Hermit Crab Questions

[FishAreCool]

What are the best hermit crab species that actively eat algae and help with things like GHA and diatoms? They also need to be small and reef safe. My snails don't do much.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Manual removal does a lot more for things like hair algae. The cuc is important but can only do so much.
Blue leg and scarlet reef are the most popular hermit crab species.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

Hermit crabs in general do all as you ask but there stomachs are so small that it appears they are not doing much, same goes for snails, all these guys do eat algea/random waste/leftover stuff

 

[Sabmanj72]

What are the best hermit crab species that actively eat algae and help with things like GHA and diatoms? They also need to be small and reef safe. My snails don't do much.

I like the Hawaiian elegant mines pretty big but i have plenty of cuc and like no algea

I would say get astria snails and turbo snails and wavy turban snails usually eat quite a bit

If you have to much algea get a tuxedo urchin it will clean pretty fast

 

[FishAreCool]

Thanks for the replies! I never even thought about how small their stomachs are.

 

[Rick's Reviews]

What size aquarium do you have, and what invertebrate crabs/ snails/ cuc do you have

 

[FishAreCool]

I have a 16 gallon biocube with a citrinis clown goby, a zoanthid and blastomussa frag, and 3 nassarius snails and a mexican turbo and margarita snail, is that enough CUC?

 

[Rick's Reviews]

A small aquriam like this will require more hands on cleaning, alot more than bigger aquariums, however it's small and can be done in a couple of hours.
Nassarius snails are great for bottom of aquriam/sandbed turnover, Mexican turbo is quite large in size but random eater of aquascape (your rocks) maybe some dove snails or similar to eat algae off glass

 

[Sharkbait19]

I would pick up some trochus snails - a bit more expensive than others but well worth it in hardiness and how hard working they are.
You could throw some hermits and an emerald crab in there for sure.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

a crab might eat the algae, maybe, but it might also eat your coral....

 

[FishAreCool]

Thank you for the replies!

 

[Rick's Reviews]

a crab might eat the algae, maybe, but it might also eat your coral....

zoanthid and blastomussa frag, I doubt hermits would touch these, it's a small aquarium.
Hands in each week for cleaning, clean glass, hoover while filters running as you disturbing the waste, clean filters last