Hermits or no hermits?

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Our new 120g reef tank is ready to put water in...we are just waiting until our RO/DI unit arrives today. I know that I'm a little ways out from adding invertebrates...but, thought I would get some opinions so that when it's time I know what I want to do.

In our last reef tank we had snails, hermits, a lawnmower blenny, and cleaner shrimp. I'm not sure if we are doing the lawnmower blenny this time, but we definately want to do the cleaner shrimp and snails. I've read that hermits can eat things in the sand, but my husband loved the hermits. I think he mostly liked seeing the lawnmower blenny throw the hermits off of the tops of the rocks...lol!

I wanted to get some opinions....

Hermits or no hermits?

Also, should I consider a star fish?

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

This got buried really quick so.....BUMP!

 

[jhildebrand]

In my 260 there's probably 18 assorted hermits and they never bother anyone. Some will say they'll kill and eat snails and steal their shells, but I can't remember the last time I've seen a turbo shell with a hermit in it. If you leave them extra shells and there's enough food to scavenge they won't bother anyone. Large hermit varieties can be a major pain though. They can knock things over and have claws that can do some serious damage. The little guys only irritate zoos, shrooms, and other softies when they crawl around, but they don't do any damage. The pros outweigh the cons, IMO. When people come see the tank it's the hermits that get all the attention with their comical fighting with each other, falling off rocks, and constant scavenging. They get my vote.

Be careful with sea stars. Most brittle varieties are okay and fairly hardy, but you can't expect to see them out much. Sand sifting stars will slowly starve in most tanks. Some stars are clam eaters. ALL need to be acclimated slowly as they cannot withstand rapid changes in water chemistry. Ken at SeaLife has some neat inverts and good shipping prices. I have one of his red brittles in my tank and it's done very well. They also have hermits, cukes, etc... All hardy stuff from the florida gulf.

Cleaner shrimp rock. Diadema and tuxedo urchins are very cool to watch and fairly hardy once acclimated. Just have a lot of rock to graze. My choice over stars for echinoderms

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Thanks for your opinions, jhildebrand. I really appreciate it.

I loved the hermits in the last tank. My husband was disappointed when I said I wasn't sure about putting them in this one. I never really had a problem with them eating the snails. I had some extra shells laying around like you said. I figured there was a reason people said no hermits and I wanted to hear opinions on the subject before I decided.

I'm trying to not make any mistakes in this tank like I made in the last one. I know that it is inevitable that I'll make mistakes, but hoping I can avoid a bunch of them with some research ahead of time.

I did look into a tuxedo urchin. I thought it looked really cool. We had a pencil urchin hitchhicker in the last tank and I really should have taken him out because I think he was damaging corals. But, I think a reef safe one would be awesome.

Anyone else have opinions? I'd love to hear them.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Oh...forgot to ask. What about an Emerald Crab?

 

[spw4949]

Personally, I just put all my hermits in my fuge. They got really annoying, they killed most of my snails & a conch I had that was a great cleaner.(I have a ton of extra empty shells they could have moved into) They were also always knocking over my frags & what not. You will find many differing opinions on this, this is just mine. I have an emerald crab & he's great. My .02,HTH.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Thanks for chiming in, Steve. I figured there were reasons people didn't have them in their reef tanks...wanted to hear the pros and cons. I still haven't decided. I have a little while to do that.

 

[spw4949]

From what I've read(& experienced), red-legged are the more mild mannered of the different species. If you decide to add hermits I'd go red legged.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Thanks for the tip. I think most of the ones I had in my old reef tank were red legged and I think most of them were dwarf ones. Maybe that's why I didn't have too many problems with them. I think I might have had some blue ones too.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Anyone else have opinions?

 

[mcdonous]

I love my hermits. I have scarlet and blue legged. I have never noticed them killing a snail and they have all behaved nicely with each other. I think it also depends on what kind of snails you have with them. From what I've seen each hermit species has prefered shell shapes they like. I think ceriths are the most at risk for shell stealing. I havn't seen either of these two species in turbo or astrae shells. But these snails are prone to fall on their back and can be eaten then by any type of crabs. My hermits also seem to help keep my rocks clean of algae.

I keep the hermits for my liking more then for housekeeping. If they eat my snails(which they haven't) big deal, I can get more snails. To me its no different then raising any type of live food for your aquarium.

You have said you liked them and your husband liked them so get them.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

You have said you liked them and your husband liked them so get them. [/B]

Good points. You're right. I don't think there are that many reasons not to get them....I'll probably end up with hermits again! They kept my rocks nice and clean and they are humerous to watch.

 

[jamirlima]

As far as my little experience is concerned hermits have never killed any snails and neither have they stolen their snails.

Hardiness wise the hermits are very very hardy compared to my snails which die after few months.

 

[jimboslice]

I have been reading allot tonight about Hermits and Snails. Allot of people have not seen the less aggressive hermits attacking snails, but this is happening. Seems blue legs are more aggressive then red leg hermits. There is a guy in my town giving away some blue leg hermits. Says they are killing his snails and not even taking the shells. I will go get these guys and see for myself hehe.

I second the comment about Hermits and Cerith snail. Seems some hermits will go after the Cerith snails.

 

[plateboy3293]

Scarlet hemit crabs are the least agressive compared to other hermits. I would still not trust them in my tank. I personally would say no on the emerald crabs they killed my long tentacle plate coral and also killed most of my snails. I am going for a crab less tank now.

 

[ERIKATHORNBURG]

Thanks for the opinions everyone. We just not got the tank filled and got sand put in it. I have live rock, metal halide ballasts, bulbs, and a couple Koralia pumps coming. I've got a little time to still debate this.