Hermits or Not?

[Spartachris]

I've been lurking for a long time on this and other forums and it seems that more and more people are getting CUC without crabs, or seem to be down on them for some reason.

So what's up with that? I love my hermit crabs, seeing them working away, their little pincers and mouths going about 1000 mph on one little speck of rock. It looks like they're knitting or something.

Is there a good reason some reefers choose not to use hermits in their CUC? Is it just preference? What do you think? :squigglemouth:

 

[ritter6788]

Hermits are better cleaners than snails on some algae IMO. I was down on them for a while because some got large and climb all over my corals. The little blue legs are great for hair algae. Better than snails or emerald crabs in my tank.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

My hermits were always lazy. They also would kill snails. At first, I thought it was for the shell, but they never went in the shell and there were plenty of empty shells. I have also seen them irritate my corals, especially zoas. I say no to crabs.

 

[pam0630]

i dont have any hermits...just snails..they would always kill and take my snail shells.....evicted them to sump........

 

[Tahoe61]

Same reasons here. Climb on corals, eat my snails, knock over frags. I like the ones that stay tiny, but overall I have not had any for years. Stomatella and Bristleworms do all the work.

 

[Trae]

I have one larger hermit and we love watching him. But he did knock over my new coral frag and sent it to the bottom. Recently we've added three more smaller hermits. The wifey just hates the way snails look in the tank and glass.

 

[Reefing Madness]

I stay away from hermits. Our systems are very clean, or should be, and when they run out of food, they'll go after other things. I like a truck load of snails, different types.

 

[philr]

I found a red leg hermit as a hitchiker on my live rock. Left it in the tank seems ok doesnt seem to bother anything.

 

[Nano sapiens]

I'll buck the trend and stick up for the hermits. I think the problem is that people often put too many in a tank. I've always had Blue Legged hermits and one in my 12g is enough to handle most algae.

I have lots of the little micro Collinista snail hitchhikers and they do a decent job so I don't need/want the larger snails.