Can I fit these inverts in my tank?

[djryan2000]

I'm setting up a 40 gallon breeder and really love crabs and inverts. I'll have ~80 pounds of live rock and 40 pounds of sand substrate.
My list so far is this:
1 blue body coral banded shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
2 pom Pom crabs
2 emerald crabs
2 spotted porcelain crabs
1 decorator crab (I already own)
2 Sally Lightfoot crabs
2 ruby emerald crabs
3 thin striped hermit crabs
1 Halloween crab
2 electric blue hermit crabs
2 Hawaiian zebra hermit crab
4 dwarf blue leg hermit crab
1 small debelious reef lobster

The website I was using says all of these are peaceful and won't bother each other. I'm especially skeptical about the lobster but I added it to see if I can fit all this invert life in a tank and if they're all compatible. I know I'd need to add some type of food for all of them as there is definitely not enough algae to go around!

I will eventually add fish. Currently I have 2 fish I'd add - a oscellaris clown and a neon dottyback.


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[mndfreeze]

I would avoid the lobster and the sally lightfoots.

Coral banded shrimp are notorious meanies and terrirorial. You may not have problems with that specific species though.

Haloween HERMIT crab or Halloween crab? Most crabs are opportunistic killers and might go after any fish or small inverts it can catch. This is why I would avoid the sally lightoots. Sleeping fish are vulnerable.

You could add more species of porcelain crab to your list to replace them if you wanted. The green ones like to live in big groups. The white spotted ones live in and around anemones but do fine without them.

 

[mndfreeze]

Also, if you plan on keeping live coral, you need to take that into consideration as well. Peppermint shrimp are notoriously 'iffy' when it comes to some species of LPS corals. I imagine an aiptasia tastes pretty similiar to a torch or hammer coral for example. They are sort of related animals after all.

 

[djryan2000]

No corals planned.

I posted this on reddit and was told to reconsider the sally light foot with shocked me - I owned one until a couple weeks ago and had no issues except for one scuffle that was initiated by my neon dottyback.
The debelious reef lobster grows to 5 inches - is the size your concern or the temperament?

I will look into other porcelain crabs! I didn't realize such a variety existed!!
So you don't think this is too much for a tank ie space and the biolode?


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[djryan2000]

Also, if you plan on keeping live coral, you need to take that into consideration as well. Peppermint shrimp are notoriously 'iffy' when it comes to some species of LPS corals. I imagine an aiptasia tastes pretty similiar to a torch or hammer coral for example. They are sort of related animals after all.

Whoops. Forgot to quote my reply.




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[mndfreeze]

No corals planned.

I posted this on reddit and was told to reconsider the sally light foot with shocked me - I owned one until a couple weeks ago and had no issues except for one scuffle that was initiated by my neon dottyback.
The debelious reef lobster grows to 5 inches - is the size your concern or the temperament?

I will look into other porcelain crabs! I didn't realize such a variety existed!!
So you don't think this is too much for a tank ie space and the biolode?


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in regards to sally lightfoots:

"Nevertheless, these colorful crabs are opportunistic predators, meaning that they will eat almost anything they come across including barnacles, young sea turtles, other crabs, and young birds, as well as dead fish, broken eggs, and even bird droppings and sea lion placenta. Their claws become very useful for this varied diet, like powerful and sharp spoons- they use them to rip apart the meal and spoon out the goods. This role as beach predators, grazers and scavengers makes them critical to a healthy beach ecosystem."

I would avoid them in a tank with other small fish and inverts. They will eat them if they can catch em, and sally lightfoots are pretty fast little bastids. They are also shore crabs so they might climb out of your tank and die on your floor. There are a bunch of different species of them but their behavior is mostly the same.

5 inches is pretty big for a 40 gallon tank. It's not TOO big, but generally lobsters do nothing but hide all the time, knock things over, etc. The big issue really is that they are territorial. It will leave your fish alone (hopefully) but will kill other inverts. So slowly over time you can expect all your other crabs, snails, shrimp, etc to slowly disappear. It basically has the same problem as coral banded shrimp.

Inverts create a lot less waste than fish do. Less fish means more inverts. Just make sure you add stuff to the tank over time, and that you really give your cycle a chance to finish and keep up with water quality.

I'm a huge invert lover too. I only have a single fish in my tank lol. I had 2 but my watchman goby suddenly stopped eating and died a few weeks back. I assume his pistol shrimp BFF ate him once he did since they bunk under the rocks. No way to get him out. I personally keep coral with my inverts so my selection is even more limited but there are tons of cool things you could get into a 40B with no bioload issues.

Since you are going the no coral route you can also consider camel shrimp, sexy shrimp, fire shrimp, a SMALL cucumber (some get masssssiiivveee), a hi fin goby w/ candy cane pistol shrimp (symbiotes, best together), and quite a few other cool things.

