Is this Reef Safe??

[newoldandy]

Found this crab in live rock from Florida - West Palm Beach area. What kind is it? Reef safe? It is about the size of a golf ball.

 

[Eckolancer]

I think they eat smaller crabs and all snails. Some have been used in aggressive fish tanks since they are left alone for a few years till the fish get big enough to eat them.


Sent from inside the shark tank!

 

[Tj51]

@newoldandy wrote:

I'd Google it up. I had a gorilla crab hitchhike into my tank and did SERIOUS damage. On thing I notice people asking about when IDing a crab is it pinchers/claws. The myth goes that if they are pointy the crab is not reef safe, if rounded, then ok. But I'd never put a crab that size in a reef tank until I knew what it was.

 

[Ashlar]

That looks like the hermits that you can get on the TX coast. If that's a lighter stripe running down the leg, that'd confirm it. If so, they're great for FO tanks, but they get massive and aren't reef-safe.

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[SushiGirl]

Pic is way too small to tell. If they look like the ones Ashlar posted then it's a thin-striped hermit. They are reef safe, but get huge. I had one for 4 years that went from 1" to the size of my fist in about 2 years, then grew more slowly after that. Great algae eater, never bothered any of my corals. Clumsy because they're huge...I'd hear it falling off the rocks & hitting the glass at night LOL.