4Fish]

Never heard of hermit crabs doing that. They should be fine with the elegance. Crabs tend to stay away from the corals tissues. You are correct too, the goby will cover any corals in sand, especially ones on the sandbed.

 

[Avaron]

My elegance was "bullied" by a large hermit last night... saw the hermit right next to the elegance before I went to sleep. Pushed the elegance around a bit. Had to move the elegance back to its original spot this morning. Not the first time this has happened. The elegance closed up, but will likely be open again tonight when I get back from work.