Landry,
Good to have you join us!
Multiple deaths suggest either that there is a predator in the tank or, if soon after introduction, an acclimations issue. How did you acclimate the new hermits? Do you hear any clicking sounds or have any other predatory animals?? How old is your tank and what is your setup and water parameters? Answers to these questions will help us to figure out what's wrong.
Inverts, such as hermits, snails, and other crustaceans, have fragile systems that are particularly sensitive to changes in salinity and pH. They should be very slowly acclimated to the tank water by slowly dripping tank water into a container with the shipping water over at least 2 hours, until most of the water in the container is tank water. This allows their systems to adjust and avoid the osmotic shock that will kill them.
As for the benefit of Blue Legs, I personally wouldn't recommend any, instead, get a variety of snails to do the job.
Nassarius snails are good detrivores and also eat algae on the glass. Trochus or
Astraea snails do a good job on the glass, substrate, and rocks. Margaritas, Ceriths, or Turbos are others to consider, though the big Turbos can cause some problems.
Blue Legs are notorious for ganging up on snails, killing and eating them. I've been there and won't keep them again.
Please read this article by Dr. Shimek re: Nassarius snails vs. Blue Leg Hermits:
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/li...=&RecordNo=166
Again, welcome to TRT.
Dick
