what kind of hermits?

gharner

gharner

Member
several months ago i had a problem with my blueleg hermits attacking my snails, so i removed them from the tank. without the hermits though i have noticed more sediment, ect on my sand (i guess ill need some more nass. snails as well
) what kind of hermit will do a decent job with the cleanup but wont kill my snails???
 
clay12340

clay12340

Member
Hermits require snail shells to live. If any hermit sees a shell that looks like a nice fit they'll try it on. If there is a snail living in it it nearly always turns out badly for the snail. Admittedly some species are more aggressive than others, but any of them can kill your snails.
Adding spare empty shells sometimes helps the problem, but you'll never get to zero dead snails long term. My blue leg has nabbed a couple of my snails, but all in all it has been pretty timid. I've also heard that the scarlet reef hermits are the most peaceful, but they get a bit larger than the dwarf hermits will.
 
R

reefernana

Guest
I have a red legged, a scarlet, a yellow-tipped (which has blue legs) and an emerald crab along with 50+ illyanasa snails. When I introduced the snails to my tank my hermits and the crab inspected and cleaned them one by one but never tried to eat them. Some of these snails have fairly decent size shells, too, but the hermits never tried to get theirs. I did find some awesome shells at the Dollar Tree of all places, boiled them and threw a few in and my hermits are now sporting their new digs. My red legged is the most aggressive and my scarlet is very peaceful and much daintier. All in all, they all get along fine, including with my peppermint shrimp.
 
rbrockm1

rbrockm1

Active Member
putting a shell bone yard in the back of the tank behind the rocks helps too. i have two of them
 
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