Killer Hermits

[plateboy3293]

As soon as the tank lights were turned off the hermits all jumped one of the shrimps and killed it. And I just bought it today. What should I do with the murders?

 

[Tang Salad]

An eye for an eye. A claw for a claw.

Maybe banish them to the refugium?

Many hermits are not reef-safe.

 

[shag26272]

your best bet would be to stick with scarlet reef hermits

 

[cabowabo]

Hermits have always been trouble for me. Gives those back.

 

[AquaReeferMan]

I highly doubt the hermits took out a healthy shrimp. All my shrimp are active at night and woulnt let hermits hold them down. It was most likely week and/or dying. My hermit never bother a thing. I keep hearing these stories and dont understand them. Am I the only one that has good hermits??

 

[Tang Salad]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9276992#post9276992 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by AquaReeferMan
My hermit never bother a thing. I keep hearing these stories and dont understand them. Am I the only one that has good hermits??

There are many, many different kinds of hermit crabs.

 

[AquaReeferMan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9277487#post9277487 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Tang Salad
There are many, many different kinds of hermit crabs.

OK I was thinking about the most common reef hermits, ie Scarlet, Blue legs. I wouldnt put any others in reef tanks. Thats what most people talk about. Sorry for not being more specific.

 

[hahnmeister]

I would also suspect that the shrimp was weak at the time, dying, or disoriented. A healthy shrimp can easily dodge the claws of a hermit, and hermits know it. They have a way of knowing when something is about to bite-it though, and taking advantage of the moment.

 

[IndyReefMan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9275352#post9275352 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shag26272
your best bet would be to stick with scarlet reef hermits

I agree. My scarlet hermits are very peaceful, unlike the blue leg hermits that are now in my sump.

 

[plateboy3293]

Well all the hermits are leaving including the scarlet. The only cleanup crew left will be snails and shrimp.

 

[mfp4073]

after having snails, featherdusters, cannibalism and other stuff get pounced on by hermits I kicked them out of my tanks. Been more than 6 months without them and nothing bad has happened yet. I am pretty annoyed with them myself....

 

[hahnmeister]

Thats how I do it too... no hermits or crabs... PERIOD. They dont do that much anyways... worthless buggers. I quit keeping hermits and you know what happened... nothing. Snails that were alive stay alive now, no algae grows, no corals get knocked over, nothing else gets killed... and I even got to remove all those empty shells from the sand because nothing needs them anymore. The tank looks alot better, and there is nothing that hermits did that the snails arent taking care of, only better.

 

[hypermikie]

I keep a large variety of hermits in my 24g Pod and have never seen mine eat, attack, kill anything that wasn't dying or dead. I must have "reformed" crabs.

I keep Red Scarlets, Blue Legs, Red Bahas, and 1or 2 Black and White Hawaiian's. Oh yeah and the Porcelin in my avatar

I find them semi-entertaining and feel they clean out the dead!

I too have shrimp (2sexy,2 Pep, 1 cleaner)

 

[hahnmeister]

Okay, okay... I have porcelains too (not anemone crabs like in your avatar hypermikie), and love em. Then wouldnt harm anything.... they are filter feeders after all. But they are too small for most people to keep in their tanks... they usually get lost in anything larger than a 50g.

Yeah... your crabs must be reformed ones alright. Crabs are omnivores by nature... opportunists... so its usually just a matter of time...

 

[Saddler]

Sorry for going slightly OT, but are decorator crabs safe or are they as problematic as hermits?

 

[hahnmeister]

decorator crabs? depends on the species... most are not reef safe, but there are a couple that can be trusted... the problem is usually... how do you ID them with all that crap all over their body? One that is okay is the decorator arrow crab, aka frilly arrow crab. I have one that is a model citizen. Most of the other species can be real meanies.

 

[TheORKINMan]

Just a note here. Porcelain Crabs are NOT crabs. They are shrimp that have evolved to look like Crabs.

 

[rustybucket145]

Many many many many reefers have hermit crabs without any problems at all. If you keep them fed they won't mess with anything. I personally would never even consider starting or keeping a reef tank without them.

If you starve the hermit crabs of course they are going to seek out other foods..... wouldn't you?

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

meh, just the concept of having to have enough for them to eat reeks of bad news.

I don't like the idea of opportunistic feeders and hermits(esp bluelegs) don't clean algae like advertised for me. They like meat better (like leftover fishfood, SHRIMP heh). the cleanup crew should polish off the leftovers and that's it. Add in the cost of the occasional mugged snail and really forget it.

a couple redlegs for decoration would be it for me as the ones I've had seem to just poke around in the dust piles.

I think hermits are a scam like the old freshwater "algae eater"

 

[rustybucket145]

just the concept of having to have enough for them to eat reeks of bad news.

Do you feel the same way about your fish and corals?