what the heck is this?

[360º]

looked at my tank today and i see this piece of rock moving across the bottom.

upon closer look, it looks like a crab.... has blue legs.

any idea what it is? should i take it out or let it be?

 

[Ziggy953]

Probably a hermit crab. See if you can get another pic of it.

 

[360º]

switched to my macro lens.

heres a picture of it

will he bother my fish? i've heard of some crabs coming out at night and eating livestock

 

[subliminalanarchy]

I think they're harmless.

 

[360º]

is it a hermit crab tho? he seems to become still when the fish swim by

 

[subliminalanarchy]

ya he's a hermit. we sell them at my work

never heard of them being destructive

 

[360º]

ok cool.

i cant believe it survived the move. he probably hid in the sand (i kept the sand underwater while moving the tank.

 

[ReefBreeder]

Yep blue leg hermit. Good little CuC. Little buggers can get annoying if you have lots of them and they are pretty hardy. Usually harmless tho except for maybe knocking coral over.

 

[iDream]

yeah and killing snails if you dont keep up on giving them bigger shells, but other than that a good guy to have, fun to watch as well!

 

[360º]

cool. what do they eat?

 

[ReefBreeder]

They eat detritus and left over fish food. No need to really feed them specifically.

 

[Deep Seven]

Clibanarius tricolor is a hermit crab that lives in shallow water of the Caribbean Sea and is popular in the home aquarium trade. Its common names include blue-legged hermit crab, tricolor hermit crab, blueleg reef hermit crab, equal handed hermit crab and blueleg hermit crab.

C. tricolor has blue legs with red banding, and reaches to 2 centimeters (0.8 in) in size.

Feeding
C. tricolor is a detritovore, eating dead plants and animals that would otherwise clog the reef.
It also eats green hair algae, cyanobacteria and seaweed. It even sifts through sand looking for food, cleaning the sand in the process.

In the aquarium
C. tricolor is a popular aquarium hermit crab because of its coloration and because its feeding habits lead it to clean tanks. It is emblematic of the public's shift from purely decorative animals to "working" animals that help sustain the aquarium's ecosystem, reducing the need for active management by the owner.

This is the wiki article on them.

 

[360º]

oh ok cool. thanks for the info everyone

 

[melosu58]

Moved to the SW ID forum.