HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Would a Red Beaded Anemone (also known as a rock flower anemone, flower anemone, or rock anemone) be tank mate with my hermit crabs? I would like it to live in my saltwater pool... the pool is 5.5gallons and is filtered and bubbled..

Would it harm any of my land hermit crabs if they were to go swimming and touch it?

Sea hermit crabs have a mutualistic relationship with anemones in the wild. They will put them on their shell to dissuade predators. Check out this video, it's cool even if it doesn't answer your question.
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But yea, this is sea hermit crabs...can't be too sure about land. But evolution doesn't usually diverge too far within the same superfamily.

I would be wary of have anything saltwater in a pool that small. Maybe a freshwater pool would be better?

Depends on the pool. If it were maintained as a very stable environment with fairly intense Metal Halide or LED lighting you might make it work, but then you would basically have a reef tank and a crab tank that were attached. Anemones can be very temperamental and in some cases can release materials that have an adverse effect on other critters when they are ill or dead. If you really want an anemone, start a reef tank first, get it stable and mature and then think anemone.

Keith

I've watched anemones ingest marine hermit crabs. Just sayin'.