Crabs and corals

Anni · May 4, 2018

So I’m pretty new to this. I’ve had my aquarium running for about 4 months. I have a couple clowns, some emerald crabs, hermits, and snails. Today I got some coral frags. As soon as I put them in the tank and turned my back, one of my emeralds grabbed a zoa frag and dragged it under a rock. So I’m guessing emeralds aren’t that compatible with coral. What about hermits? I have a couple red legged ones, candy cane ones, and small blue legged ones. Should I be getting rid of them too?

saltyfilmfolks · May 4, 2018

You should probaly feed the crabs.
Any crab will eat coral and fish if they’re hungry.
On the others side , crabs will explore new frags for alge as well.

Anni · May 4, 2018

Any advice on what to feed them? Just an algae tab or something?

Tony Thompson · May 4, 2018

Personally I am always very wary of crabs in my reef tanks. The only crab I am comfortable with is my porcelain crab Sp. Neopetrolithsis Maculatus (Oshimiha) in my Pico Reef, although technically not a true crab due to the fact it only has 3 pairs of walking legs. It never seems to bother anything, including my family of sexy shrimp. I find the Hikari Crab Cuisine an excellent choice of food to keep them all busy.

saltyfilmfolks · May 4, 2018

Yep. Algae tabs, Nori (sheet algae ) if you have it.
Newer tanks can be hard to balance the cuc. Not quite enough to go around sometimes.

Personally I’ve never had any luck with emeralds. Sadly not enough food I belive. In spite of my sometimes amazing bubble algae garden.