Best substitute for hermit crabs?

[Thanos]

Over the last few months I've been running into an issue of my 4 hermit crabs killing my snails in my 65g reef, and this past week it got back enough that I just got rid of the crabs after they collectively killed 2 adult trochus snails and 4 cerith snails in the span of 2 days, effectively halving my CUC (I have several empty shells in my tank and the hermit crabs never take over the shells of the snails they kill so I doubt it's related to needing a new shell).

Point is, I now have a much smaller CUC consisting of about 5 trochus snails, 1 tiger conch, 3 nassarius snails, and 2 cerith snails. For general algae control I was planning on just beefing up the cerith snail count and maybe getting a couple more trochus, but on the carnivore/detritus side of things I have nothing to deal with the rockwork. My conch and nassarius snails do a great job keeping the sand bed clean but they don't really touch the rocks. I was thinking of a shrimp but I've heard more than enough stories about them harassing coral to not want one. Are there any really good CUC members I'm overlooking that could solve my issue?

 

[blaxsun]

Yes. Spiny astrea snails will almost exclusively stick to the rocks and are extremely hardy. Ring cowries (must be ring cowries) will also stick to the rocks and are perportes to tackle dinos as well as algae.

 

[damsels are not mean]

bristle worms #1 best detritivore in the sea.
Amphipods
Nassarius snails will eat leftover meaty foods.

What species of hermit did you have? I am guessing blue legs. In my experience the only hermits I like keeping are the scarlet reef hermits paguristes cadenati. Blue legs always kill eachother, red legs want cerith shells. Scarlet hermits over the 10 years I have kept them have never bothered any inhabitants or even taken snail shells. In fact they seem to rarely switch shells at all.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Forgot to mention serpent stars/brittle stars. Make sure it's not the green one though. If you can fins some of the mini brittle stars even better, their population adjusts dynamically to available food.

 

[Thanos]

bristle worms #1 best detritivore in the sea.
Amphipods
Nassarius snails will eat leftover meaty foods.

What species of hermit did you have? I am guessing blue legs. In my experience the only hermits I like keeping are the scarlet reef hermits paguristes cadenati. Blue legs always kill eachother, red legs want cerith shells. Scarlet hermits over the 10 years I have kept them have never bothered any inhabitants or even taken snail shells. In fact they seem to rarely switch shells at all.

Red legs and this weird one with black and orange legs that I've never seen before. Like I said I have a few Nassarius snails and with the conch they're able to do a great job on the sandbed, but they don't seem to go up on the rocks at all.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Red legs and this weird one with black and orange legs that I've never seen before. Like I said I have a few Nassarius snails and with the conch they're able to do a great job on the sandbed, but they don't seem to go up on the rocks at all.

Nassarius will only go for meat really. If there's any on the rocks they'd find it but otherwise there is not much for them up there. However letting the tank mature and with it the microfauna which may include bristle worms, amphipods, peanut worms, copepods, isopods, bacteria, other microbes, etc... Is what processes the stuff these larger creatures don't tend to eat.

 

[dedragon]

try electric blue leg and halloween hermit crabs, they dont do harm to coral nor attack my snails. Best snails are trochus, astrea and margarhita but a tropical abalone is the best and does great in reef tanks.

 

[dedragon]

make sure you always give hermits the appropriate shells as well, look at their shell and buy a few a bit larger. Halloween and electric blue are particular with the types of shells they like

 

[Thanos]

Forgot to mention serpent stars/brittle stars. Make sure it's not the green one though. If you can fins some of the mini brittle stars even better, their population adjusts dynamically to available food.

Do serpent stars climb on rocks or do they stick to the sandbed? I've been considering getting a banded serpent since they're on the smaller side but I'm concerned it'll just be in direct competition with my conch and that it will accidently harm corals while moving around.

 

[dedragon]

they tend to stay on or near the sand bed, but large ones have seemed to eat larger things so be carefull. Small ones are perfectly fine

 

[dedragon]

btw by waverly do u mean in nyc? I know many spots to recommend if so for LFS

 

[damsels are not mean]

Do serpent stars climb on rocks or do they stick to the sandbed? I've been considering getting a banded serpent since they're on the smaller side but I'm concerned it'll just be in direct competition with my conch and that it will accidently harm corals while moving around.

They will go where there is stuff to eat like any scavenger. They don't really eat algae, and are just going to scavenege dead organics and extra fish food. They won't harm corals by moving around. Honestly if you really want specifically the rocks clean I recommend just blasting them with a turkey baster occasionally. I do this sometimes and the corals love the feast. There is a certain stage of detritus where it is just inert dust that nothing will eat and this stuff will build up essentially until you remove it yourself.

 

[Thanos]

They will go where there is stuff to eat like any scavenger. They don't really eat algae, and are just going to scavenege dead organics and extra fish food. They won't harm corals by moving around. Honestly if you really want specifically the rocks clean I recommend just blasting them with a turkey baster occasionally. I do this sometimes and the corals love the feast. There is a certain stage of detritus where it is just inert dust that nothing will eat and this stuff will build up essentially until you remove it yourself.

Yeah I've been hitting the rocks with my baster lately and it works fine. So the serpent stars aren't like urchins where they're known for inadvertently bulldozing rocks and corals?

 

[Thanos]

btw by waverly do u mean in nyc? I know many spots to recommend if so for LFS

PA unfortunately, kinda in the middle of nowhere and the closest store with saltwater is like 45 minutes away; it's a pain.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Yeah I've been hitting the rocks with my baster lately and it works fine. So the serpent stars aren't like urchins where they're known for inadvertently bulldozing rocks and corals?

No they sort of snake through the corals if they need to get past them. Most stars in the hobby are pretty delicate with corals actually. You will usually not see much of the serpent star except at feeding time. They are more active at night and may stick arms out here and there.