Hermits ok in reef?

[Balmarog]

are the blue legged hermits reef safe? with coral and anemones?

[20reefer]

of course they are safe, I have over like 20 in my 30g reef and without any problem.They are exellent algae and detritus eaters.

[WREKDYVR]

I actually got rid of all of my hermits and replaced them with mini brittle stars. My problem with hermits was that they would steal food from my LPS. Also I was worried about damage to the LPS from the hermits walking on them. The mini brittlestars do a great job, they can clean where no hermit crab can. I got mine from www.floridapets.com. Cheaper than hermits, and they don't kill your snails either.

[Balmarog]

I think hermits are cool, but I worried about if they'd do any damage to coral or anemones because I plan on having both.

Thanks for the info!

[mikedege]

I do not use hermits anymore. When they get hungry, they eat your snails!

 

-Mike

[Withers]

I think hermits are cool, but I worried about if they'd do any damage to coral or anemones because I plan on having both.

Thanks for the info!

 

You don't have to worry about any corals or anemone's, but you do need to worry about your snails. Blue legged hermits are notorious for flipping and killing snails, and they won't hesitate to attack each other just for the hell of it.

 

The Red legged hermits are generally a better option if you can find them (Not the scarlet hermits, but they're neat too).

[Helfrichs Chick]

I like the scarlets, the key here is to only have a couple in a nano. Usually food is pretty scarce in nanos, and in my 18 I have 2 scarlets and 1 blue banded. They do just fine.

[Balmarog]

I see. I'm glad to have so many people to give info about this stuff, because if I had listened to some of the websites I've been to, then I would have gotten like a dozen hermits. After reading these forums, I also learned to be more wary of shrimp, but I guess cleaner shrimp are pretty safe.

Thanks guys!

[nano-paul]

I keep scarlets in my nano and 75g. I bought halloween hermits for my 75 also. They are huge and scary as hell looking.

[Withers]

I see. I'm glad to have so many people to give info about this stuff, because if I had listened to some of the websites I've been to, then I would have gotten like a dozen hermits. After reading these forums, I also learned to be more wary of shrimp, but I guess cleaner shrimp are pretty safe.

Thanks guys!

 

I've been through 5 or 6 different kinds of hermits. I'll swear by the red legged variety. Scarlets are nice too, but boy are they lazy.