hermits

[Tony G]

How many "spare" shells should I keep in my tank for Hermits? I have 5 red leg and 5 blue legs. I did not think about this until after a trip to the beach. I found some cool shells (mostly augers) and thought what the heck I will clean them and toss them in (after boiling for 15 minutes). Within a day it seemed like all the blue legs "moved it on up" to the new shells. The red legs have looked at but not moved in yet. I am fortunate to live on the Gulf of Mexico near Clearwater Beach so shells are easy to come by.

We also come by sand crabs all the time. The little guys that burrow in the sand. Can I use them to "sift" the sand??

Thanks in advance for any input.

Tony G

 

[bluebeltreefer]

as far as shells go, i think thats up to you. for some people, a handful of extra shells might make the tank look messy, while others wont even notice it. also, i think you should take note of the shells that the hermits are in now. from my experience, some hermits will only entertain certain shells.

sand crabs? i think i would pass on that. dont want those guys dying in the tank and possibly causing mini cycles.

good luck!

 

[reefer357]

It never hurts to have some extra snail shells for them to go into. But I defintely wouldn't put the sand crab in your tank just go get some nasisurius snails.

 

[H@rry]

Almost any shells that you find of the same shape and a little larger than what the crabs are "wearing" now would probably be fine. I'd leave the sand crabs alone. I don't think they would be "reef safe". I think they would go through your corals like castor oil through a widow woman. :bigsmile: