Did I kill my crabs??

[sillyqueen]

Hi everyone..this board is a lifesaver and I thank you all!
I got a small clean up crew the other day..(as money will allow) and when I got home the bag with the crabs (blue legged hermits) had leaked...very little water. I acclimated anyways..kind of..I wanted to get them in ASAP...can anyone tell me the acclimation process for crabs and snails?
I cant find them now...also..are they supposed to be SO tiny?? (maybe about 1/4 inch)
I have a 55 with minimal L/R, 80# live sand...0 on all parameters...LOTS of Diatoms..Ive only been up and running 11 days but I think Ive cycled. (water and filter media from an established tank, Cycle)
I have more crabs and snails ordered and the things are expensive and besides,,I dont want to kill the poor things!
Tang Q as well...he was given to me, a real pretty Yellow tang..he hates me! He swims and eats and has a grand time until I approach the tank..then he hides, breathes heavily..Ive had him a few days and he gets along with my "sacrificial" Damsels just fine.
And..(sorry) do I need to worry about adding some kind of mineral supplement?
One more Q..and this one is stupid. The crabs and snails...inverts, right? (told you it was dumb) So...does this make it a reef tank? (which I dont want yet). Some meds and such say remove all inverts, safe for fish only...does this mean Id have to try to catch all those little buggers (coral banded shrimp as well)?
Jeepers..sorry about the novel..thank you!

 

[flydan]

Hey,
Crabs, shrimp, and snails are very sensitive to changes in salinity so need to be acclimated very slowly. Float the bag for 15 minutes to get the temps the same, then get a shot glass and pour one glass of water from your tank to the bag. Wait 10-15 minutes and do it again. Do this until you've added about 1/3 to what was in the bag. Then pour out half the water in the bag into a bucket. (Never add water from the bag into your tank!) Then start adding tank water via the shot glass as before until its back to its original level. Then net out the snails, crabs or whatever and put them in your tank. Again, don't pour the water from the bag into your tank. A trick I use is to hold a big net over a bucket and pour everything through the net. The water goes in the bucket and all the critters go in the net and into the tank. Also, when putting snails in, make sure they are upright since if they land on their backs they can't right themselves.
As far as the size of the hermits, that is typical and not a problem. You'll want to add a variety of sizes of empty shells to your tank so they can upsize to larger quarters as they grow.
Sorry for the real long answer but you sound like you don't have a lot of experience with the hobby yet. Where ever you get your livestock from should give you instructions on acclimating stuff. I know this site does when they ship things and my lfs does too.
Dan'l

 

[sillyqueen]

Dan~~
Thanks. I didnt realize they were so sensitive! I think I see a few now...
My desire is to get my cleanup crew, and then at some point get a Dwarf Lion..I think theyre gorgeous! PLEAE dont tell me I cant have one..lol.
Thanks again..