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#1
08/16/2004, 12:27 PM
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common red hermit crab
he is sifting the sand like a little snowblower and releasing the trapped gas in the sand .you cav see the air bubbles coming up as he sifts.does he eat the sand bed fauna or just detrious and algea?
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#4
08/16/2004, 07:13 PM
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Are those bad to have in your system?
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#5
08/17/2004, 12:34 AM
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You need to keep them in the same numbers as in nature, to keep them from harming *everything*. So, about 0,1 animals per 400L tank.
__________________
Life is too short to learn everything from experience. "And ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free." |
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#6
08/17/2004, 10:17 AM
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hmmm I have a few of them.. never have noticed any problems...
I have a few different types of hermit crabs.. actually, some with red legs, some with black banded legs and some with blue legs..
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#7
08/17/2004, 11:41 AM
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Hi,
In any system with predatory animals in place, you need to remove them to see their effects. They are major predators in small enclosed systems. They eat juvenile animals (and hence are preventing reproduction of some of the animals in your system), and they eat any small animals that they can catch on the rock and sand. |
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#8
08/17/2004, 12:14 PM
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really...
I think thats crazy (not like, "youre wrong" crazy, but like.. "wowsers crazy") Go go gadget hermit gathering! Which hermits are safe?
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#9
08/17/2004, 12:26 PM
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Quote:
Which hermits are safe? At the rate of maybe 1 small one per 100 gallon tank, probably they all are. Other than that, none of them probably are. They are quite uncommon on reefs proper, and often very abundant in areas like sea grass beds (where they eat organic debris). But, on reefs, they are rare - and in our analogues of reefs they should be equally uncommon. |
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#10
08/17/2004, 12:30 PM
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How come so many LFS's and online stores tout them so big in their "cleanup" crews....
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#11
08/17/2004, 12:32 PM
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I have like 5 tanks around ... I could so easily toss every hermit into another tank and see how my reef does...
I have one MOTHER of a black legged hermit.. he was so big, i already removed him.. he's walkin around in the biggest snail shell his body would carry.. and he's a bit aggressive cute though
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#13
08/17/2004, 02:17 PM
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lol
so what IS good for cleanup.. just snails?
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#14
08/17/2004, 10:28 PM
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about the clean-up crews and the LFS, perhaps the hermits will eat the surplus of food that the newbie throws in. But then they just excrete it out so I dont see how that would help...maybe it tempers the ammonia production. Anyway that was my first thought when I saw that hermits are not recommended. Man, Dr. Ron, you've turned me against all my big invert buddies in favor of my small invert buddies. Never thought of hermits and shrimp as big bad predators.
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#15
08/17/2004, 10:42 PM
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Quote:
Now to be fair, a good many aquarium authors tout/touted them as well. But Buyer Beware should always be one of the watch phrases. |
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#16
08/18/2004, 04:36 AM
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Quote:
so what IS good for cleanup.. just snails? Probably the best all around scavengers are fireworms. Most of the small sand fauna are also good scavengers. Some of these are snails, but most are the various types of bristle worms. |
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#17
08/18/2004, 04:45 AM
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Quote:
Now to be fair, a good many aquarium authors tout/touted them as well. Yes, but they probably have never actually done any thinking about or work with them. I spent a lot of my graduate student career working with people who studied hermit crabs in some detail. Spent a lot time learning about their ecology, behavior and taxonomy. Had to, just to converse with my friends,  , also we always helped each other in field work, so you had to know what was going on. So we had a lot of cross-pollenation in our learning. Anyway, hermit crabs are fascinating animals and I really do like them. They just have no place in a reef type aquarium. If one had an aquarium dedicated to the type of habitat where the crabs were normally found, then they could be kept, and fit in without damaging the system. For many of the hermits we seen in the hobby, this would be a "sea grass" bed aquarium, etc. Keeping a herd of hermits in a reef tank is rather like keeping an overpopulated mouse colony in your rock garden. Lots of the larger woody plants would survive just fine, but new growth of anything would never be seen. |
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#19
08/18/2004, 11:51 AM
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Quote:
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#20
08/18/2004, 05:14 PM
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LOL
Nice! Well Im going to pull my hermits out.. I sure dont mind.. Some of mine have gotten HUGE and i actually worry bout what they do.. What are them little black legged hermits, the ones with the one big *** claw.. them guys are jumpy! I find them quite amusing!
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#22
08/22/2004, 09:00 PM
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Patience.. eventually.. Ive noticed, each and everyone of them will get at the top of a rock.. Ive been pulling them out for days now.. I think I got em all...
You should see the mess in the tank i PUT em in.. lol funny creatures!
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#24
08/23/2004, 01:37 PM
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Oh, I have another 60 gallon tank that bascially has nothing in it.. But if you have like a 10 gallon or something, they'll be way happy to cruise around it for a few days while you collect em all.. I just reach in and grab the hermit and toss him in the other tank.. I now have a tank full of hermits. And these doods are funny! The funniest if you let one see you coming.. and then they try to haul ***... i think they are great!
__________________
90G, FINALLY VHO and MH 250 watts x2, 48 gallon Sump and a second 60 tall on the same system, venturi skimmer, some lr, some ls, no more fish (whoops, who knew that cat could get there!) |
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#25
08/29/2004, 04:10 AM
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Ok I have to ask, I love hermits but are they really bad for the reef? Is it more of a personal choice are they really the demons you all say they are? Look at the bad rep brisle worms have and yet they are natural and actually good for reefs.
__________________
"Fortes Fortuna adiuvat" (Fortune favours the Brave)- Roman Slogan |
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