Hermit Crab on Acropora

[LMDAVE]

This is the second time i found a blue legged hermit at the tip of this Staghorn frag, last time was a few weeks ago. Is this an indication of something going wrong with the Acro?

 

[KMench]

I don’t think so. I get hermits crawling on my corals too occasionally.

 

[29bonsaireef]

Maybe, but probably not. I don't keep hermits anymore for this reason. Mine would do this all the time. I'd knock them off and next time I walked by the tank they be in the EXACT same spot. Not sure if they were just going to roost or something else? But it annoyed me enough to pull them out, and never want to buy them again.

SNAILS SNAILS SNAILS

 

[LMDAVE]

Ok Cool, they just happens to be at that same spot on the end....guess they like climbing trees.

 

[LMDAVE]

I never considered an all snail clean up clew, but if that's acceptable I may start leaning that way.

 

[Mattrg02]

If you we’re a hermit crab, you would probably climb acros too. Just saying.

 

[dragon99]

Humans aren't much smarter....

 

[ZoaAddiction81]

This morning I woke up to find my Halloween hermit crab eating the back of my new acropora..There is a little bit of the flesh missing on the base of it. Do you think my acro will come back from this ?

 

[Micro-Reefs Aquarium]

My blue leg hermits do this occasionally like roosting/resting he soon needs to forage again so he crawls off, but the polyps recede during this venture. I am knew to Acropora so if I see tissue receding I will go all snail crew.

 

[anthonygf]

I have over 300+ snails in my 75, mostly small and at night the glass is covered with them. When the lights start to ramp up they all go back into the sand, they also keep my sand clean and have many on the rocks also. Check out ReefCleaners.com for the snails, they have a great assortment some as low as $0.15 each.

I got rid of my crabs because they would climb and break branches off of my branching Monti. One day there was close to a dozen on it. Just snails for me, I also have a brittle star and a red crab-like an emerald that I will remove some day. Just snails for me!

 

[anthonygf]

WOW! Just noticed this is a 3 year old thread.

 

[Acros]

I have these darn hermits crawling on my acropora. Thinking of re-homing the hermits.

 

[Velcro]

I have a hermit that only goes on my two PC rainbow frags. Ignores everything else. Pretty weird.

 

[damsels are not mean]

This morning I woke up to find my Halloween hermit crab eating the back of my new acropora..There is a little bit of the flesh missing on the base of it. Do you think my acro will come back from this ?

lol if the coral can't survive losing a couple polyps to a hermit crab I have no idea how it evolved to exist in the ocean.

This is the second time i found a blue legged hermit at the tip of this Staghorn frag, last time was a few weeks ago. Is this an indication of something going wrong with the Acro?

Might be spawning. Often snails/crabs find a high point to release their eggs into the current. If it's climbing to the exact same spot there must be a reason. If it's eating the coral why not eat at the base where there's more polyps and easier access and you are less visible to a predator?

 

[damsels are not mean]

This morning I woke up to find my Halloween hermit crab eating the back of my new acropora..There is a little bit of the flesh missing on the base of it. Do you think my acro will come back from this ?

should add these guys are not reef safe and this is known although some sites might list them as safe and lump them with other hermits...

 

[Acros]

Mine only wants to go on 2 of my acros, and it’s the same 2 hermits again and again.