Blue leg VS. Scarlets

[erozfish]

Question for everyone - what is everyone's opinion on these 2 species of hermit. I've heard different things. I know they both are good, but that some say the blue legs will compete with the scarlets. What are your experiences with both? Which are the better crab? Any thoughts? One type or the other, or mixed? I'm getting ready to order some, so I just wanted some input. While I'm at it, what about the ratio of cerith to turbo? I have a couple of Mexican Trochus, so I'm gonna order some cerith and astreas, but am not sure of how many of each for a 30 long tank. Thanks for all your help everyone.

 

[wamp]

The blue-legs are good for getting into cracks and tight spaces but are some mean little boogers!

 

[blueface]

I've heard that the two will fight & kill each other if mixed. I have scarlet hermits now & one had blue legs. The blue legs are all gone. I think the scarlets killed them!!!

 

[erozfish]

Thanks for the comments everyone, but I think I'm more confused now! Anyone else give me their opinions? I want to order this week. I was going to get about 10 of each, but now I'm not sure what to do. My one book says that blue legs are best for hair algae, and cyno bacteria, so I might just go with them. Any more suggests/or experience with either would be greatly appreciated!
THANKS!

 

[vibe]

i have 13 hermit crabs in my tank. 12 blue legged, and one scarlet. i havent had any problems. except for one of my blue leggeds seems to latch onto another blue legged. it just looks like they like each other tho. both speicies are good. if your unsure, go with all blue legged.

 

[pmauro]

I think my blue legs are breeding, I have discovered about 20 very tiny blue leggs they are not quite twice the size of this icon and I know they didn't come withte batch I bought from SWF.com.

 

[vibe]

lol, thats pretty cool though. but maybe they came on some of the rock if u bought any recently. if not, then they are breeding and you got lucky

 

[tahoe ocean]

I have a mix of both, but am partial to the bluelegs for their looks. I have never seen either species fighting or picking on the snails, but they are still small and as they grow things may change. I have added many empty shells, so as they become needed they will be there and the hermits will not have to pick on the snails.

 

[shmeeb]

this is sort of related: how many blue legs would you guys put into a 55 gal? also is it necessary to give them algea sheets, or do they get enough food from foraging?

 

[nacl-h2o]

I prefer scarlets. There less aggressive.

 

[pmauro]

I haven't added any new rock so they must be getting friendly, my first new captive bread critters.

 

[pbuck]

I would reccomend you visit www.garf.org and look for their reef janitors. They will show you a good mix of hermits that will do well in a reef tank.

 

[erozfish]

Thanks for all the input guys. I see a mix opinion, but it looks like the blue legs are just getting a bad rap. I'm going to put plenty of extra shells in when I get them, so they should be OK. Besides, the blue legs are half the price of the scarlets, so I can get more, but I still will probably get some scarlets for variety. As for the last post about www.garf.org - I checked there, and that's the site I got scolded for mentioning! I stay loyal to here - I'm going to order this week. One last request - any opinions on the snails? I have 2 mexican turbos, and was going to get some cerith, and some astreas. As long as I have the turbos, would I be better off with just 20 cerith for a 30 long tank? And one more thing, I was going to get a serpeant star - any luck with these guys? Thanks for all your help - this site and message board has been a great help!

 

[dindi]

Blue legs are nasty, I wish I never bought them. I have scarlet legs in one tank and blues in the other. The blue legs attack and kill my snails even though I provided them with larger shells from the get go. I have had to knock them off my cats paw coral more times than I would like to admit. The good thing is when you feed they swarm the area of insertion and are easily caught. Won't EVER buy them again!