Feeding Saltwater Hermit Crabs

[JtheFishMan]

One of the workers that I bought a few crabs from said that they don’t need to be fed. He said that they filter feed. Is this true? I put some dried seaweed in tank just to be safe, but do they really filter feed and don’t need additional food to be fed?

 

[Brady4000]

You hermits will start killing each other out of starvation if your not feeding them. I myself made this mistake, and now they kill each other all the time, no matter how much I feed them. Unless you overfeed.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I just over feed to make sure some gets to the ground for them. They are NOT filter feeders and are meant to eat leftovers that make it to the sand bed. I usually just drop a few sinking pellets into the tank for them and I haven’t had any homicides

 

[saltybees]

Definitely not filter feeders, I spot feed them mysis with some super long tweezers when I feed my fish. They’ll turn into savages if they don’t get fed.

 

[rkpetersen]

Before they attack each other, they'll typically go after your snails, if they're hungry. They are scavengers and opportunistic predators.

 

[Brady4000]

To give you an idea, I had to break up the fight with a shrimp, 1/2 died anyways over the next few days because now they were just killers and one snail died as well.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

some crabs are filter feeders, but not hermits. Those $3 hermits can and will eat expensive snails and corals and clams

 

[JtheFishMan]

I just over feed to make sure some gets to the ground for them. They are NOT filter feeders and are meant to eat leftovers that make it to the sand bed. I usually just drop a few sinking pellets into the tank for them and I haven’t had any homicides

Have you ever tried feeding them dried seaweed? It seems to work pretty well for me. Haven't noticed any homicides from mine.

 

[JtheFishMan]

Definitely not filter feeders, I spot feed them mysis with some super long tweezers when I feed my fish. They’ll turn into savages if they don’t get fed.

I also use some super long tweezers, but instead of mysis, I just fold a piece of dried seaweed and tuck it in little crevices in the live rock and they get it.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Have you ever tried feeding them dried seaweed? It seems to work pretty well for me. Haven't noticed any homicides from mine.

The pellets are just sinking pellets made to feed salt and freshwater shrimp. I drop a few in for the shrimps, wait for them to come grab them, then drop a few more for the crabs then wait around to make sure they get eaten

 

[JtheFishMan]

Before they attack each other, they'll typically go after your snails, if they're hungry. They are scavengers and opportunistic predators.

I have one saltwater snail, but I haven't seen them try to attack it. Actually, most of the time they just walk past it like it doesn't even exist.

 

[pezcadoazul]

I just over feed to make sure some gets to the ground for them. They are NOT filter feeders and are meant to eat leftovers that make it to the sand bed. I usually just drop a few sinking pellets into the tank for them and I haven’t had any homicides

 

[pezcadoazul]

I feed my fish a mix of frozen brine shrimp, blood worms and a variety of vegetable and meat-based pellets, and my hermit crabs come running to eat whatever falls to the substrate or rocks they are perched on. They also come out at night to eat anything left on the sand.