Hermit Crab eating Coral!!!!!

new2salt2 · 05-10-2004, 05:28 AM

well it happend. i had (notice past tense) a hermit crab that was about the size of a golf ball. last night i found him in my brand new beautiful Mushrooms i got from AZ Reef. there were 10 of them and now i have been reduced to 3 and of those they are partially gone!!! i was sooooo mad i pulled him out and delivered him to LFS thismorning. now i just hope the remaining shrooms will survive and move on.

just wanted to post this as a warning to anyone who may have larger hermits in their tank. i was told this was a reef safe crab.

inwall75 · 05-10-2004, 05:56 AM

Bummer....I'm sorry that happened.

We'll just let the 3 regain some strength and then we will have to frag them. I've gotten 6 frags out of a mushroom before so you could be back up to a full rock in no time at all.

new2salt2 · 05-10-2004, 06:09 AM

lol. yea just kind of a bummer though. he ate the ones that were about 2-3" across and left the ones that didnt spread out as much or as often. maybe they were just too cramped and the rest will now grow .

should have boiled him had ate him with butter.

Craig Manoukian · 05-10-2004, 06:13 AM

What kind of crab was it?

new2salt2 · 05-10-2004, 06:18 AM

was a red leg hermit, but large.

05-10-2004, 12:48 PM

Did you look around the tank as the crab may have just removed them off the rock.

Craig Manoukian · 05-10-2004, 04:42 PM

A Red Leg and not a Scarlet Hermit, yes?

reefman_MC · 05-10-2004, 05:16 PM

Hermits do alot of destruction. Knocking rocks over. My hermits recently killed my starfish. I watched him day by day he was getting chunks ripped out of him. I saw the crabs on him, but he was under the rock and I would have had to take the whole tank apart to get to him. I figured he wasn't worth it. I'm planning on digging my crabs out of my tank. Mushrooms are pretty hardy and will spread fast so at least you caught the crab before he ate all of them.

new2salt2 · 05-10-2004, 05:29 PM

yea.. he ate them.. i looked and found tiny pieces on bottom of tank. 2 were halvs of the circumfernce and i put them back hoping they will regenerate. have 4 left and 2 are spreading good. there are also still 3 small budding shrooms. the colony looks like it will re grow, but it was so nice once already. have to wait and see as karma keeps telling me i should not have coral in my tank. Hope he enjoyed his last reef meal. now he in a tank at LFS and they put himin with Anenemies.

Craig Manoukian · 05-10-2004, 05:32 PM

[quote author=Craig_Manoukian link=board=Inverts;num=1084219395;start=0#6 date=05/10/04 at 19:42:57]A Red Leg and not a Scarlet Hermit, yes?[/quote]

Bump.