And yeah you can have a bunch of porcelain crabs. The anemone ones are sort of territorial but I've never heard of them killing each other. Green ones live in huge colonies in the wild. Sexy shrimp also live in groups, as do camel shrimp.

 

[djryan2000]

in regards to sally lightfoots:



"Nevertheless, these colorful crabs are opportunistic predators, meaning that they will eat almost anything they come across including barnacles, young sea turtles, other crabs, and young birds, as well as dead fish, broken eggs, and even bird droppings and sea lion placenta. Their claws become very useful for this varied diet, like powerful and sharp spoons- they use them to rip apart the meal and spoon out the goods. This role as beach predators, grazers and scavengers makes them critical to a healthy beach ecosystem."



I would avoid them in a tank with other small fish and inverts. They will eat them if they can catch em, and sally lightfoots are pretty fast little bastids. They are also shore crabs so they might climb out of your tank and die on your floor. There are a bunch of different species of them but their behavior is mostly the same.



5 inches is pretty big for a 40 gallon tank. It's not TOO big, but generally lobsters do nothing but hide all the time, knock things over, etc. The big issue really is that they are territorial. It will leave your fish alone (hopefully) but will kill other inverts. So slowly over time you can expect all your other crabs, snails, shrimp, etc to slowly disappear. It basically has the same problem as coral banded shrimp.



Inverts create a lot less waste than fish do. Less fish means more inverts. Just make sure you add stuff to the tank over time, and that you really give your cycle a chance to finish and keep up with water quality.



I'm a huge invert lover too. I only have a single fish in my tank lol. I had 2 but my watchman goby suddenly stopped eating and died a few weeks back. I assume his pistol shrimp BFF ate him once he did since they bunk under the rocks. No way to get him out. I personally keep coral with my inverts so my selection is even more limited but there are tons of cool things you could get into a 40B with no bioload issues.



Since you are going the no coral route you can also consider camel shrimp, sexy shrimp, fire shrimp, a SMALL cucumber (some get masssssiiivveee), a hi fin goby w/ candy cane pistol shrimp (symbiotes, best together), and quite a few other cool things.



And yeah you can have a bunch of porcelain crabs. The anemone ones are sort of territorial but I've never heard of them killing each other. Green ones live in huge colonies in the wild. Sexy shrimp also live in groups, as do camel shrimp.

Awesome, thank you for all the advice!
So this is my full updated list (which I'm sure will be edited)

2 blue body coral banded shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
2 pom Pom crabs
2 emerald crabs
2 spotted porcelain crabs
1 decorator crab (I already own)
2 ruby emerald crabs
3 thin striped hermit crabs
1 Halloween crab
2 electric blue hermit crabs
2 Hawaiian zebra hermit crab
4 dwarf blue leg hermit crab
A few green or similar porcelain crabs
Pistol shrimp

2 green chromis (damselfish)
Yellow watchman goby
Lawnmower Blenny
2 banner (Bangai) cardinal
Some oscellaris clowns
1 neon dottyback (I own this guy)

I'm just concerned over the coral banded shrimp killing the other ones as well as the available floor space ie each crab having a home.
So now I just need to figure out the order to add everyone to the tank.


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[mndfreeze]

I definitely wouldn't get 2 Coral banded unless they are already a male/female pair at sale. Very risky. Chances are high one will kill the other.

 

[djryan2000]

I definitely wouldn't get 2 Coral banded unless they are already a male/female pair at sale. Very risky. Chances are high one will kill the other.

Got it - my LFS keeps close to 4 in a tiny tank so I assumed two would be okay but maybe not. I'll go with 1 coral banded shrimp

Do you see any other issues?


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[mndfreeze]

If you want a yellow watchman goby, make sure you get a tiger pistol shrimp with it. They are bigger and a little more agressive but will be fine in that tank. Certain shrimp pair with certain gobies. You also need to have sand and some rubble in the tank for it to build with it.

You also never said if you meant a halloween crab or a halloween hermit crab. They are 2 different things. Halloween crabs are land crabs and can't go in a tank.

 

[djryan2000]

If you want a yellow watchman goby, make sure you get a tiger pistol shrimp with it. They are bigger and a little more agressive but will be fine in that tank. Certain shrimp pair with certain gobies. You also need to have sand and some rubble in the tank for it to build with it.

You also never said if you meant a halloween crab or a halloween hermit crab. They are 2 different things. Halloween crabs are land crabs and can't go in a tank.

Whoops. The Halloween hermit crab - I didn't know there were terrestrial crabs called Halloween crabs.

I'm planning on having at least 40 pounds of sand and live rock for the watchman goby and pistol shrimp pair. Tiger pistol it is!


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