Reef safe?!

[Guerrzack]

Is this hermit reef safe? Or will it eat my coral?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Impossible to tell from that pic.
Where did you get it?

 

[Guerrzack]

Impossible to tell from that pic.
Where did you get it?

Idk someone was getting rid of a tank at a yard sale I bought it, but it doesn’t look like any hermit I’ve seen before, it has one single blue band on its legs

 

[Guerrzack]

 

[Guerrzack]

Another pic without blue light

 

[Wasabiroot]

Kind of looks like a "blue banded hermit", Pagurus samuelis. (I just searched blue band hermit). They appear to be native to the western coast from the north down to Baja California. My gut says based on that location they'd likely prefer cooler water than standard reef temps and may have a reduced lifespan otherwise.

Looks like they eat seaweed and carrion and preferentially search out black turbo snail shells. They appear to be nocturnal.

All crabs, reef safe or not, are opportunistic. Eventually it may start snacking on your snails. It likely won't harm your coral, but crabs are unpredictable, especially when hungry.

I'd double check if something is reef safe before taking it home in the future. I've made that mistake before myself when first starting out.

 

[Guerrzack]

Kind of looks like a "blue banded hermit", Pagurus samuelis. (I just searched blue band hermit). They appear to be native to the western coast from the north down to Baja California. My gut says based on that location they'd likely prefer cooler water than standard reef temps and may have a reduced lifespan otherwise.

Looks like they eat seaweed and carrion and preferentially search out black turbo snail shells. They appear to be nocturnal.

All crabs, reef safe or not, are opportunistic. Eventually it may start snacking on your snails. It likely won't harm your coral, but crabs are unpredictable, especially when hungry.

I'd double check if something is reef safe before taking it home in the future. I've made that mistake before myself when first starting out

Thanks! It’s in my QT tank rn debating on if I wanna move him into my main tank haha, he’s pretty cool an active, hard one to say