Down with hermits

[uberlink]

Okay, not all hermits. Everything except one nice red legged hermi in my tank, whom I really like and who never causes trouble. But I am getting rid of everyone else, and I am trading them in for more snails. I am sick of them picking at my corals, harassing anything that's trying to eat, and knocking my frags loose.

 

[mrdc]

I've done the same thing. I still have two that are on probabtion. Funny thing is my biggest crab which is 2 - 3 inches never bothers anything! I have plenty of empty shells laying around also, mainly due to snails being killed by crabs. I hate it when a crab kills a snail, takes the shell and then decides it doesn't want it and goes back to it's original shell!

 

[milomlo]

you know I never considered this. I may do this also.
What kind of snails are you gonna get? Will snails eat left over food on the sand like the crabs do?

If there is another alternative to hermits let me know.

 

[lauras]

I have ONLY the Red Reef hermits and I love them... no snail killing, just peacefully do their job

 

[rstiles]

the best snails are the nassarius or the cerith snail as thay are both detritus feeders.and don't die like some that can't right them selfs if thay fall over.

 

[chipmaker]

I prefer the blue legged hermits myself, but I do not really trust any crab no matter what kind it is.......Cerith and Nassarius are some great snails as are astreas......

 

[theappe]

I thinks its funny though when a crab takes the shell of a snail. Its like a hybrid animal with a retarded big shell!

 

[uberlink]

I do like the one red-legged hermit I have. The others were all sold to me as 'blue legs' when I first started my tank. Now that I have seen real blue legged hermits, I no longer believe that. They are just nasty little critters. I have this one poor plate coral that just gets beaten all the time by them. Every time it gets a piece of food, they're on top of him. I have to stand there for five minutes with my arm-length glove on waiting to knock them off of him so he can eat, and they are damaging his fragile tissue. Miserable things.
So I think I'll hang onto the red legged guy and possibly get a few more of them, and otherwise get some more snails. I have astreas now, and I like them very well.