Blue Leg Hermit Crab (Clibanarius Tricolor)

Care Level : Easy

Temperament : Peaceful

Color : Blue, Red

Diet : Omnivore

Reef Compatible : Yes

Water Conditions : 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025

Max. Size : 1"

Origin : Caribbean

Family : Diogenidae

Supplements : Calcium, Magnesium, Iodine, Trace Elements

Blue Leg Hermit Crabs (Clibanarius Tricolor) are beautiful and attractive in color and very easy to care for. This member of the Diogenidae family is a colorful and reef-safe addition.

Named after its bright and colorful red-banded blue legs, the Blue Leg Hermit Crab has claws of equal size and makes its home in abandoned snail shells. These crabs also have bright orange antennas that make them look even flashier. Large males barely reach 1 inch in length (2.5 cm). Overall, males are generally larger than females.

They require a minimum tank size of 10 gallons for a small group of 2 – 3 crabs. For the substrate, you can use either sand or small gravel. These crabs are great at aiding in aerating the substrate as well.Include plenty of live rock for the hermit crab to graze on, and the rock will also double as hiding areas that help to make it feel secure.

The Blue Leg Hermit Crab is good at removing hair algae and detritus, and fair at removing some kinds of cyanobacteria and film algae from your tank. They will spend their time on the rocks and on the substrate of your aquarium, with a preference for the rocks.

Take note that when the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab is looking for a new home or if food supplies are insufficient, this minute scavenger may attack snails to obtain the shell for its home or eat the snails for food.

The Blue Leg Hermit Crabs will eat fish or shrimp food leftovers, fish wastes, leftover meaty food, dried seaweed, dead plants, many types of macroalgae including green hair algae and cyanobacteria and will sift the substrate for foodstuff. Because of their small size, they will able to reach some areas other tank janitors cannot reach. Feeding activity begins at dusk and continues throughout the night.

Supplement the diet of the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab with dried seaweed if insufficient algae are present. Though an efficient scavenger, and due to its small size, the Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crabs should be kept in groups for larger aquarium systems. 

Size: 1/4" to 3/4"