Who's the culprit?

nate213

nate213

Member
I think someone is eating my hermits and nassarius snails. I have had 10 nass. snails & 15-20 hermits for the last 8-months. I have noticed in the last 2 weeks that I am down to 1-2 hermits and cant seem to find any snails. Everything else in my reef is thriving and water parameters, temp ect. are within range. My stocklist is follows:
2 Percula clowns
3 Chromis
1 Redlip blenny
1 Jawfish
1 Kole tang
2 Emerald crabs
1 Cleaner shrimp
5 Peppermint shrimp
1 Serpent Starfish
One of the hermits is much larger than the rest and has been in the tank for years, but I have never seen him fight with the others. Right now he is the primary suspect, but I was also thinking maybe the starfish? Any other ideas?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
It is unlikely, IMO to be the serpent.
Snails quite possibly are the hermits, unless you have other shells for them.
Do you have a pic of the bigger hermit?
How often do you feed the serpentstar? What color is it?
Also, any recent water changes? Use of copper or other meds? Can you confirm your specific gravity reading at an LFS? What is it?
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
Do you look for the snorkels on your nass snails often? I have a couple that going missing for weeks on end, then one day will burst out of the sand like a surfacing submarine at feeding time.
Hermits can go nocturnal too.
If you really think they're all gone, my guess is that the hermits went 'king of the hill', and the snails were just innocent victims.
 
joe____17

joe____17

Member
Originally Posted by gmann1139
http:///forum/post/2916927
Do you look for the snorkels on your nass snails often? I have a couple that going missing for weeks on end, then one day will burst out of the sand like a surfacing submarine at feeding time.
.
Haha i love ti when they do it.
 
vinny p

vinny p

Member
3 of my nas snails went missing for 3 weeks, then randomly appeared one day. although my hermits are always around.
2 Emerald crabs
1 Cleaner shrimp
5 Peppermint shrimp
^i can deff take these off your list.
 
nate213

nate213

Member
I moved the bigger hermit to our other tank just as a precaution.
The serpent star is probably 7" across (outstretched) and is dark green / black. I dont feed him specifically, but when I feed the fish he generally comes out of hiding and grabs some of the bigger chunks.
No meds, no copper, I never treat this tank. Specific gravity is confirmed at 1.026 with refractometer.
I know most of the nass. snails are dead, because of the empty shells. I had figured that the hermit probably killed them, until the hermits started disappearing.
 
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