Hermit crabs?

MikeP · #1 07-12-2006, 08:14 PM

I was in a LFS the other day and he had some little hermit crabs I think they were called zebras but I could be wrong. Anyway they looked really neat, does anyone have any info on them. I thought since my tank is on the small side I would see one or two of these guys more often rather than if they were put in a big tank.

Thanks for any info

PS I would be interested in any info on hermits not just these little ones. But I have read that most of the bigger ones can be quite troublesome.

howdy20012002 · #2 07-12-2006, 08:31 PM

I have lots of hermits in my tanks
Personally I like them
I think that they do an excellent job of cleaning up any excess food or detritus. Plus I think that they are cool to watch.
However, as they grow they need shells. They will kill each other off to get those shells. So if you are going to get them, ensure that you have a few shells lying around in your tank so that it gives them a new home.
As well, they can go after your snails and kill them off as well. In fact, I have heard that zebra hermits are particularly bad at killling off snails.
Although, as far as I know, all hermits are considered reef safe, they have the tendency to knock your corals around as they climb around the rocks.
You basically have to weigh the pros and cons and see what suits you.
If you don't care about losing a few snails or have smaller corals that can get knocked around by a clumsy hermit, then a few hermits, IMO, make a nice addition to any tank
Hope this helps
Neal

Skimmer Juice · #3 07-30-2006, 03:58 AM

crabs rule!I have a few halloween crabs(the black and orange ones) A couple electric blues,a bunch of zebras,emeraldcrabs,and pom pom crabs.No problems with any of these.So I would recomend some.

EmilyB · #4 07-30-2006, 04:54 AM

You generally want the scarlett red reef safe hermits in a reef tank. I've got some awesome Hallowe'ens and Electric Blues in my FO however. You should see those buggers chase down small hermits.........

bulletsworld · #5 08-02-2006, 10:20 PM

Yeah there are pro's and con's (knocking over corals) for sure to having them. Think there great scavengers and really neat to see beating up a bigger crab & throwing his outta his shell, then running away with it. Silly comedy for me. But I have to laugh. Then feel sorry for the other dude so gives me an excuse to go shopping for shells.

Flusher · #6 08-03-2006, 04:47 AM

I used to have hermits in my tank, but I recently tossed them all in with my mantis shrimp.

I was tired of them knocking stuff around and killing my snails on occasion. They were sure fun to watch, though, and they definitely kept things clean. I might get more when I upgrade my tank.
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Matt · #7 08-03-2006, 09:00 PM

I also fell in love with the zebra hermits, but they get bigger than the other hermits I have, and aside from their bullying ways with frags and other hermits (killed a few), they both: a) started to kill snails; and b) taught the other hermits how to kill snails - a trick that they have (thankfully) forgotten without the ongoing leadership of their zebra cousins.

Eventually, the bad boys had to go.

revgeoff · #8 08-05-2006, 03:30 PM

I am on my third tank and I have always had hermits. Although they can kill off your snails, knock over coarls or steal food from them (larger ones supposedly attack fish but I have never seen or heard of this first hand), I agree with the majority of people and say that their benifits outweigh the problems.
I just think you have to watch out how many you put in your tank. I have heard everything from 1 per gallon (hmmm, 125 of those suckers running around in my tank might be too much)to 1 per 10 gallons.
So I say stock up and if they don't start killing off everything then make sure you tell everyone how cool (or nasty) they are!

Farrmanchu · #9 08-06-2006, 02:41 AM

I've found that crabs in general are pretty nasty little buggers....and that's part of the entertainment. I've got a couple golfball sized Tongan Tricolor Hermits with the rest of of various Hermits (about 20 total), really cool to watch. They push and shove at feeding time, missing out on food because they're busy holding back another crab, and the Tongans like to flick grains of sand at other crabs to make them move. I've got land hermits too, same thing, rude little jerks, but so cool.

Flusher · #10 08-07-2006, 02:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by revgeoff

I have heard everything from 1 per gallon (hmmm, 125 of those suckers running around in my tank might be too much)to 1 per 10 gallons.

I heard someone say that another stocking guide is one per every pound of live rock. I'd be able to fit about 25 in my 13 gallon nano, if that were the case. That's an awful lot of crabs.

BTW, are you guys referring to the white hermit crabs with vertical black stripes down their legs, or the white hermit crabs with horizontal black stripes? Finding information about these guys is pretty tough. The former is pretty common, and one local seller advocates them as hardier and gentler than other hermits (ie. blue leg hermits). The latter apparently grows to be quite large, but I can't remember exactly how big (something like 12" I believe).
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