Blue Legs Cleaning or EATING Zoes
- Thread starter JeremyAN7
- Start date
fanaglethebagle
Not-so-old Sea Dog
I dont think they are eating the zoos
seahorse1
Non-member
I had some red legged hermit crabs in my tank. One day I was watching my tank and actually watched a crab walk over to the zoa and start munching!! I was shocked!! I saw it use its claw and pick at the zoa. Well I said to the crab " OH NO WAY, you GOTTA GO!!" I picked all the hermit crabs out of my tank and gave them away. I have done some research and in some books it says that they will eat zoas. I wish I knew that BEFORE I bought all the crabs. But oh well, live and learn.
Duds
Formerly Known as SrDudley25
i dont think they are eating the zoas, maybe some crabs do but they are pick the algae and other gunk that is around the polyp and eat it, unless you see the crab actually pick up the zoa and eat it then yes he is eating the zoas, just count how many zoas you have on each colony and then if you see some missing then get rid of the crabs
Duds
Duds
Gina McReeferson
My sweet Baby David
I have never seen our hermits eat zoo polyps. I have seen one of our emeralds eat zoo polyps.
We had him in the tank for under 5 minutes. I do know that hermits will attack and kill snails for their shells.
I won't say it's not possible though, as everyone has different experiences with the same species, such as Seahorse' experience with red-legged hermits.
Most people here have probably not shared our experience with emerald crabs. We have 3 small ones now and have had no probs so far.
I guess anything is possible with these interesting creatures that live in our tanks!
If you do actually see them eating your zoos, I would remove the culprit/culprits. Zoos are too pretty to die.
-Gina
We had him in the tank for under 5 minutes. I do know that hermits will attack and kill snails for their shells.I won't say it's not possible though, as everyone has different experiences with the same species, such as Seahorse' experience with red-legged hermits.
Most people here have probably not shared our experience with emerald crabs. We have 3 small ones now and have had no probs so far.
I guess anything is possible with these interesting creatures that live in our tanks!
If you do actually see them eating your zoos, I would remove the culprit/culprits. Zoos are too pretty to die.
-Gina
seahorse1
Non-member
Apistoborelli gave me a frag of a beautiful zoa and within a few days it looked like the frag was disintegrating. I had no idea why it was like that and the stalks were hanging down and chewed up. I thought it was the snails. But I never saw any snails bothering the zoas. Then that one fateful day when I saw the crab eating the polyp...that hermit crabs life was over!!
In Ron Shimek's book "Marine Inverts" on page 267, there is a section on hermit crabs. He writes that it does well in a standard reef but it will eat small polyps and minute animals. He also writes that in large numbers, the hermits can do a lot of damage to a reef tank.
Its kinda wierd that in some tanks, the hermits are non destructive and in other tanks they are destructive. Is there a difference in the blue legs and the red legs species?
In Ron Shimek's book "Marine Inverts" on page 267, there is a section on hermit crabs. He writes that it does well in a standard reef but it will eat small polyps and minute animals. He also writes that in large numbers, the hermits can do a lot of damage to a reef tank.
Its kinda wierd that in some tanks, the hermits are non destructive and in other tanks they are destructive. Is there a difference in the blue legs and the red legs species?
Gina McReeferson
My sweet Baby David
I have the same book Seahorse, I love it, it's one of my faves. Very informative.
Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
>In Ron Shimek's book "Marine Inverts" on page 267, there is a section on hermit crabs. <
Don't believe everything you read from Ron. He's said this for years. While I'll agree it's possible in extreme circumstances, in 10 years of reefkeeping experiences, with blue legged hermits in every tank I own, I've NEVER seen a blue-legged hermit eat any coral, zoanthid, polyp, that was not dead. They will kill an occasional snail, but half the time there I think it's just because the snail fell on the sand and is helpless and going to die anyhow.
There are many species of hermits, some more 'carnivorous' than others. I've found the blue-legged to be one of the best, and since they are one of the cheapest, and longest living, these are usually the ones I purchase for algae control unless I'm just looking for a different species to look at.
Don't believe everything you read from Ron. He's said this for years. While I'll agree it's possible in extreme circumstances, in 10 years of reefkeeping experiences, with blue legged hermits in every tank I own, I've NEVER seen a blue-legged hermit eat any coral, zoanthid, polyp, that was not dead. They will kill an occasional snail, but half the time there I think it's just because the snail fell on the sand and is helpless and going to die anyhow.
There are many species of hermits, some more 'carnivorous' than others. I've found the blue-legged to be one of the best, and since they are one of the cheapest, and longest living, these are usually the ones I purchase for algae control unless I'm just looking for a different species to look at.
deadhermitwalkin
Non-member
Humm
Intresting
Duds said:
Intresting
Gina McReeferson
My sweet Baby David
I'm curious, do you have a LOT of hermits? Just wondering if you have too many hermits for your size tank.
-Gina
As Seahorse mentioned, it's possible that they can be destructive in large numbers. Maybe too many and not enough food, so they eat whatever they can? Just a thought.
-Gina
As Seahorse mentioned, it's possible that they can be destructive in large numbers. Maybe too many and not enough food, so they eat whatever they can? Just a thought.
I dont think i have enough actually. I gathered about 10 blue legs. which is the most populous species in there. maybe 20 - 30 others total. it's 75 gallons.
Also 100% sure they were eating the 1 particular polyps. After removing 6, i came back an hour later and found the others.. like magnets to steel...
Also 100% sure they were eating the 1 particular polyps. After removing 6, i came back an hour later and found the others.. like magnets to steel...
seahorse1
Non-member
Greg, I dont believe everything I read but I actually SAW a crab eating my zoa and ripping it apart. So when I see it with my own eyes,,,,I tend to believe what I see. It looks like everyone has different experiences with their own tanks. Some people have fish that are aggressive and other people have the same species of fish and the fish are gentle.
Obviously Jeremy has the same problem that I had. Greg, looks like you have lucked out with your blue legs.
Obviously Jeremy has the same problem that I had. Greg, looks like you have lucked out with your blue legs.
Gina McReeferson
My sweet Baby David
Jeremy, can you post any pics?
Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
If you really have blue legs I'll be happy to take them off your hands, this goes for anyone who has the 'evil' crabs. I have no peppermints to trade, but I have plenty of corals!
Blue-legged hermits look like this:
I have no peppermints to trade, but I have plenty of corals!Blue-legged hermits look like this:
I'm sure we can swap somethin you got that I'll love.. I'm in no particular rush... perhaps wait till the next meeting? They are quarentined and I can feed them to keep em happy. It'll be a shame to see them go since they have such nice shells all covered in coraline (my tank grows a lot of coraline)... But.. I don't want em eatin my stuff!
