Scarlet Hermit crab..

[Connoisseurpoet]

Hello reefers,

I am concerned about my Scarlet hermit crab , It keeps on staying on the Green star polyp, it did move little but it keeps on remaining its spot.
Before I placed the GSP, hermit did move around the tank. Is this normal for Scarlet Hermit to remain 1 spot for 2 or 3 days?? Is this the way hermit behave?

Is it stuck in its shell? i dont have extra empty shell, he came with the live rock. Please help by replying this post..

Thanks in advance..

 

[fish are life]

i have been hearing about a couple that are having troubles with their crabs eating/chilling on their star polyps. i dont know y though, move the GSP and place the crab away from it and see what happens then

 

[Connoisseurpoet]

i did what you suggested, the hermit still came back to his home, i looked at gsp and no damage from eating. its just chilling on it.. but, am concerned about his eating, dont want starve himself. i wonder if shell is too small to roam free? instead it got stuck and stayed same spots for a long time. Is it depressing? I read they prefer to be in group , does him being only hermit affect his behavior? I am going to get more today...

 

[RicksReefs]

it's likely he's just cleaning up the crud that grows between the polyps. i use bluelegs by the hundreds with all types of coral for clean up and there's been no problems. bluelegs are found together in nature, scarletts are loners on the reef.

 

[Volitan_Lion_13]

i have a couple scarlets they chill for a while move...chill...move..etc. i think they are just cleaning

 

[Sk8r]

They are prone to sit a bit, even a whole day or so. But this may also indicate he's getting pretty desperate for a new shell. What he'll like best is a fighting conch shell, preferably one with coralline on it. You can get shells from your lfs, and even if they charge for them it wouldn't be much. Leave a handful lying on the sand and let your hermits choose. My largest was in a piddling little shell, about 3/4 inch wide. When I brought in new shells, there was one the store had tossed in that was two inches wide, which I thought way too large. He ignored all others, was inside that one within a minute of its hitting the sand, and now he lords it over the tank: when I realized the size of his claws I knew he'd been one miserable little crab before he got his new shell.

 

[Connoisseurpoet]

Update... I brought a new family for the hermit 15 scarlets from a friend. I will go to the LFS to get empty shells for 16 hermits. It's cool watching them eat their food and roam around.
16 hermits and 3 Turbo/Astrea Snail.
any other crew should i add? please suggest!!
It is for 29 gallon reef tank.

I plan to buy diamond goby for the sand cleaning. Will my blue with yellow fin damsel kill if I put the goby in 29g?