Hermit Shells

[raddog1]

I picked up 4 really small blue leg hermits and they are maybe 1/4" - 1/3" including the shell. I have looked at pet stores for some extra shells the leave laying around in the tank so they don't attack my snails, but I cannot find anything small enough. Where does everyone get their shells from? I noticed on LiveAquaria they sell a pack of shells, but they are 1" to 1 1/2" or 2" depending on the size you order. Is that too large for the crabs? Will they need a size between their current size and the 1" shells? Also how fast do they grow?

29G BC, 10 weeks old. Still fighting the red slime algae stage.

 

[danch]

I think that LiveAquaria underestimates the size of those shells - I got a bag of each and was surprised at how big they are. Your little guys won't fit into them for quite some time.

I have a mix of sizes, so what happened when I got some spare cerith shells (1-1 1/2 inches long), the big guy grabbed a new shell, and a bunch of the others swapped up.

 

[racrumrine]

Walmart sells a nice selction of shells in their craft section for next to nothing (compared to LFS pricing).

Buy a package and boil a few (to kill any germs and clean them up) and toss them into your tank.

Works everytime for me.

Best of luck,

Roy

 

[dendro982]

You may check the different big chain dollar stores, I found one with a nice choice of shells, dollar for a may be a hundred.

 

[3fins]

lol, this is kinda funny..i found some shells just like racrumrine said at the store and they were BRIGHT COLORS , like blue yellow and red stiped..so i cleand them up realy good and tossed em in there and sure enough i come back to a red yellow and blue shells moving across the sand.
if they were in the ocean, theyd be dead buy now cus of those shells.
just though id share
3fins

 

[racrumrine]

Glad to hear it worked out.

One of the most fascinating things I ever saw was one of my blue leg hermits trying out a new shell.

It would go in and out and in and out to see if it had a good fit. Amazingly, when it was out of the shell it's back was covered in black eggs. I wish I would have had a digital camera back then. I've never seen it happen since.

Best of luck,

Roy