Are these 'crabs' destroying my bird's nest?

[lorenz0]

chop sticks. works really good with birdsnest. sometimes a freshwater dip with some sort of solution (like reVive) works. thatis if you can remove the colony

[gobytron]

those look pretty specialized.

They look so much like the birdsnest.

I would be surprised if they did more damage than an acro crab.

Usually if an organism depends on another so much that their bio chemistry is specifically adapted to it it's unlikely that it will do morethan minimal damage to it's host.

Something to consider, as thats a really neat looking symbiosis and not one a lot of people can brag about.

how long have you had them and have you noticed any adverse effects of their being there?

[newreefer_59]

They look very feisty and not sure if I will do more harm than good catching the little buggers. Is there a name for them (just so I know)?

[newreefer_59]

I have not seen any real bad damage, but I only noticed them 2 weeks ago and have been away for 6 days and will see them again tonight for the first time since my mini-vacation.

It is true that they so match the birds nest so that you can barely notice them when they are active, so could have been there for months - from where, I know not.

[gobytron]

if it were me, I would just take pleasure in such a unique symbiosis occuring in my tank and just enjoy them until you notice any detrimental activity.