hermits suck

pewter_jean

pewter_jean

New member
I got some snails today, and those darn hermit just went after them and eat them not even 10 min after I put them in.
I've seen hermits eating out dead snails, (I thought they died for some other reason) Now I belive those little sh** killed them. They aren't even that big, only about 1/2 inch, these are the blue leg ones.
Well that is it, No more crabs for me. none of any kind. They are mean!!!
 
They're desperate. You have to give hermits spare shells. They thought you had.
 
there are about 15 extra shell laying in there. And these snail were all half the size as those hermits. I doubt they could fit their fat butts in those shells.
 
You're right: they're rats.

Mine are much better behaved, or my snails are faster. But most of mine are scarlets.
 
I had to get rid of all my hermits because they killed the snails all thetime...in the end I guess I decided that hermits were not as valuable as snails
 
I bought some big snails to compete with my shrimp, he went right after the big inch and a half turbos i got this weekend, the snail just flipped itself and chugged away, I think the shrimp was surprised.
 
I have Nassarius snails. My crabs do not bother them and my Astrea's stay on the glass out of the crabs reach. Also my Nassarius breed so I have baby snails everywere. Always good to have a replenishing cleaning crew. I have only had one snail die by way of crab, and I think he was a Giant Nassarius. One of my very large Hermits aquired himself a new Shell shortly after I put the giant in. Other than that mine or pretty peaceful towards each other and I do have a lot of shells of various sizes sitting around.
 
Also my Nassarius breed so I have baby snails everywere.
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Every time I read something like that I cringe!

Are you sure you have nassarius breeding? I used to have "tank breeding nassarious snails". Turned out they were dog whelks!!! (predatory snails) They look very similar. I don't think it's very easy to breed nassarious snails. Dr Ron ID them a few years back when Mail Order Place "X" was accidentally selling them. I'm sure other people have had the same problem with mistaken identity.
 
How would you get predatory snails? I had no small ones until after I added the Nassarius, also I don't mix any water from purchases and I inspect all of my corals before placement. Also some have reached a much bigger size now and they look just like Nassarius to me. So please explain further and possible post some pics of what you are talking about. Also, what would they be predators of?
 
Nassarius obsoletus - Black Dog Whelk; medium sized, surface blackish with obscure spiral and longitudinal lines, introduced and extremely abundant in the San Francisco Bay (mud snail). Color deep purplish black. This is an east coast snail, probably introduced into California water with young oysters. It is a scavenger that eats dead fish or other organic debris.
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This fits more of the description of my Nassarius and what the littles look more and more alike. Dog Whelk seems to be the Common name for this snail but it what I have found online and from a few sites does not show it to be predatory.
 
i have breeding stomatella's, they are outa control. Also since i threw in the Nassarius from Chad's on Saturday to the nano cube I have seen a whole slew of baby snails appearing on the glass in a pretty little line.
 
I wish I still had mine from Sat. I would like baby snails. But those darn hermit killed every one of them. Then they kept climbing all over the clam I got Sat. so that was it I had to scoop they out and throw them into the other tank. Hermits SUCK!!!!
 
Any kind of crab is possible to wreck havok. Even the emeralds and just about any kind even a lot of the acro crabs unless you get a bandit one. It's always a hit or miss so it's better to keep the numbers lower of the hermits so you can go crab hunting in a shorter time. Better than them deciding they like one of the corals I guess.
 
How would you get predatory snails? I had no small ones until after I added the Nassarius, also I don't mix any water from purchases and I inspect all of my corals before placement. Also some have reached a much bigger size now and they look just like Nassarius to me. So please explain further and possible post some pics of what you are talking about. Also, what would they be predators of?
Click to expand...

Since the Dr Ron forum is gone, I can't point you to the post with pictures, but basically the snails I'm talking about can be very similar to nassarious snails, only they are not nassarious snails.

I'm not saying you don't have nassarious, or that all snails that look similar to nassarious snails are predatory, but since I was part of the whole fiasco, I'm always leery. Personally I've never had any of my nassarious snails breed in captivity and my tanks have always been very plankton and critter friendly.

I didn't find what I wanted, but here is something...

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-11/rs/index.php
 
That was not it. I remembered the common name only and that term is apparently pretty common for whelks! Too bad Dr Ron no longer has the ID info on his site. That was the only place I know of that compared the shells of regular nassarious snails and the "dog whelks" I'm referring to.
 
Most of the ones being sold at the really low price are the Illynassiarius Obsoleta which used to be named Nassiarius Obsoleta's until they changed the identification to Illynassiarius back a number of years ago. They are actually from colder water areas and don't do well at optimal reef temps i.e. 80-83ish. They have usually been collected in N. or S. Carolina areas on the east and San Francisco area on the west coast. The ones that are more suited for reef tanks (Nassiarius) are usually about 2-3 bucks each. Except this week at Chads for 80 cents each. Free plug. :D

BTW I can't ever remember how to spell Illynassiarias or Nassairias so don't use my spelling for searching as I usually abreviate Illy. and Nas. to avoid the mistakes. :D
 
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