hermit crabs on coral

[SandyS]

I thought hermit crabs are good for a tank as part of clean up crew, but last night after lights off, three are on top of torch and capanella. Couldn't see if they were picking but coral was cosed real tight.. They also pulled out and took over snail shells. Have only been in tank a week. Should I remove them and just keep snails? Thanks for any advice.

 

[MNorton456]

What species of crab are they?

 

[Heyman]

I'd tell ya to get rid of those things, Dessimated my snail population. Could never figure out why my turbos kept dying. Then i saw a hermit steal one right outta the shell. Snails are the way to go.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Crabs are omnivores.

 

[moriartiholmes]

In my opinion the key to keeping hermits is to keep "good" species, don't keep too many of them and have PLENTY of extra shells for them. I keep about 1 for every 15 gallons and have about 30 empty shells of different sizes available for them to move into if they want them. So far I have not had any problems, but if they get hungry and nothing else is available they will eat corals.
If youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢re not interested in keeping hermits cleaner shrimp are IMO the best clean up crew crustacean in the hobby.

 

[dalbrecht]

I agree with moriartiholmes. Get the good kind (the smaller the better) & give them as many shells as possible.

 

[SandyS]

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll pull the red scarlet legs and keep just two or three small blue legs and give them extra shells. It's mainly the red scarlet legs causing the trouble.