Malifry97
Valuable Member
Lol
Hermit crabs or nooooo
- Thread starter Michael Gray
- Start date
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Following-im having the same internal battle LOL ive had scarlets in the past with a ton of success but even with 10 astraeas in my 10 gallon, they still miss some spots.
Never heard of the blue legged ones just scarlet. Maybe ill give them a shot.
Never heard of the blue legged ones just scarlet. Maybe ill give them a shot.
OP
OP
Michael Gray
Valuable Member
I only purchased 25. And they are small. Smaller than nassarius snails. And my tank is 4x2 with alot of rock. But I'll update you with behavior and if they seem to slowly cleaning off the fuzz or hair on the reef flakes. I expect it to be slow since they are so small but never never know
My hermits only went after the snails that where having issues. Usually the type I get never have an issue righting themselves when they fall, the ones that do become dinner for the hermits and I believe the snails where on there way out could not flip over. That’s just my observation, snails don’t seem to last too long for me except this 5 year old turbo I have. I wish I had a vid of him cleaning my Nero, he did such an amazing job you would think I scrubbed it and this was just overnight.
Crabs are cool to watch but just wasn't worth the hassle. Always crawling on the acans, killing snails for shells when extra shells were everywhere. Started buying nassarius, conchs, astrea and turbo snails. Even some brittle/micro brittle starfish, very cool critters. It was fun watching nassarius come out of the sand like zombies when food hit the water. Another thing I noticed is I fed alot so there was enough excess food to keep the crabs happy to where they wouldn't touch algae. Who want's to eat veggies when there's meat every where. I'm not against crabs, just choose not to have them.
living_tribunal
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micro hermits ftw... best of both worlds
Bret Brinkmann
Well-Known Member
First off, buy what you want if you can take care of it. Not trying to persuade anyone. Just adding my experience.
Snails seem to intentionally leave a little behind so there is more to eat later. Some people get way to many snails and they run out of food then starve. Always having a little algae is good because you'll always have food for your snails. I need to encourage more algae growth so I can get more cool snails like the orange chestnuts and red nerites.
Depends on how much you value your coral. Some frags cost 600 bucks. I wouldn't risk a 4 dollar hermit if I had that in my tank. Deciding not to have any crabs in my tank was still a tough choice though.
Yep, extra shells don't guarantee anything. Sometimes they just want THAT shell your snail is in.
I had trouble keeping snails for a while. If Mg is around 1500 ppm or higher, then snails will start dying for seemingly no reason. At those levels Mg is toxic and kills them similar to ODing on pain meds from what I read. You could also have a snail predator.
Snails seem to intentionally leave a little behind so there is more to eat later. Some people get way to many snails and they run out of food then starve. Always having a little algae is good because you'll always have food for your snails. I need to encourage more algae growth so I can get more cool snails like the orange chestnuts and red nerites.
Depends on how much you value your coral. Some frags cost 600 bucks. I wouldn't risk a 4 dollar hermit if I had that in my tank. Deciding not to have any crabs in my tank was still a tough choice though.
Yep, extra shells don't guarantee anything. Sometimes they just want THAT shell your snail is in.
I had trouble keeping snails for a while. If Mg is around 1500 ppm or higher, then snails will start dying for seemingly no reason. At those levels Mg is toxic and kills them similar to ODing on pain meds from what I read. You could also have a snail predator.
Miami Reef
10K Club Member
I just bought around 40 hermit crabs. Mainly blue legged. I’m in love with them! They are so cute, and fun to watch! I added some shells a day after adding them and a lot of them changed. My tank is so large, that the tiny ones are difficult to spot among the rock work. I’m waiting for them to grow, and might get some scarlets. J don’t have hermits for a CUC, I have them as pets. They add character and personality.
BeejReef
2500 Club Member
I only have a half dozen or so myself, but two of the red-legged ones have really gotten big. One was trying out a medium-sized turbo shell last night. He's not quite ready for it yet, but won't be long.
IMHO they aren't worth it. Even if they don't bother your corals or snails, they tend to pick at absolutely everything on your rock surface and the top layer of sand. So you get less tiny sponges, nice macroalgae, mini-featherdusters, small worms, etc. Basically they help turn your rock surfaces into a smooth coraline surface. Coraline is nice, but I like more diversity than that in a reefscape.
Hermits are also not a reef animal, strictly speaking - they tend to be found more in lagoons. More appropriate for a clam biotope.
A few won't hurt, but snails do better work controlling algae, and bristleworms self-replicate in our tanks and do a much better job cleaning up the leftovers from feedings.
Hermits are also not a reef animal, strictly speaking - they tend to be found more in lagoons. More appropriate for a clam biotope.
A few won't hurt, but snails do better work controlling algae, and bristleworms self-replicate in our tanks and do a much better job cleaning up the leftovers from feedings.
