snail killer?

[kumiko]

in the past week, i have found three of my snails dead. all of them were in the same spot, right behind a piece of live rock. all my levels are fine. the only other "cleaners" i have are a blue leg hermit, a few serpent and brittle stars, and more snails. but i also have this crab that came in with the live rock, and i have seen him inside the rock where the snails were. i posted about him a while ago, but no one really replied. he's only about an inch wide, and he's bright red. all red. i'm assuming it's him, but is there any way this tiny blue leg hermit could be killing them?

 

[jonthefb]

i dunno, the bright red guy would be my guess as the killer. It sounds like it could be a coral crab. The majority of the time these guys live peacefully in their host corals, but when they get detatched from their host, they take shelter in rock and are commonly found in our aquaria. I had a problem with one of these guys who was about 2 inches wide and he was snatching wrasses and gobys right out of the water column. I have no doubt that they would do the same toward snails.
good luck
jon

 

[jacksonpt]

it's possible that it's the blue. I doubt he's hunting them down and killing them though. Blues (like most hermits) are scavengers. I suspect that the snail fell and landed on its shell. Then, before it could right itself, the blue found the inverted snail and decided he needed a snack. I've seen my blues do that before, but never go out and hunt down a snail.
The bright red one that you have... does he look anything like this:
<a href="http://taylor.chatkill.com/reef/pics/scarlethermit1.jpg" target="_blank">

</a>
That's a scarlet reef hermit. Typically considered harmless in a reef. If that's what you've got, I would suspect the blue is the guilty party, not the red.
If not, does this looks more like your guy:
<a href="http://taylor.chatkill.com/reef/pics/unknown.jpg" target="_blank">

</a>
I don't know what that guy is... he was sold to me as a scarlet reef hermit, but if you notice the differences, they are not the same critter. The second one is much darker, has much broader claws, and has a little white at the tip of his legs. No one seems to know what excactly it is, but a few people have commented on their mean streak. Mine has been pretty peaceful so far, but there are accounts of this critter being pretty aggressive.
HTH.

 

[mlm]

I think he is talking about a regular crab not a hermit crab.

 

[mlm]

The snails may have just drowned when they fell on there back and then the blue leg ate it. Try some trochus snails. They can get up when they fall on there back.

 

[infinsable]

I had a Niger Trigger who would go around and pick up the snails and drop them in the sand on their backs, There wasnt much I could do.

 

[carrie1429]

Instead of the crabs it is possible that it could be a bristle worm. Just an opinion.

 

[stupid_naso]

I do think it's your blue hermits. They, hermits, are known for their habits on killing snails to get them new 'outfit', as many people on this board usually say. As they grow they need new shells, that's why you need to provide them with empty shells in the tank. Also blue hermits are known to be more aggressive than the reds. Well that's now always the reason for killing the snails, if they feel like it, they'll kill them, and get their shells.

 

[kris walker]

Yea, I agree with Carrie to a degree. It could be something that has made its home in your LR next to the stack of empty shells. I don't know if a brisstle worm could have done it, but there are definitely things that can hide out in LR that could have.
sam

 

[fshhub]

if all the snails are in the same spot, i doubt they fell, and whatever, and i also doubt it is a bristle worm, the worms will eat dead snails, but will not drag the shells back to the same spot(and i find it hard to believe that all 3 wound up in the same spot), and even the hermits, if they killed them(maybe) but i also don't think they would drag them to the same spot either, the only hting i could figure is something in the rock, with a den in that area, certain crabs, and mantis shrimp will eat by their dens, what i would do is go hunting at night, after all the lights are out and use a flashlight with a red lense and see what i could find, my point being that somethign is moving the snails, or all of them are dying at the same location(that is odd)
HTH and good luck

 

[sinner's girl]

Hey just an idea about them all falling in the same spot, is it possible your water flow is knocking them off the glass when they get to close? If they are under the flow of water that might be what's happening.
My b/f thinks that's why we now have 3 dead snails in the same place (crabs don't climb glass, so we ruled them out...though they did enjoy the meal- i haven't seen them in the snail's shells, which we have do have a few empty ones in the tank).

 

[rhonda]

We have occcasionally found crabs that came with our live rock at night while looking in with a flashlight. These little suckers will eat anything! We have lost of corals this way, some of our snails, though, tip over easy and die. I have learned to get the little snails and keep NO crabs in my tank. We have taken chuncks of our live rock and picke through it to get to these crabs, they were deadly in our tank

 

[aczmey]

I remember getting one of the bad, bad crabs with my life rock. It had hairy legs and dark brown claws. My hermit crabs and snails were disappearing very fast, and the protein skimmer was way too active. Than I seen that crab going out of its rock grabbing a snail and taking it back to it hiding place, hour later I seen the that snail dead(quarter way eaten). I kept the crab for another 3-4 days and was observing its behavior, but he had to go, too expensive to keep. It killed few few other small hermits. I took it back to lfs and fed it to their big puffer. I think that these crabs nature is to hunt even if they can’t eat it all.

-Solution to aiptasia, killer crabs, mantis shrimp, or even bad water quality -DYNOMITE