zoas and crabs?

[TimmyG]

so I wanted to know if I should at all be worried about the hermit crabs wanting to climb on my Zoanthids all the time? I just got 2 small frags that I want to make sure don't get hurt!

[benihana]

I have about 60 hermits in my tank and haven't had a problem. I think you should be fine

[Tifosi]

I agree with Ben, you should be fine. I did notice that when I anything new in the tank, the hermits find it, clean it up and then leave it alone.

[BiochemRobyn]

Yes, I agree that hermits don't usually do any harm to corals....

BUT, those pesky little beasts have killed off 40+ of my snails in the previous year alone. IMHO, you don't really need them and in the long run they will end up costing you more $$$.

Save your money and buy more snails (from SWE, of course) :biggthumpup:

[NaturesPalette]

What crabs are reef safe? (lets say you feed them bits of meat daily)

[hypertech]

These are the ones I know of considered reef safe

Several types of hermit crabs
emerald crabs
sally light foot crabs
acro crabs
anemone crabs
pom pom crabs
porcelein crabs
staghorn crabs
decorator crab

[lessthanlights]

emeralds can develop a taste for zoas if there is not enough food around- i had one eat about 50-60 jokers when i was out of town once. it's taken 9 months for the colony to rebound.

[David Grigor]

Hermits can make them close up because of walking on them. They shouldn't cause any harm. I got rid of the hermits for that reason. I want my zoanthids to stay open.

[Dragon Eye]

emeralds can develop a taste for zoas if there is not enough food around- i had one eat about 50-60 jokers when i was out of town once. it's taken 9 months for the colony to rebound.

I watched our tiny emerald pounce on some brine during feeding and devour it- was surprised with his boldness- didn't even care about the other fish in the area.

[wes]

I'd say that almost all crabs can become opportunistic if they need to. In fact, many inverts that are typically reef safe can become opportunistic if underfed. I've seen emeralds eating leathers, for instance, and peppermints eating LPS(and yes, I'm 100% sure they were not camelbacks). Both times the inverts were healthy colonies, and I observed both times them eating living tissue. I used to be very sparse with my feedings in those days. I had a low fish load and a ton of 'pods and the like. I've also heard of red-legged hermits in particular being little buggers.

[Nevr]

my crabs walk over everything! doesnt hurt anything though.

[Goldpony75]

Emeralds are also like bulldozers, They will move anything not secured to your rockwork. I have a 2" one that usually knocks at least one of my lps off each night.