Blue Legged Hermits....how many?

[timsedwards]

Hi Guys,
Background: everything to do with marine stuff is 10x the price over here, red legged hermits are $10 each and shrimp is $50.
I have found somewhere in Bristol (about 60 miles away) that sells blue legged hermits for about $3.75 each, which is a bargain for over here in England!
The question is, I have a 70g reef and I only have 6 red legs, a few nassarius, 5 turbos or so and a cleaner shrimp - how many blue legs are a good idea?
Thanks guys!
Tim.

 

[timsedwards]

thanks carole,
its about availability, hardly anything else is available, actually when i say nassarius only two survived the substrate change
Could you look at my other thread on international shipping and give some thoughts?
Thanks!
Tim.

 

[jacksonpt]

Nas snails reproduce like crazy, so don't get down just yet. From my experience, they need 2 things to reproduce, good calcium levels, and a place to lay eggs. Mine have always layed their eggs on the glass, in a very high flow area (usually right on/next to a power head or my spray bar).
As for the blue legs... I have had tremendous success with mine. They are much more active than my scarlet hermits are, and much smaller as well. Ideally, I'd say get as many as you can, but those prices are nuts. How are your water parameters? If you water params are showing that you need a larger clean up crew, then go for as many blue legs as you can afford/find. If your levels are good, and you're just looking to bolster your clean-up crew, I'd say start with 15 and go from there. That's basically 1 blueleg for every 5 gallons of water.

 

[timsedwards]

hi guys thanks for the responses,
well no levels are all good (zeros) but algae build up is too much and jsut generally needs a good janitorial crew!
well i only mentioned blue legged because this shop in england hasnt seen red legs for a year and i should feel privaledged to have some apparently! :notsure:
depends on what carole can find for me at her lfs or shipping wise as to what i get i guess..
Tim.