corvettev12ttnos
Member
What do hermit carbs need to survive?? I know algea but what kinda algea and will they kill bristle worms?? and if a snial dies will it eat it??
THANX
THANX
what do...
- Thread starter corvettev12ttnos
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jim672
Member
Hermit crabs need good water conditions...ammonia, nitrites and nitrates within acceptable limits and enough food. As you mentioned they do eat algea. They are scavengers and will eat whatever they find on substrate and rock. Mine try to catch the brine shrimp that get past my fish. Hermits will eat dead snails and can and do kill live snails, that are exposed, if they want their shell for a new home.
Jim
Jim
bluemarlin
Member
Jim is right on. My hermits kill a snail here and there. I don't think its for their shell in my case as I have many empty shells laying around. It seems like they are just hungry. I make sure to add a few pieces of shrimp to the tank about once per week to make sure that the hermits and the coral banded shrimp are full. That way everything leaves everything else alone.
When I feed my fish, you should see the activity on the sand. About 100 hermits come out of all sorts of places and begin scavenging around. Sometimes their movement is more interesting then the fish.
When I feed my fish, you should see the activity on the sand. About 100 hermits come out of all sorts of places and begin scavenging around. Sometimes their movement is more interesting then the fish.
corvettev12ttnos
Member
thanx jim and BlueMarline but do hermits eat hiar algea as well?? and this is my mian resaon for getting some......... but will emerald crabs do a better job then hermits on hiar algea and eatting dead snials and cleaning the top of the sand bed?? and wich are more hardy, emerald or hermits??
ed r
Member
Hair algae is usually the last on most creatures lists to each. Anyone that claims their animals love to eat hair algae is either mistaken or very fortunate. I think you will have to get your nitrate down very low to win the hair algae battle. Crabs may help a little, but they have their own problems. Finding something to eat dead snails should not be necessary. Bristle worms, Nassarius snails, and others are happy to do that. You should not have snails dying in any quantity. Yeah, one can fall on its back and be unable to right itself, or get sucked into a powerhead, but that should not happen often. If your snails are dying, that is an indicator of bad water conditions. Keep checking your ammonia and nitrite. They need to be zero. You can get by with some nitrate (although you will be fighting algae), but you can not get by with measurable ammonia or nitrite.
corvettev12ttnos
Member
Ed when you siad "Crabs may help a little, but they have their own problems." what do mean by that?? like are they hard to take care of or something?
ed r
Member
Crabs, IMO, eat many things in the tank that I want to protect including many types of worms. Some crabs are worse than others, but I don't completely trust any. I had some small blue-legs following my initial cycle. As they grew, they began killing my Nassarius snails to get the larger shells. The crabs also walked over the polyps and corals, frequently annoying them if not damaging them. Some crabs will pick at corals or try to catch fish. At least most small hermits do not do those things. I think controlling the water conditions, specifically nitrate and phosphate, and using some snails will make the use of crabs unnecessary. Others have had better luck with crabs, but I don't think crabs are worth the risk.