Hermit crabs vs. Snails

[staci]

Hi there..When we started our 55g in april we bought a package of cleaners from an online source. Came with hermit crabs, they seem to do a good job of keeping the rocks looking nice. However I have xtra shells in there yet every time I had some snails they kill them. I havent even noticed that they are using the shells. Seems they are killing them just to kill them. Any suggestions? would I be better off just taking the crabs out?? I would like some snails in my tank but at this rate..I now have a 120g so I thought that the crabs and the snails could coexist, but that doesnt seem to be happening..

 

[nycbob]

u can try getting different kind of snails, either the realty big one or the small one. that way, the shells r eithe too big or way to small for the hermits to use.

 

[donald]

What kind of hermits and snails do you have. I have blue legs and scarlets and the scarlets are much more docile than the blues. I also have snails, Astrea Snails mostly and I had one die naturaly and no one would eat him, I had to take it out myself. There are alot of sites that sell hermits that are very aggressive and not reef safe, you take a chance with any crab but some are proven to be better than others.

 

[worldwide zoo]

As stated, be carefull as to the species you get. Also, if you don't feed your tank enough the hermits will look for food. Also it's always a good idea to keep empty snail and hermit shells in the tank. some hermits are just psychotic.

 

[staci]

I just must have the psychotic ones then..lol

 

[ghiggi]

I have Blue Leg Hermits, Ilyanassa Snails and Astrea Snails. The hermits have killed about 95% of the Ilyanassa but haven't touched the Astrea. So it may just be the type of snails and hermits you have. Like already suggested, try a different type of snail.
Good luck,

 

[petjunkie]

You sure they killed the ilyanassas? They can't survive at reef temps.

 

[earlybird]

I've concluded that blue legs are reef safe and are by far the best workers but will eat snails from time to time regardless of extra shells. They don't have any morals and if they come across a snail that they might want to kill him for his nike's. I've just succombed to buying astraea and other snails as needed.