zebra hermit...2 thumbs down

[superman]

Man i have had a zebra hermit in my tank for the past 2 months. And l have been noticing things go missing. Such as...5 red leg hermits, 3 astrea snails, and 2 bumble bees. I finally found out that at night he seeks them out kills them and pulls them out of their shell. I have to admit it's neet to watch but man he is destructive. It's funny because SWF.com has it in bold print that they only eat algae. HAH! My overall rating for the zebra hermit is 2 big thumbs down. And remember they all died at the hand err...claws of one crab.

 

[leigh]

Yowsers, sorry, though it sounds like one bad lil crab ...i'd be more than happy to take him off your hands--introduce him to my lil friend here in my invert tank called godzilla--that'll humble him quick!

 

[justinx]

At first, I had the same problems with my zebra hermits. One way to alleviate this is to introduce lots of extra shells. Especially larger ones.
If it makes you fell better, they only do this as juvenilles. Once they reach full size they are actually rather docile.
HTH
Justin

 

[justinl]

Never had this experience with zebras, but then again I had lots of empty shells to begin with. He's huge now and is the biggest in the tank.

 

[lesa]

All that protien is making him that big

 

[superman]

He killed another BIG snail yesterday...and needless to say the results were not good. Maybe i need some anger management.

 

[blueface]

I've had 5 zebra's in my nano for at least 2 months now. Haven't had a single problem yet. There is alot of larger shells to chose from though. They don't bother my scarlets or pistol shrimp either. You must just have a little devil on your hands. I had a hermit like that once that keept eating a large feather duster. I put him in my FO thinking the clown trigger would eat him. It took almost one year but my tusk finally got him. Anybody else have any problems w/ zebras??

 

[oo bubbagump oo]

I have two inch-and-a-halfer's and a few more inchers. Theze Zebraz are cool. They run really fast when spooked. When I poke at them with a feeding stick (I know!) they withdraw initially, but soon they emerge and try to grab the feeding stick, almost playful like.
I HAD stupid red ones but they are in no way comical at all. Eating at my plate coral, these guys get a thumbs down. I took all the reds out. All I have left are a couple of pipsqueek Bluelegs, and a bunch of monster Zebras.
Quite satisfied with the Zebra's I must say! Oh yeah, my Zebras are so big, they don't eat algae anymore, they eat silversides and squid!
Justin