large hermit crab

[roushmustang]

i ordered a large marine hermit crab today from my lfs and im going to pick it up next tuesday.... in my 90 gallon tank i have a large maroon clown, female hawaiian flame wrasse, and a purple reefsafe lobster..... im going to make a few places to hide for the lobster out of 1 1/2 inch pvc pipe...
who has one of these and please tell me if they would knock over rock or mess with fish when they are sleeping or mess with the lobster when it walks around at night

 

[Amoore311]

Hermits are omnivores. It will eat whatever the easiest meal is.

 

[MikeandNicole]

Do you have any idea which species of hermit it is? There are several who get "large", also depends on your definition of large.

 

[ssavader]

There are literally dozens of marine hermit crabs (HCs) and all are referred to as "opportunistic omnivores", meaning they eat a wide variety of both plant and animal material, and can change eating patterns and behavior depending on individual "taste" and whats available. So, a HC that loves filamentous red algae today might decide tomorrow that zoanthids, clam mantle, or a dead fish is prime choice. Also, HCs come in a wide variety of sizes depending on age, genus, species, and origin. And yes, larger HCs, by their size alone, tend to be more destructive in terms of knocking things over. The Blue-legged and Red-legged HCs (Clibanarius tricolor and Paguristes cadenati) tend to stay small (under an inch) and are usually well-behaved. Because of their small size, they are unlikely to dislodge any reasonable sized rock or well-secured coral.