hermit crab question

bboy aqua · #1 03/21/2007, 06:59 AM

do all hermits kill snails?
i have 2 astreas and 2 turbos right now and i want to get some hermit crabs
which ones wont kill my snails
ive had some before and they all went after my snails every once in a while

Jeanniee · #2 03/22/2007, 10:16 AM

I have more than two dozen hermits (scarlet and blue legs) and my snails are multiplying like mad. I have no problems with the hermits and they are quite fun to watch scavenge around the tank. They are also great for those times you accidently overfeed the tank (which I have a tendancy to do.

bboy aqua · #3 03/23/2007, 04:50 AM

i was told that all hermits with red or blue legs dont kill snails
i wanna know if thats true

dc · #4 03/23/2007, 08:00 AM

They say scarlets are the safest. All hermits can be opportunist killers, you may have better luck if you have extra shells in the tank. They are crabs, so there is never a guarantee. Some people never seem to have problems with them. I fished all mine out and took them back to the store.

Jeanniee · #5 03/23/2007, 09:41 AM

I leave extra shells for my crabs maybe that's why I have no problem with my snails.

kristie222 · #6 03/26/2007, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jeanniee
I leave extra shells for my crabs maybe that's why I have no problem with my snails.

That's most of it, but starving crabs will eat reluctantly eat them, as well as coraline algae. They get such a bad rap, which is undeserved in my opinion, if their needs are looked after. the most damage they do is knock over corals when they get large.

Most of the hermit species are fine, Calcinus & Ciliopagurus are more docile. I have one small dardanus sp. which is less shy but hasn't caused trouble, but it will hang on to rocks when I try to pick it up, where as the others hide in the shell.

Jorgens · #7 03/27/2007, 02:16 PM

I have 50+ blue hermits. I also added 20 ceriths at that same time. While I see the hermits kill a few snails the snails have multiplied beyond belief.

So yes hermits will kill for food or shell. but snails may multiply past that number....

ChrisB · #8 03/28/2007, 05:57 PM

I got my 1st hermits yesterday, two different kinds, red and blue legged, about 30 minutes after "lights out", I decided to check on the tank and see how it was going. Two hermits(dont know which color) had my fighting conch in a wrestling match. The conch was flipping out, literally. I separated them and the conch continued to flop around and seemed to have some mucus trailing behind him.

He seems to be okay today though and all the hermits have migrated to the rocks and seem to be behaving.

Maybe they were starving when I got them?....

Jeanniee --- What kind of snails do you have that are multiplying so rapidly. I might need some of those....:0)

wasupdavey · #9 03/28/2007, 11:19 PM

With my 3 Scarlet legged hermits they are fine. Just make sure they get food to the bottom also if theres not enough algae. This will keep them saticfied