hermit crabs spawning?

[RKSPORTDRIVER]

ok so last night im sitting watching tv and in my ten gallon i have one clownfish and 4 hermit crabs. I have tons of flow in the tank and I look over and my clownfish is going nutz cuz there looks to be tons of micro bubbles in the tank. Im started to get nervous and went over for a closer look and there are thousands of white things flying around in the tank the size of a microbubble and my clownfish is goin nutz cuz he is eating all of them lol. I turn off all the powerheads to get a better look and slow down the unidentifiable flying objects and i can see that they are alive and look like some type of brine shrimp flicking their tails and moving through the water column. Just then i look down in the corner of the tank and my hermit crab is coming out of its shell like all the way and then shooting back in and releasing these little beings. Are these live hermit crabs. It stinks because i woke up this mrning and there all gone because my clownfish ate probably most of them for he looks way to happy and my powerheads and skimmer probably got a bunch of them. Wat r u guys opinions on this matter. You think any of them will live?

thanx
tom

 

[LeslieH]

Your hermit was spawning, releasing live juveniles. The young ones stay in the water column while they go through a series of changes then eventually settle out on the bottom. Even in the ocean only a few from one parent will survive; the odds are even less in your tank between the fish & your skimmer.

 

[RKSPORTDRIVER]

thank you for the response and do you think that they might do this again anytime soon or is it a once in a lifetime thing to see in an aquarium. By the way next time is there anyway i might be able to take some of them out and toss them in a quarintine tank and keep them alive? thanx

 

[LeslieH]

I donÃ"šÃ‚´t know how common it is in tanks. Hopefully someone with more tank-hermit experience can answer that. If you get the mother into a quarantine tank in time or scoop out some of the juvies AND get the right kind of food (donÃ"šÃ‚´t ask me what) they might survive.

 

[Victoria]

I have had this occur in my tank also. I think it happens all the time. But they release at night. So most go unoticed. I just think of it as more live food.
Victoria