There is EVIL in my tank!!!!

saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Well, I didn't know what to make of it at first but a few days ago I saw a hermit crab (that was a hitchhiker in the tank set up, I did not purchase him when I got my clean up crew and I know this because I bought 3 red legs and 3 blue legs and he has black legs) wrestling around with another of the blue leg crabs ... he yanked his arse RIGHT out of his shell and the poor thing was trying desperately to get back in and get away from him ... so I reached in with my scraper and separated the two and he scrambled to get back in and get away.
A day or so later, the same thing ... with the same crab (he also has bands of pearl on his shell so he is easy to spot in a crowd)!! I was pissed! So I did it again. Now around this time, I am also noticing that a few of my trochus snails have DISAPPEAERED ... I had purchased 6 and had an empty shell laying in a corner. Strange, right? I also have found two separate blue crab carcasses in the tank as well. They were my favorite to watch.

So fast forward to last night ... I get up in the middle of the night and make a stop to the tank like I usually do and there's a peppermint shrimp with a trochus shell and he's pulling frantically at the snail. Now whether he is the original demise, I don't know but he was sure trying to get at whatever was left and there was SOMETHING left inside the shell (not a whole, live snail tho) ... so I pulled the shell out and went back to bed.
I go to see whats going on this morning a little while ago, I look and one of the shrimp looks as if he has a nassarius snail stuck on his foot so I try to help get it off and he backs away, of course ... then I just watch and decide to let nature take its course and he proceeds to now spin the shell around with his legs like he's looking for something or definitely at lease picking on someone who is NOT his size and I used my scraper to startle him and he tossed it and ran away.
AT THE EXACT SAME TIME I LOOK OVER ... and the playground bully black leg evil hermit crab is beating up the only blue hermit crab I have left - yanked him out of the shell AGAIN (I will say, they are so cute when they are

[hr]
without their shells, lol) ... so I pulled his arse out of the tank and dropped him into a cup for the time being. I almost flushed him right then and there but thought better of it about 5 feel from the bathroom.

IS ANY OF THIS NORMAL???? I'm shocked at the behavior of my tank "mates" ... and upset that I've lost so much of my CUC ... someone is sure cleaning up alright ... any thoughts??
 
kingsmith

kingsmith

Member
I know hermits will attack snails and probably other hermits for there shells, so you might want to get empties if you dont have them, I don't know maybe you have something else there seems to be an awful lot of death.
I'll take any aggresive hitchhikers you dont wont though
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Welcome to nature! Tis what happens in the wide open spaces of the ocean, and happens even more in our little glass boxes. Available food, territory, and just plain evil all enter into the dynamics that is a saltwater tank.
My opinion is and always will be, correct or not, that CRABS ARE EVIL!!!
The only ones I have in my tank are a few red legged reef hermits. I have banished every crab I see to either the LFS, or the water slide to the ocean located in a certain room in my house.
Just my opinions
 
stevedave08

stevedave08

Member

Originally Posted by SaltWaterKitty
http:///forum/post/3182934
Well, I didn't know what to make of it at first but a few days ago I saw a hermit crab (that was a hitchhiker in the tank set up, I did not purchase him when I got my clean up crew and I know this because I bought 3 red legs and 3 blue legs and he has black legs) wrestling around with another of the blue leg crabs ... he yanked his arse RIGHT out of his shell and the poor thing was trying desperately to get back in and get away from him ... so I reached in with my scraper and separated the two and he scrambled to get back in and get away.
A day or so later, the same thing ... with the same crab (he also has bands of pearl on his shell so he is easy to spot in a crowd)!! I was pissed! So I did it again. Now around this time, I am also noticing that a few of my trochus snails have DISAPPEAERED ... I had purchased 6 and had an empty shell laying in a corner. Strange, right? I also have found two separate blue crab carcasses in the tank as well. They were my favorite to watch.

So fast forward to last night ... I get up in the middle of the night and make a stop to the tank like I usually do and there's a peppermint shrimp with a trochus shell and he's pulling frantically at the snail. Now whether he is the original demise, I don't know but he was sure trying to get at whatever was left and there was SOMETHING left inside the shell (not a whole, live snail tho) ... so I pulled the shell out and went back to bed.
I go to see whats going on this morning a little while ago, I look and one of the shrimp looks as if he has a nassarius snail stuck on his foot so I try to help get it off and he backs away, of course ... then I just watch and decide to let nature take its course and he proceeds to now spin the shell around with his legs like he's looking for something or definitely at lease picking on someone who is NOT his size and I used my scraper to startle him and he tossed it and ran away.
AT THE EXACT SAME TIME I LOOK OVER ... and the playground bully black leg evil hermit crab is beating up the only blue hermit crab I have left - yanked him out of the shell AGAIN (I will say, they are so cute when they are

[hr]
without their shells, lol) ... so I pulled his arse out of the tank and dropped him into a cup for the time being. I almost flushed him right then and there but thought better of it about 5 feel from the bathroom.

