HITCHHIKER CRABS HELP NEEDED

[sapgranth25]

After noticing damage on my star polyps i`m now on a mission to remove all the hitchhiker crabs from my aquarium i removed one around four weeks ago & i also removed one last night but there is another two black crabs & another white/cream crab in there

to remove the one last night i used the tall glass with food trick got him in seconds but the one four weeks ago i just kept poking his cave for a white then put a glass in front & he ran rite in

but is there any other ways of getting them out i do not fancy taking rocks out of the tank as this would disturb so much in the process so any advice would be great....

STRANGE

all these hitchhiker crabs form around my star polyp mats during the night but also as the lights go out all my hermits go on the star polyp mats four mats in total & each mat gets at least four hermits on them its like there getting ready for a battle or something.....

 

[NapoliNewJersey]

my emeralds, come out and eat anything that dies in my tank. Maybe you can grab a dead feeder fish and put it inside a glass by them. I'm sure they will go in to get it and then you can remove the glass.

 

[Dwarf Puffers]

Hope you dont kill the cute little crabbys

 

[sapgranth25]

the crabs go into another tank that has all my naughty crew in there...

but could it be likely the hermit crabs are causing the damage looking for food algae pods etc? never seen the hitchhikers on the mat only near????
i know hermits are ment to be reef safe but in the large number there in they maybe causing the damage with meaning to?

 

[Reefscape]

How many hermit crabs do you have in the aquarium?

 

[sapgranth25]

i have around 20-33 hermits that's blue/zebra/red leg.... the tank is 55gallon so around 1 per 2gallon some are very small some are med not got any massive or large ones

 

[SuperScro]

Are you positive there are more hitchiker crabs? With all those hermits they could have possibly done something.

If you do have more hitchikers, I would try to take them out any possible way or at any time it is available. I had a large orange hitchiker crab for 3 months in my tank. He wouldn't go for the bait, came out only at night, was extremely aware and frightened of my appearance, escaped my jar trap, and was so deep inside my rock i couldn't get him out. The way I got him was I saw him under one of my rocks at night. The rock was a little lose, so I crushed him underneath. Mean, but I got him. If bait worked the first time, it probably will this time.

 

[sapgranth25]

yes i`ve seen them all at once in different caves & two are visible at night every night the other may have been caught if it left its cave & traveled down & fell in me glass