hermits

schulz1616 · 05-05-2002, 12:09 PM

Do scarlet hermits and dwarf zebra hermits eat amphipods? Is one of these crabs better than the other, or should I buy a combination of these? Should I stock my tank with small shells for them to move into? Where should I get shells that small?

Thanks

Doug1 · 05-05-2002, 12:25 PM

I have seen tanks with what I thought were high hermit densities that were alive with pods so I'm not sure that they predate them much. as far as shells, usually you can get some empties from LFS or keep adding snails like most of us do

Alice · 05-05-2002, 01:02 PM

The scarlet leg hermits seem to be the less carnivorous of the bunch, but it's all a matter of degree, as far as the snails go. I have to agree with Doug though, you can have plenty of pods and hermits. Pods are fast

I had some of the little "dwarf zebra hermits" in my tank awhile back...they didn't stay "dwarf" for long! It may be that the species was misidentified but mine got big with very large claws, they were banished to the sump!

Alice

Flatlander · 05-05-2002, 01:09 PM

After banishing blue legs to my sumps/refugiums, etc a couple years ago, I have gone back to them.

As I am now running a rubble/sand bottom, I find they do an excellent job helping to keep it clean. Much cheaper than the red legs, which I have also, some being HUGE,

As a matter of fact, I have one scarlet thats been with me for about 5 years.

Not sure if all the blue leg scare is all its cracked up to be or not, but will see. Provide lots of food & shells for them.

schulz1616 · 05-05-2002, 10:58 PM

What is this Blue legged scare that Douglas Lowey mentioned? How big do these blue legged crabs get, the same with the scarlet and dwarf zebra?

Thanks

tdwyatt · 05-06-2002, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by schulz1616
What is this Blue legged scare that Douglas Lowey mentioned? How big do these blue legged crabs get, the same with the scarlet and dwarf zebra?

Yes, that is pretty much the answer. The thought prevailing at this time is that the blue legs, based on remarks made by several invert folks (Dr. Ron among them) , seem to be less aggressive and tend to eat mostly dead stuff and algal biomass. Given the opportunity, all crabs, with the exception of the filter feeders, will consume meat. They are equal opportunity consumers, to them it really doesn't matter whether they get their nutrition from a dead carcass or from living plant material. Scarlet hermits do seem to be less aggressive in chasing down living snails (amazingly enough, when I sent the blues to the sump, my snail losses dropped dramatically, but have started up again. I now suspect the twin spot Clown Coris wrasse, it has gotten VERY big.)

If you're loosing snails, check out your fishes first, I suspect that a number of reported snail losses attributed to hermits are either due to turbos upside down on the substrate being consumed by the hermits post-mortem, or actually fish consumption by growing fishes. I have seen larger hermits take snails out of the shell for the shell (heh, eating them was an afterthought I am sure!), but for the most part, I am very suspect of the average hermit having the ability to take down a healthy snail.

Hope this helps

Flatlander · 05-06-2002, 07:14 AM

I,m with you Tom. I believe they will take advantage of an over turned snail, but most crawlies in our tanks will. Its a nice free meal. For sure my scarlets do the same.

The crabs, like worms & other maintaince creatures must have enough food or they will find it. I would say if one feeds lots then the food is there for them and they will do their job cleaning it up. If one feeds sparingly,{dont agree}, then perhaps crabs are not needed.

They do eat some algaes, but IMO, not enough to warrent keeping them on that basis alone.

FWIW, I am going to put at least 50 blue legs in my new 180. As for the original question, I have never had zebra hermits.

Also FWIW, I know many reef keepers that use almost a blue legged per gal or two. Of course, as mentioned by Tom, there are those with completely opposite views. Also please remember the above is my views. Time will again tell if its correct.

I am not suggesting to fill your tanks with blue legs, unless your willing to experiment like I.

FishDaddy · 05-06-2002, 10:29 AM

My experience with the Scarlet Reef hermits (Paguristes cadenati) is that they are much more laid back than the infamous Blue Legs! I haven't had any of the Dwarf Zebras.

One thing I discovered with the 2 dozen Blue Legs I originally put into my 55 was that some of them grew much larger than the others. They all looked the same at introduction, but the big ones were much more aggressive and did attack healthy snails!

I once asked Dr. Ron about this and he said they were most probably different species.

I do believe that a variety of snails, together with a healthy population of worms, will serve the same purpose as the crabs.
See:
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish/li...=&RecordNo=166

Everything that goes into the tank is in the food chain in one way or another. That is why it is so important to select animals that are less likely to prey upon one another but always remember that "animals don't always behave the same in captivity as they do in the wild"!!!

HTH,
Dick