Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs And Nass Snails Not Doing Anything

[BigEZ77]

I noticed my blue legs (10) were attacking alot of my snails even though I'm pretty sure I overfeed to give them lots of food. On Saturday I bought 3 Scarlet Reef hermits and 5 Nass snails and pulled out the blue legs. The scarlets haven't come out once, they went to hide somewhere and I haven't seen them since. The Nass just bury in one spot and don't come up unless I feed (thought they would move around more). Now my sand is browning in the front area close to the glass. Is this usual behavior? Should I put the blue legs back in and suffer some snail casualties or is there another type of crab that cleans as well as blue legs but is safer for the snails?

Edit - Also looking at a fighting conch.

Thanks,

Russell

 

[Natereef]

Hermits will attack a snail to steal its shell. Maybe you can throw in some empty bigger shells for the herms to move in to to prevent them from attacking the snails. As far as nass snails, thats normal. Theyre under the sand 99% of the time when the lights are on but they roam around during the night.

 

[Sinocard]

Hermits will attack a snail to steal its shell. Maybe you can throw in some empty bigger shells for the herms to move in to to prevent them from attacking the snails. As far as nass snails, thats normal. Theyre under the sand 99% of the time when the lights are on but they roam around during the night.

+1

I stay away from hermits now... Seems no matter how much they eat, or how many bigger shells I put in, they end up killing snails and then eachother for absolutely no reason at all, lol.

Not to say yours will do this. This is just my experience. I decided to choose snails over hermits

 

[CStrickland]

Nassarius snails are carnivores, so yeah they'll come out when you feed.
If the tank is new the sand is probs browning from diatoms, which will pass. If it's not new it may be cyano, which snails won't really help. Either way, you don't really want to rely on a CUC to clean your tank. A conch is doing more stirring than eating, and they need a lot of sand to eat off. If your tanks less than 50g I wouldn't get one. Better to fix the source of the issue IMO.

 

[Xxero]

Scarlet Reef Hermit crabs will usually stay in one place for the first few days after you bring them home. It's normal. The new parameters sometimes throw them into molting.

The Nassarius are also probably getting used to things. If you have large granular substrate as opposed to fine, they may not be able to burrow around in it very easily.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Xxero is correct, the scarlet legged hermits will stay stationary for a few days, not sure why they do this but they do. Scarlet legged hermits are the ONLY crab of any kind that I'll allow in my DT because they do not kill each other, or snails, or corals or fish. They're also great cleaners. The Blue legged hermits will kill for sport, they will kill for a shell they think that they need even though the one they currently have is too big for them. I've moved all of my Blue legged hermits to the sump along with my emerald green crab. He ate two different fish :hammer:

The Nassarius snails are amazing creatures but they mostly feed at night. They also will keep your sandbed stirred up, they're one of my favorite snails. They do live in the sand.

 

[sde1500]

I rarely see my Scarlet hermit if I look for it in the day time. Wait until just blues or moonlights are running at night, I always see him out wandering and eating then.

 

[water is wet]

If you're buying them in hopes of not having to stir the sand bed then your going to be disappointed. I've got large and small conchs nassarius snails 30+ different hermits sand sifting stars and sea cucumbers and I still have to stir mine when cleaning.

 

[BigEZ77]

Thanks for all the helpful info

If you're buying them in hopes of not having to stir the sand bed then your going to be disappointed. I've got large and small conchs nassarius snails 30+ different hermits sand sifting stars and sea cucumbers and I still have to stir mine when cleaning.

Do you stir once a week? I assume it make the water pretty cloudy for awhile?

PS. Yes the tank is relatively new so I think it is a diatom bloom. I just leave it that way or should I stir it?

 

[Sk8r]

Nassarius and conchs normally live and work and eat UNDER the sandbed. They surface only when you tempt them out with extra food. Regular hermits are often back in caves where stuff collects.

 

[BigEZ77]

Thx. What works the top of the sand bed?

 

[PatW]

Tiger conchs are good for grazing on algae on top of the sand. I like them better than fighting conchs.

 

[anthonys51]

i have a sea cucumber to clean my sand, he keeps it pretty clean. i had a fighting couch but my tank is 57, so he either starved or my Halloween hermits killed him

 

[BigEZ77]

i have a sea cucumber to clean my sand, he keeps it pretty clean. i had a fighting couch but my tank is 57, so he either starved or my Halloween hermits killed him

I would love to get one but am worried about them poisoning the tank if I do something wrong.

 

[anthonys51]

not really sure what kind i have, but i think its the Tiger Tail, i also was worried about that too, but had mine over a year and been ok. i can even pick him up and move him no problem.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+502+712&pcatid=712

 

[BigEZ77]

Thanks, I might look a little closer at them.

 

[anthonys51]

but like the others said a cuc isnt in place of good maintenance its just a little helping hand

 

[BigEZ77]

Yeah, I think my maintenance is pretty good. Regular glass cleaning, weekly 10% water changes, running a skimmer and carbon reactor, etc. Just learned that I should stir my sand bed once a month so will start doing that as well.

 

[killagoby]

A sand sifting blenny will turn that sand over

 

[water is wet]

Thanks for all the helpful info



Do you stir once a week? I assume it make the water pretty cloudy for awhile?

PS. Yes the tank is relatively new so I think it is a diatom bloom. I just leave it that way or should I stir it?

I try to do it at least once every other week.