cleaner crews: crabs per gallon?

[kris walker]

Hi everyone,
A recent post suggested that there should only be roughly 1 hermit per 50 gal for reef tanks. Is this a commonly followed rule? Do any of you know the reason for such a limit? I have 3 hermits in a 29 gal, and I haven't had any problems with them yet, and there appears to be more than enough food to sustain them.
sam

 

[y2says]

I have 4 med hermits in my 75g f/o and they're doing ok. I feed them frozen shrimp at night about once a week though to make sure they have enough food.

 

[kelly]

Surfin Sam,
Look at the package deals from this site. Either Saltwaterfish.com is wrong or the advice of 1 per 50 gallons is wrong. Most of their packages are around 1 per gallon. Their 10-20 gallon package offers 35 hermits. Their 30-90 gallon package has 50 hermits.
I have over 50 hermits in my tank.

 

[marley]

i always thought you wanted to have a large cleanup crew. i ordered a cleanup crew for a 75 gal tank and i only have a 55 gal tank. Snails and crabs eat up algea and also eat up the food that fish and corals don't eat. That would keep your nitrate levels low. This is what i was told at least.

 

[texasreefrat]

I have about 25 Scarlet legs and 25 Blue legs in my 135, and have for a while, they all seem happy and fed, in fact they seem to be growing at a very fast pace. I do not feed them specifically, just ad a touch more food when feeding the fish, they cleam up the leftovers.

 

[kris walker]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I didn't think that 1 per 50 gallon rule had any real basis behind it.
cheers,
sam

 

[diatom]

Sam~
It looks like I am the lone dissenter. Hermits are not necessary in a reef, as you can find other less agressive creatures to do the same job. Dr. Ron suggests if you must have them (a bit tongue in cheek) that you keep them in their natural density 1 in ever 100-1000 SF of open sand.
Many many people keep them, and many people don't really cake that they kill snails and other animals in their tank. I personally don't see any need for them and don't have any.
HTH
D~

 

[smileyman]

In reality, you don't find a lot of hermits on reefs, they are found more in the sandy parts. I know that the red scarlets aren't as destructive as the blue ones, but you don't really need them. there are certain snails that will do as good a job as hermits and don't harm anything.

 

[dburr]

Sam,That was an article in Jan. Aquarium Fish Mag. by Ron Shimek. He states that they are rarly found on the reef. They are more commonly found in the sandy areas. If kept in numbers they will do alot of damage. He says you wont "notice" the damage unless they are taken out or they they die off and the tank recovers to a more normal situation.
I tend to follow the people who study reefs than people selling the reef.

 

[kris walker]

Hi guys. Thanks for the additional clarity. I didn't know hermits were so rare on reefs. That's pretty interesting. I agree, snails do a great job, in fact IMO even a better one, with algae than hermits. However, it is hard for me to believe that some hermits like scarlet reefers damage the reef. But then again, I probably don't study reefs as hard as this Dr. Ron.
On a similar note, are snails common on a reef? I know there are lots along the sandy or rocky shorelines, but I have no idea about the reefs.
Thanks again,
sam