chocolate chip starfish have bits of them missing

[steve-s]

See how well the moon snails do the job, if not you know there is another option.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jamal-188]

yeah I'm finding out the hard way that large hermit crabs will kill and eat anything. LFS store said they are only scavengers but so far they killed a fish, horeshoe crab, ermerald crab, and a few little hermit crabs. Already got rid of one of them and need to get rid of another today. Although my biggest one has not killed anything yet so I'm not sure if I should keep him, I"m getting a starfish today so I guess I'll have to keep a very close eye on him.

 

[steve-s]

Do your large hermits look like this?

Cheers
Steve

 

[jamal-188]

yes, the one that ate the horseshoe crab looked exactly like that. The one that ate the emerald and little hermit crabs was a stawberry crab, and the biggest on almost look exactly like pet hermit crabs you can buy at the beach.

 

[steve-s]

The one above is definately not reef safe or good to keep with other mobile invertebrates. It will consume whatever it can catch as a rule, including fish. The other hermit you mention that looks like a "beach" hermit will be much the same. If you plan on keeping animals like stars, both of these should be removed if that wasn't already your intension.

Stick to small growing hermits that are "deemed" reef safe. My personal favorite are Zebra hermits.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jamal-188]

The one above is definately not reef safe or good to keep with other mobile invertebrates. It will consume whatever it can catch as a rule, including fish. The other hermit you mention that looks like a "beach" hermit will be much the same. If you plan on keeping animals like stars, both of these should be removed if that wasn't already your intension.

Stick to small growing hermits that are "deemed" reef safe. My personal favorite are Zebra hermits.

Cheers
Steve

I was afraid I'd have to get rid of the big guy as well. They are just so neat looking esp my huge one. He hasn't even attempted to harm anything yet and he clean such a huge area in my tank. I was hoping he wouldn't start eating other animals but I guess he could just turn at any point.

Ok, it's kinda hard to tell their size but the big one is about 3 inches tall and 4-5 inches wide and the smallest one is about 1 inch tall. Should I get rid of all 3 crabs if I plan on getting starfish?
https://cms.psu.edu/AngelUploads/Files/cab313/pics/2 big guys.JPG

https://cms.psu.edu/AngelUploads/Files/cab313/pics/big and small.JPG

 

[steve-s]

I changes your image links to URL's. They did not have proper HTML and could not be read by the phpBB code. 8)

The large crabs in those pics are definately not reef safe and although they/one have not done anything as yet does not mean they never will. Personally I would not take the chance. I cannot tell the species of the smaller one at all. I need to see a frontal pic with the legs and antennae showing...

Cheers
Steve

 

[jamal-188]

yeah, I returned the bigger 2 crabs today and thought I'd hang on to the little one until I could find out what type he was and if he'd be ok. I really liked the crabs but oh well I've been having soooo many prolems with my tank lately

 

[tigger]

We had the same hermit crab like the picture that was posted... yes... he is a hunter. He ate our horseshoe crab & attacked both star fish. The "red" chocolate chip star died today (the other one tried to eat him after he died). The other choc chip star "chip" is doing well. It looks like he is healing himself.