Blueleg or Scarlet

brianrish

Member
I'm in the process of compiling my clean up crew and was wondering if it is better to get Blueleg hermits or Scarlet? I have heard that if you get both they will sometimes fight to get each other's shells. I also heard Bluelegs will attack snails.
Is one "calmer" than the other? I want my clean up crew to play well with others...
 
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sebae0

Guest
i like the scarlets better, less aggresive imo than the blue legs.
 

logan15

Active Member
i would go with scarlets theyre less aggresive and blue legs are known to kill snails and take theyre sheels and kill other inverts theyre the violent hermits
 

blue dew

Member
I have to agree on the scarlets being less aggresive, at least in my tank. Mine just seem to sleep when the lights are on, then do their work at night.
However, my two Hawaiian Zebra hermits are the terrorists of my tank. Watched one chase down a nice size Astrea snail 3 times (I kept trying to save the snail), flip him over and dig him out. He's now wearing the astrea shell as his new home.
Also, I've got two blue legs and they've been pretty mellow so far. From the posts I've read on this board, a lot of folks seem to have different outcomes with their hermits. I do plan on getting a few more scarlets once my algae gets to the point that they're needed. Don't know if this helps or not, just another input.
Dew
 

carorella88

Member
I actually have 5 of each, zebra, scarlet and bluelegs. no problems yet. none of them have bothered my snail yet and they all are good eaters! but they are small small and i have a pretty big tank considering their size soo.. Maybe just get zebras and scarlets though.
 

leviwin

Member
I have both in my tank. The blue-legged kicked a scarlet out of it shell once, but it ended up finding a better shell and the scarlet took it back over. Other than that I have had no problems with them. The scarlet tend to do almost nothing during the day but sleep, while the bluelegged are much more fun to watch. I also find it very helpful in keep lots of extra shells in the bottom of the tank so they don't end up killing my snails.
 

goldrush

Member
Diversity. Every member of the clean up crew is important. They all have their chores. Some clean windows(glass),some clean funiture(rocks),some clean floors(sand).Sure they scrap once in a while,but isn't what we are trying to maintain a microcosm of nature? Just hope they don't unionize.
 
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