Are Hermits really reef safe?

[KennyKen]

I had a nice little frag of zoo's that has spreading, from 6 now up to about 12 polyps.
I just added a pair of new larger blue legged hermits, and noticed one on the frag today and didnt think anything of it.

I come home tonight, and notice that im back down to 6 polyps??
What the deal?

[Zoaelite]

Thats hermits for you, mind you I havn't had any hermits eating my corals but they think its okay to climb all over them.
Levi

[Matt]

I guess it depends on your model of "reef safe", and the species of hermit. Almost all crabs are opportunistic omnivores, but some prefer veg and some prefer meat. I've had tiny blue-legged hermits that enjoyed the taste of candy-cane corals, and they'll definitely kill snails. My experience is that they can/do learn. If one starts to eat your polyps, it seems to become a hobby for more of them.

Temper that with the truth that they're small and bold and slow. If they become a problem, you can deal with it easily. Normal growth and regeneration will normally outstrip any damage they cause.

[justinl]

I have never heard of hermits eating coral unless it is dead or dying. they are scavengers. They do like to walk all over coral (which might explain why you don't see polyp extension) and knock loose frags around though. They also have a bad habit of killing snails for no apparent reason... sometimes for a new shell, sometimes not. I don't like hermits in my tank personally.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by justinl

I have never heard of hermits eating coral unless it is dead or dying. they are scavengers.

Once the hermits were banished from the display, the candy-canes stopped dying. It could be a coincidence that I see them on/eating the heads (dead or dying?) and when they are removed, the rest don't die. In simpler theorizing, though, they were observed eating the coral, and when removed, the coral stopped dying.

[kwirky]

I still prefer hermits over animals like shrimp and snails, myself. I've never had problems with hermits and SPS so far, they don't steal food instantly from LPS like cleaner shrimp do and they a hell of a lot hardier than snails. And they keep my rocks crystal clean.

[Snappy]

Hermits are a bit unpredictable but IMO a necessary evil. About 2 years ago I took all my hermits out of my display and then had a huge battle with hair algae for about 8 months. They are a very good janitor and I recommend keeping them. They likey didn't eat your zoos as much as picked at where the base was attached to scavage something stuck there and any that were not well encrusted floated away. They will also eat coraline algae and knock things over but they do a good clean up.

[spreerider]

im still a newb but i really like my blue hermits and scarlets, i had some unidentified grey fuzzy ones that came with my blues and caught them eating my scarlets so they got banished to the sump.
but the other hermits clean algea very well my tank is almost spotless and is still new setup that i expected to have algea problems.