hrdneglcry
Premium Member
I have been keeping the Red Scarlet Hermit Crab (scientific name Dardanus Megistos) also called the white spotted hermit crab, and the giant hermit crab. I purchased mine for the same reason that everybody pruchases Hermits which is to keep the tank clean. I went the "large" route (Red Scarlets are said to reach 1 foot) because of my large Triggerfish population. I needed something that could withstand Trigger onslaught, and also clean up after the messy Predators.
These guys are superior cleaner uppers. Scaling heater tubes, and devouring hair algae that is growing there. Eating large chunks of thawed meat the the predators leave behind. Basically they are like all Hermits just on a much larger scale.
My largest are two, or three that are tennis ball size. I keep between 10-20 large shells in the tank to prevent fights over shells.
These guys are strong. They will eat the very largest of Mexican Turbo Snails alive. The only snail that I successfully kept with them was a Horse Conch, a predator in it's own right.
So they perform the daily task of cleaning up the food that my Tesselata Eel shreds during feeding. No hair algae grows if they can reach it. Of course mushrooms, and Xenia are devoured. I only know of coralline being successfully kept with them.
They are fast too. Faster than any other Hermit that I own, and I own at least 6 species not counting them; including some other large varietes. These guys can book across a 6 foot tank in 7-10 seconds. They pounce on food, and upon those who are eating food. They wrestle for position. They cling to airline tubing with a death grip when they are being removed from the water.
A close cousin to them is the Starry Hermit Crab which is almost identical to them except Starry's have blue eyes.
All in all these are good for my needs, but they are nonetheless predators themselves. They will eat fish. I used to worry for their safety when I first got them, but now I am wondering if they are in fact the king's of the tank.
They do not seem to fear the Tesselata Eel at all. In fact their is a lack of respect towards him by them that has got my attention.
I am assuming that in the wild a Tess Eel must cross paths with large Hermits without incident.
But the buggers a scurrying around the tank 24/7, and I wonder if at night they are terrorizing my fish.
The fish are Damsels.......funny story here. I bought the Damsles to keep the Triggers calm. But the Damsels have the tank to themselves with the Eel, and they will not even allow much larger Triggers in the tank with them. Little buggers. I am not too worried about them.
Anyway, these crabs stay up all night. They get a lot of food during the day just from the mess that the Tess makes. I do not know many people who are keeping one, or more of these crabs. Nobody ever puts their cents in when I make other posts about these crabs. So I figured I'd go all in with what I know.
These guys are superior cleaner uppers. Scaling heater tubes, and devouring hair algae that is growing there. Eating large chunks of thawed meat the the predators leave behind. Basically they are like all Hermits just on a much larger scale.
My largest are two, or three that are tennis ball size. I keep between 10-20 large shells in the tank to prevent fights over shells.
These guys are strong. They will eat the very largest of Mexican Turbo Snails alive. The only snail that I successfully kept with them was a Horse Conch, a predator in it's own right.
So they perform the daily task of cleaning up the food that my Tesselata Eel shreds during feeding. No hair algae grows if they can reach it. Of course mushrooms, and Xenia are devoured. I only know of coralline being successfully kept with them.
They are fast too. Faster than any other Hermit that I own, and I own at least 6 species not counting them; including some other large varietes. These guys can book across a 6 foot tank in 7-10 seconds. They pounce on food, and upon those who are eating food. They wrestle for position. They cling to airline tubing with a death grip when they are being removed from the water.
A close cousin to them is the Starry Hermit Crab which is almost identical to them except Starry's have blue eyes.
All in all these are good for my needs, but they are nonetheless predators themselves. They will eat fish. I used to worry for their safety when I first got them, but now I am wondering if they are in fact the king's of the tank.
They do not seem to fear the Tesselata Eel at all. In fact their is a lack of respect towards him by them that has got my attention.
I am assuming that in the wild a Tess Eel must cross paths with large Hermits without incident.
But the buggers a scurrying around the tank 24/7, and I wonder if at night they are terrorizing my fish.
The fish are Damsels.......funny story here. I bought the Damsles to keep the Triggers calm. But the Damsels have the tank to themselves with the Eel, and they will not even allow much larger Triggers in the tank with them. Little buggers. I am not too worried about them.
Anyway, these crabs stay up all night. They get a lot of food during the day just from the mess that the Tess makes. I do not know many people who are keeping one, or more of these crabs. Nobody ever puts their cents in when I make other posts about these crabs. So I figured I'd go all in with what I know.
