How many hermit crabs do i need

[terencewu]

Hello.
So my tank is now 5 weeks old. nitrate nitrites at 0. PH is coasting at 8.
I had lots of brown algaen then it turned gree, which i thought was neat.
I just bougt 5 hermit crabs and 5 snails. all my algae was gone in one day (disappointed).
Do i have too may hermit crabs?
14 gallon nano.
14 ilbs live rock.
5 crabs 5 snails.
no fish no corals.

 

[nycbob]

it sounds about right. its always better to start off with a few cleanup crews, and adjust from there.

 

[nanomantis]

The rule of thumb is generally one cleaner per gallon.

 

[aquaguy24]

imo u don't need any...they end up killing ur snails for shells and food anyway..

 

[fau8]

The rule is 1 per gallan, but I too would stick with the snails. The crabs are always crawling over coral and closing them up.

 

[spanko]

IMO ZERO. They are opportunistic evil creatures.

 

[terencewu]

thanks everyine. i think i will reduce crabs

 

[tennisball]

hold up before you do that, crabs are very usfull as they clean things that snails wont. i like to keep several types of snails and herimt crabs. buy a pack of empty shell to help the hemit crabs. the people above were saying that the hermit crabs are killing snails for shell but really they were because the didnt take proper care of the hermits. i would also add one emrald crab if you can with you fish selection.
buy sails for glass and rock cleaning and some for sand turning as they are diff.

 

[fishkid13]

I keep about 20 hermits in my tank and have about 5 snails, and some more babys. They do kill snails,but it just depends if they get the chance to catch them or not. My snail stay on the glass and on certain parts of the rockwork. I would leave it how it is for now and see how it goes. You can aways change it. Hope this helps.

 

[lauremf2002]

I think it also depends on the type of hermits. I have blueleg hermits that seem pretty harmless. They are so small i dont think they could do anything to your average snail. I also have a couple of scarlet hermits which are bigger, but worthless imo as they do nothing and barely move most of the time. I know that some green hermits are pretty mean and will steal shells and what not, so i would steer clear of those.

 

[mudplayerx]

One hermit crab per gallon is a good target number. They will not turn into horrible creatures that bother your corals either . They are like any other creature and go towards food when they smell it.
To avoid them bothering your corals during feeding time just put a piece of seafood in the tank to keep them busy. Push a toothpick through a piece of thawed, raw shrimp and stick the toothpick into the sand. The hermits will flock to it. About an hour after the corals are finished eating, just remove the toothpick and bait.
ps- bravo on waiting the 5 weeks before adding any corals/fish to your tank. Patience is a very good quality to have in this hobby and you are already a leg up on many other new hobbyists.