what exactly do hermit crabs,etc eat!?

[BigDaddy]

I am going to start target feeding my clown and blood shrimp due to a problem with algae. Only maybe one piece of mysis per day (is that enough). What about the rest!?? Will they starve... I have a bunch of hermits, some asteras, some nassarius, and a tiger tail cucumber.

Thank you!

[reefBoyDc]

If you have an algae problem, the crabs and snails will be ok, and might actually help with the problem by eating it all! buahahahaha. HTH.

[icebear]

they'll find stuff to pick at... i never really thought about what they eat, but i guess as long as some of the food gets away from the fish, there will be plenty to go around

[VWD]

I think they will eat just about anything they find on the bottom of Your tank. Bottom of the food chain, Large ones will eat Your fish.


Vince

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

I am going to start target feeding my clown and blood shrimp due to a problem with algae. Only maybe one piece of mysis per day (is that enough). What about the rest!?? Will they starve... I have a bunch of hermits, some asteras, some nassarius, and a tiger tail cucumber.

Purina Hermit Crab Chow???






A lot of issues associated with algal blooms will have a lot to do with several sets of conditions within your tank. Addressing only one may not resolve the total issue. If the tank is less than 6 months old, it may occasionally exerience an algal bloom of one type or another until a system maturity and balance develops.


As for feeding, limit feeding in a mature reef system to once every two to three days, for what you've listed, maybe one-half cube of thawed mysiids, wait for 5 minutes to see if there is cleanup, then the other half if needed. If there is food remaining on the substrate in 5 minutes after the first half is fed, then there is no need to feed more, max out at 1 cube every 2 days until the clowns get some size.


You might try target feeding the torch as well with a few mysis shrimp (use a turkey baster).


How old is the tank, how much volume, and how many scavengers are there? Hermit crabs tend to scavwenge anything they can grab, algae, mysiids, dead organisms, an occasional live snail when the crabs are big and the snail is small (or a cerith, no operculum to cover the aperture so soft tissue has no protection). They usually will cleanup any left over foodstuffs , algae growing on substrates, dead and dying animals, etc.

HTH

[BigDaddy]

How old is the tank,
less than 1 month

how much volume
24 gal, 72w pc

how many scavengers are there
a lot.... 1 tiger tail cuke, 5 (?) nassarius, 4 asteras, 8 hermit crabs (4 blue / 4 red)

also have 1 torch, 1 hammer, 1 clown, 1 blood shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp

I know 'too early' but there was never a cycle, cured live rock... water params are good 8.3ph, 10 dkh, 0ammonia, 0trites, 3trates, 380calcium - my biggest prob is algae. Part of that is the lights are on a 14hr cycle.

[tdwyatt]

Originally Posted by BigDaddy

How old is the tank,
less than 1 month

how much volume
24 gal, 72w pc

how many scavengers are there
a lot.... 1 tiger tail cuke, 5 (?) nassarius, 4 asteras, 8 hermit crabs (4 blue / 4 red)

also have 1 torch, 1 hammer, 1 clown, 1 blood shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp

I know 'too early' but there was never a cycle, cured live rock... water params are good 8.3ph, 10 dkh, 0ammonia, 0trites, 3trates, 380calcium - my biggest prob is algae. Part of that is the lights are on a 14hr cycle.

Yup, try cutting the lights off in the middle of the day for about 3 or 4 hours, in that manner, ambient light in the room will appear as if a cloud has appeared in the middle of the day, and there will be light when you're getting ready for work in the morning as well as when you return at night.

In actuality, you only have 13 scavengers, the astreas are herbivores and will help keep the glass and rock (relatively) algae-free, the shrimp will scavenge, but are such aggressive feeders that they will eat before just about any of the scavengers have an opportunity to feed, the cuke will only eat the biofilm off the sand and an occasional tidbit of left over particulate food, In such a small tank, you may still need a few extra hermits to prevent problems with feeding leading to algae blooms. Once the tank begins to mature and competition for the algae and the nutrients it needs to grow develop, the blooms will settle down and you'll not have issues. for now, cut the light back as already suggested, the corals will do fine. Remember that Euphyllids not always come from intensely illuminated conditions, and that they will benefit from an occasional (every 5 days or so) feeding with finely minced shrimp or a few mysiids. Once the tank matures, you'll be able to bump up feeding, bur for now, cutting back to every other day, maybe every 3rd day, and reducing the feeding quantity to whatever the tank can completely clean up in 5 minutes would be appropriate.


HTH

[hawaii4485]

so 5 asteras and 6 hermit crabs us not enough for a 2 month old 20gal with 4 damsels and 2 emeralds?

[tdwyatt]

prolly not, although I don't follow the 1 snail or crab per gallon rule either. A lot will depend on your level of feeding, how mature the tank is, whether the rock and sand came from established systems, and controllable factors like circulation, photoperiod, supplements, temp.

[Fonchy]

I dont follow the 1:1 ratio either. I got a 125 AGA and I have 400 snails but I dont have any hermits. I got a Salty that is about 3"+ long. My lights are on 13 hours a day and I use VHOs. 2 50/50 and 2 actinics.

[hawaii4485]

400 Snails!!! OMG Thats crazy