Reef safe hermit crabs....lol

[Oddomatic]

It sounds almost mythical to me but so many people constantly say; "buy the red scarlet hermit, they're the safest for a reef!" Or, "buy the blue stripped hermit, he's very docile!" This all seems like supreme BS to me.... A hermit crab is a hermit crab....and color variations from species to species are not going to make them any less of a scavenger. In my opinion, any hermit that is fed well, is "reef safer". Beyond that, it's a crap shoot. I will say though, that dwarf hermits are probably safer than larger hermits, mainly because of the correlation to size and dietary needs. Anyway, does anybody agree with me on this or am I crazy here?

 

[edd]

i agree, a crab is a crab is a scavenger. blue, red or brown.

 

[basiab]

All of them are opportunistic so be aware.

 

[fishman1069]

I definitely agree. I don't keep any crabs in my reef

 

[SteveZ15]

Snails And Syphon Is My cuc

 

[James]

I disagree, Scarlet reef hermits are great. They co-exist fine with my snails. If they pick one off every once in awhile I don't notice nor care, this is the price I pay to have them patrolling and eating any missed food. Everyone is different but I like having as diverse CUC as possible and I think these hermits are an awesome addition.

 

[bhazard451]

If they pick off a snail, so be it. If they pick off a coral, they come out.

 

[Oddomatic]

I think choosing them as part of your cuc have some very good advantages as well as the obvious possible disadvantages. I personally run hermits in my reef and the main benefit I find from them is that they keep the rock surfaces spotless....More so even than my astrea or nassarius snails. They have been the primary reason my coralline is growing with such ease on my rock. If add a new frag, or rock piece, they quickly clean up the surrounding garbage. Incredibly, I've even witnessed them carefully walking / cleaning around some of my mushrooms, appearing like they didn't wish to disturb them. That being said, I still have concerns that one day these guys will decide to munch on my Zoa's, but I enjoy them, and find enough of a benefit to keep them around for now. It's really all in perspective I guess. As a side note I always look at the available algae these guys have to graze on in my tank(which is lite to begin with). If things get sparse I might throw in a quartered algae wafer every other week or as needed. That seems to keep the peace.

 

[trinimaddness]

last night one of my hermits filled over a large snail and was trying to pry it out.

 

[Oddomatic]

Yep... And that there would be the bad stuff that hermies do. I still love them though, lol....

 

[reefer4eva]

I was against hermits myself till the algae got out of control.a dozen blue leg hermits and a few days later and the algae is gone.i thing snails are lazy in my opinion

 

[albano]

snails are lazy in my opinion

And slow!