Question about crabs

[ohaverd]

So I have a medium sized green hermit that I swear every time i look in the tank has a different shell on his back. This leads me to believe he may be shell jacking my snails as I see less and less of them on my glass in the morning. He is the only crab I have, so if I must I'll make him a refugium resident.

 

Am I just being paronoid?

 

And are the smaller blue legged type of crabs safer for the snails?

[Der ABT]

hermits dont grow their own shells they steal them.....

[smallreef]

yep... he is probably killing snails and stealing their shells... especially if he does not like any of the shells sitting around.... I usually put in twice as many empty shells as i have hermits...though it does not always help,lol

[Spelter]

Where can you get empty shells? I also try to get the LFS to toss in afew but it would be nice to just order a handfull.

[Decadence]

I would recommend getting a melanurus wrasse. They love the taste of crabs.

[ohaverd]

ya I guess the debate is whether to just go crabless or not...

[basser9]

Small sallylightfoot crabs are great as are green/red mitrax but hermits to me are old news.

[Spelter]

I would recommend getting a melanurus wrasse. They love the taste of crabs.

 

I have a melanurus, he only eats the crabs if you forget to feed him

[Decadence]

I just got one and I think I am down to 2-3 hermits. Luckily he has not gone after my acro crabs yet.

[PotomacBoater]

my 3 biggest hermits (2" shells) were banished to the sump

the only crabs left in my display are much smaller hermits (3/4" shells)

and some emeralds (they won't steal shells, but I am still missing a few small fish, so ...)

[treesprite]

Emerald, aka mithrax, crabs sometimes pick polyps off of sos, and sometimes lay in wait in the little holes the little fish like to go in.... I don't trust them at all.

[jimlin]

i hate hermits.

[LCDRDATA]

Where can you get empty shells? I also try to get the LFS to toss in afew but it would be nice to just order a handfull.

Reefcleaners has small ones for $.07 and medium/large ones for twice that; Reefs2go is more, but they have a mixed lot of 100 for $25. If you've got larger hermits, Michael's (the craft store) periodically has bags of mixed empty shells (not all of which are crab-suitable) for decorating at about $8 a bag, if I'm remembering correctly, although I boil those to make sure they're clean before they go in the tank. I think most LFS have at least some as well.