WHY are my scarlet hermits dying!?

[regaldragon]

Okay, so now I have scarlet hermit crab legs scattered all around my tank and 9 empty shells. SOMEONE is eating my scarlet hermits (and maybe even my bluelegs?!) I have 3 peppermint shrimps, two emerald crabs .... and my number one suspect is my Sally Lightfoot. Everything I read about the SL said they were peaceful and ate only algae... but this one likes to chase my shrimp around and knock snails and hermits off my live rock. Now, I haven't SEEN anyone ripping my hermits out of their shells, but besides the numerous leg scattered on the sand, I've found two bodies which quickly disappear when I'm not around.
Unfortunately, I only realized that there were more than 2 hermits dead this morning - the day after my 6 day guarantee ran out.... so no luck getting anything back here...
Any help would be wonderful, and I am prepared to have to sell or even give away something if it means everything else in my tank will be safe.
Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[regaldragon]

Oh sorry - forgot to mention that there aren't any fish in my tank at all.

 

[michaeltx]

might be the sally they will eat anything but mainly algae.
also it might be the hermits themselfs do you have different shells in there that they can move into if not when they think its time for a new home they will evect the one thats living in their dream home and then turn around and eat them.
so there are the only 2 things that I can think of my saly doesnt bother the hermits or snails other than knocking them off occasionally but never tried to consume them even though its not immpossible for that to happen.
Mike

 

[fishtanknewbi]

Sorry to hear about your scarlet's but i would say i could be a good chance it is your emerald crabs!!!!!!! They can get really aggressive! Keep an eye on them.

 

[leboeuf]

its the emeralds!!!! I just returned three hugh ones for store credit after they started feeding on my hermits, snails. Thye get big and run out of algae to supress the hunger. Thye teamed up and were killing lots of stuff before I figured out what was happening. Since then (two weeks ago) I haven't experienced the same problems.

 

[rickster]

Horse poopoo,
Dont listen to amatuers. They are killing each other off for the shells! Once you get started on the "cleaner" packages it is hard to resist. The blue legs will fight the reg-legs, and vice versa....all for the BIGGEST available shell. Keep many shells in the tank if you want to keep em alive. I personally use the hermit crabs to keep my water clean...dont care much who wins.
R

 

[fshhub]

both are good answers, some emeralds can be aggresssive, esp the ones without the white elbows
BUT hermits do that often too, as mentioned.

 

[lionstorm]

i agree with leBoeuf, its the emerald crabs. My sally light foots never hurt anyone and my hermits (scarlet, blue leg, AND zebra hermits) never went on a killing spree for shells. Gotta be the emeralds. Evict them from your tank and fast!

 

[rickster]

I have a baby emerald (tank born), and I have yet to see them interfere with warfare that goes on at lower levels.
R

 

[fshhub]

the hermits will kill each other for shells, esp the blue legs. I have bought hermits and with them being the only thing in the bag, get them to the tank to find several ripped to shreds, kinda insures my belief on whether they will or will not.

 

[lionstorm]

he has scarlet hermits though and i've never heard of hermit crabs completely wiping each other out like this, you are saying that one hermit crab killed all of the others? sounds a little far fetched you'd think a crab wouldn't need to go through 9 shells to find the right one...

 

[rickster]

DO NOT put shreds into your tank without your witness, especially at the low end of sea life (hermit crabs). watch every little thing that goes into the water and you can GROW a tank. The main point being W A T E R.
R

 

[fshhub]

not completely sure, but.........
I do know they will compete for shells(have witnessed, teh fighing between them)
I also know that my last order from here had contained 10 scarlets.
Only 4 made it alive, the others in pices. Within a few more weeks, inside the tank, I had 2 then, 1. I cannot say it was the scarlets or blue legs in the tank, but in the shipping, it could only have been the other scarlets.

 

[rickster]

I order online form here regularly. I don't think that ordering "clean up" crews more than twice a year is necessary...although, when first starting these are the easiest animals to keep...they are lower on the "food" chain. But teach your children not to get attached to animals whose maximum life expectancy is only 6 months.
R

 

[fshhub]

6 months????????????/
what are you doing?!
I have 4 tanks that i take care of, adn the youngest being 1.5 yrs
and have not had to repurchase clean up yet.
those were the only things I lost. and after restocking them, with only 5, they are all over a year old.
occassionally I will buy a few sanils, but out of 30 or 50(depending on the tank), buying only 2 or 5 a yr fo ALL 4 tanks, i have to say that most are yrs old.

 

[rickster]

This is the kind of responses that I respect and love. It is not the water quality, but the "meat" that is getting replaced. I moved my "meat" eaters into a 4th tank........you know the eels and puffers and such......thank you for honest responses.
R

 

[fishtanknewbi]

amateurs that is hittin below the belt for a peppermint such as your self. I was just givin some advice rickster. Just relax there are very few experts on this board. JUST TRYING TO GIVE SOME FRIENDLY ADVICE JUST RELAX AND ENJOY THE KNOWLEDGE.