IS ANY OF THIS NORMAL???? I'm shocked at the behavior of my tank "mates" ... and upset that I've lost so much of my CUC ... someone is sure cleaning up alright ... any thoughts??
I've had all types of hermits and snails. It's natural for them though, if they're hungry. Some of them will just naturally be

[hr]
wether you feed them or not, but most of the time it's hunger. I have to ask, do you put any food for your shrimp or crabs in your tank or do you only feed your fish?Also, how big is your tank and what fish are there in it?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

Clean up crew is just that, they clean up. I have never fed the CUC.
They will fight each other, and they do kill for a shell. So get a pack of 50 and let them alone. I can’t imagine guarding the critters with a scraper to stop them from fighting.
If the critter was sick and dying, well, the rest of the CUC won’t wait for complete death before they begin cleaning. I know EEEEEWW.
 
luvmyreef

luvmyreef

Active Member
Well, I keep blue legged hermit crabs and snails in my 75 together. Never had a problem with them attacking anything. If you have enough extra shells for the crabs, they should not kill your snails to take theirs. Although, I have been told to never mix red and blue legged crabs...they will fight.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by luvmyreef
http:///forum/post/3182958
Well, I keep blue legged hermit crabs and snails in my 75 together. Never had a problem with them attacking anything. If you have enough extra shells for the crabs, they should not kill your snails to take theirs. Although, I have been told to never mix red and blue legged crabs...they will fight.

I also keep extra shells. I have red, scarlet, blue, and emerald legged crabs...they all are fine in my 90g None have black legs.
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Thank you all for the comments ...
To answer SteveDave08's questions, it's a 24g Aquapod ... I only have a Royal Gramma.
I also only feed fish food so far because when I feed the fish foof, the shrimp come out and eat it so I figured that was sufficient. I guess I'm about to hear that it's not? And that's ok too ... I don't want them hungry PERIOD regardless of going into attack mode or not. I'm now taking instruction on what else to feed the shrimp ... the floor is open.
KingSmith - I think you told me once where you are in CT but right now in the midst of the carnage, my memory fails me, lol. If you want to come to Norwalk for this guy, I will gladly hold him for you!
I never realized there was so much involved with the lower region ... I have been so careful to feed the fish, test my water levels, top off with unsalted water, etc ... but you are all right ... it's just nature.
kat
 
luvmyreef

luvmyreef

Active Member
Must of been some bad advice for me then, glad they can be mixed because I really like the red ones too. as far as any black legged hermits....I only know of zebra ones and sometimes they can look solid black. my local pet store has them for sale. but I dunno??
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Originally Posted by luvmyreef
http:///forum/post/3182958
Well, I keep blue legged hermit crabs and snails in my 75 together. Never had a problem with them attacking anything. If you have enough extra shells for the crabs, they should not kill your snails to take theirs. Although, I have been told to never mix red and blue legged crabs...they will fight.
Interesting on two counts since the LFS sold them all to me at the same time (there's a shock) and there is no issue between the reds and the blues, just that black one.
Thanks,
kat
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Originally Posted by luvmyreef
http:///forum/post/3182965
Must of been some bad advice for me then, glad they can be mixed because I really like the red ones too. as far as any black legged hermits....I only know of zebra ones and sometimes they can look solid black. my local pet store has them for sale. but I dunno?? %%
His legs have speckles on them ... but now that I think of it, could just be the blood of all of his victims, LOL just kidding.
they are def black with speckles.
kat
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Ok, just found a few pics of him from my nano tank build thread, back from when I was proud to own him, lol.
guess the speckles aren't all red ... they seem to be a white/cream color here ...
i named him jack ... as in jacka$$ or jack the ripper, lol


don't mind the pretty green decorations, lol

kat
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member

It looks like a perfectly normal bluelegged hermit to me.

Get some extra shells and the war should subside.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by SaltWaterKitty
http:///forum/post/3182978
So now I see why places sell empty shells ... hmmmmmmm ... always wondered why someone would buy empties, lol.
kat

Be sure to boil them before use. Hermits can't grow their own shells, so as they grow, they need bigger shells to house their bigger butts...LOL
Deb
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3182976

It looks like a perfectly normal bluelegged hermit to me.

Get some extra shells and the war should subside.
really??
I thought the blues were like stark blue ... like the two in the middle of this pic ...
guess they can vary.
I will DEF be getting some empties ... and soon..
 
luvmyreef

luvmyreef

Active Member
My blues look like the ones you just posted. None of mine have red on them like the above posted one. Try adding the bigger empty shells, and if he keeps giving you trouble....throw him out or give him away...
 
browniebuck

browniebuck

Active Member
I WAS totally against crabs, then I had an outbreak of cyano and couldn't get rid of it on the rocks (got rid of it on the sand perfectly fine). I then got more hermits and my cyano was gone within a couple weeks (along with water changes, testing, and feeding changes), but I knew that the hermits were helping because they were always on the rocks.
And...don't be fooled, some hermits would much rather have a meal BEFORE moving into their hew homes...and have to get rid of the current inhabitant of said new home, which means a delicious helping of escargot or hermit crablegs for the hermit.
 
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