Emeral crab earing coral?

[A.ocellaris]

Hey

 

I thoght emeral crabs were reef safe, but I saw one eating my montipora (see pic). There was no visible algae or detritus.

[A.ocellaris]

Moderator please fix the topic title

[BtmDweller]

I had one pick at a stylo. As long as the coral is healthy it shouldn’t harm it. The polyps will retract and the crab will move to something else. Keep an eye out. If for some reason he really likes that particular coral then remove the crab.

 

 

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[gmerek2]

http://wamas.org/forums/topic/84474-emerald-crab-eating-sps-polyps/

Mine still eats the polyps off my birds nest all the time. Doesn’t seem to harm the coral so he is still in there

[treesprite]

They love pocillopora. I had one picked till to coral died. Another was about half picked before I got rid of the crab.

 

I'm always wondering why emerald crabs are a standard part of reef tank cleaner packages, even though they are not totally "reef safe".

Edited August 13, 2018 by treesprite

[YHSublime]

Mine picks at my birdsnest. Birdsnest is healthy, I wouldn't be worried. 

[miggs76]

Mine picked at my acros, then he was put in a sump to live out the rest of his days. I don’t trust them at all. They don’t even do a good job at eating bubble algae.

[BtmDweller]

I’ve had two larger ones in a 150 clean up all my bubble algae. They also ate two cleaner shrimp. I have two smaller ones which haven’t moved around much compared to the large ones. Unfortunately nothing else is good at going after bubble algae. Please correct me if I’m wrong? I keep them in until the bubble algae is gone and usually able to grab them at night.

 

 

 

 

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[miggs76]

My foxface demolishes bubble algae

[BtmDweller]

My foxface demolishes bubble algae

 

A pretty fish at that, but potential to eat a lot more corals than an emerald.

[KingOfAll_Tyrants]

I had one pick at an acro frag, starting with .  Unfortunately, that acro was on its way out, so I think (and some others "confirmed" it on R2R) that it was eating the STN'd tissue.  Has not bothered any other frags so far.  Though, admittedly, most of them are on magnetic frag holders...........

Edited August 16, 2018 by KingOfAll_Tyrants

[miggs76]

A pretty fish at that, but potential to eat a lot more corals than an emerald.

Fox face fish are 100 percent reef safe. I’ve had 2 and they’ve never touch any coral. I’ve never heard of a Fox face eating coral.