00W's AIO Smorgasbord

[Imrahilwjz]

Gonna try chitons. Chitons apparently do that exact same thing.

I'm a fan, but they are slower than an urchin.

 

[cdemoss01]

Gonna try chitons. Chitons apparently do that exact same thing.

I'm a fan, but they are slower than an urchin.

That's slow but it'll be fine. I've heard they are really good at chewing up the algae.

 

[kevgib67]

Antifungal that happens to damage the cell walls of Bryopsis and to some extent other algae.

Well I guess I wouldn’t have posted if I had read on.

 

[kevgib67]

Good morning y'all!

Good morning Wes!

 

[tharbin]

I was actually going to ask this question before we all started talking about cuc's this morning. What are everyone's thoughts on hermits? I started my tank with a bunch of dwarf hermits and 2 Mexican turbos. But as my tank has aged, I prefer snails. I feel like nassarius and bumblebee can handle a lot of the "crab work". Does anyone run both? Is anyone snail only? Id like to optimize my cuc as im running out of living quarters for them.

I avoid hermits for the most part. They work hard and are fun to watch but they are worse than DINKs when it comes to housing. If they see a shell that is prettier than theirs is BANG dead snail, 'Oh Well-it doesn't fit--Ohhh look at that one over there, here snail, snail, snail'.

There is no crab I fully trust unless it is cooked and on my plate. Pithos, Porcelains, Pom-Poms are okay usually but I still keep an eye on the little buggers.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I was actually going to ask this question before we all started talking about cuc's this morning. What are everyone's thoughts on hermits? I started my tank with a bunch of dwarf hermits and 2 Mexican turbos. But as my tank has aged, I prefer snails. I feel like nassarius and bumblebee can handle a lot of the "crab work". Does anyone run both? Is anyone snail only? Id like to optimize my cuc as im running out of living quarters for them.

I have both now, but only 3-4 hermits. They came with the first CUC members I bought from my LFS. I have many more snails than hermits. In my old tank I felt they were more trouble than they were worth, between going after snails and after each other (my third eldest son had picked out 2 of them and would regularly see them fighting and separate them, pretty sure there was only one of the two left by the time we moved). To be fair though, I haven't noticed any issues with them this time around.

 

[kevgib67]

I was actually going to ask this question before we all started talking about cuc's this morning. What are everyone's thoughts on hermits? I started my tank with a bunch of dwarf hermits and 2 Mexican turbos. But as my tank has aged, I prefer snails. I feel like nassarius and bumblebee can handle a lot of the "crab work". Does anyone run both? Is anyone snail only? Id like to optimize my cuc as im running out of living quarters for them.

Yes, I’ve always had dwarf red and blue hermits, probably a dozen along with an urchin, Mexican turbos, trochus snails, bumblebee snails, stomatellas (?), fuzzy chitons (?), conches, emerald crabs, porcelain crabs and nassarius snails.

 

[kingranch2003]

I avoid hermits for the most part. They work hard and are fun to watch but they are worse than DINKs when it comes to housing. If they see a shell that is prettier than theirs is BANG dead snail, 'Oh Well-it doesn't fit--Ohhh look at that one over there, here snail, snail, snail'.

There is no crab I fully trust unless it is cooked and on my plate. Pithos, Porcelains, Pom-Poms are okay usually but I still keep an eye on the little buggers.

That is a great description of the experience I had too Tom lol

 

[kevgib67]

I avoid hermits for the most part. They work hard and are fun to watch but they are worse than DINKs when it comes to housing. If they see a shell that is prettier than theirs is BANG dead snail, 'Oh Well-it doesn't fit--Ohhh look at that one over there, here snail, snail, snail'.

There is no crab I fully trust unless it is cooked and on my plate. Pithos, Porcelains, Pom-Poms are okay usually but I still keep an eye on the little buggers.

I have not had this experience with my dwarfs but that is the exact reason I don’t have some of the bigger beautiful ones like electric blues or Halloweens. Early on I asked my lfs for some of the empty shells scattered around the sand in their invert tanks. Walked out with a couple handfuls of them and scattered them around the sand bed in my tank so that might be part of the reason as well.

 

[tharbin]

I have not had this experience with my dwarfs but that is the exact reason I don’t have some of the bigger beautiful ones like electric blues or Halloweens. Early on I asked my lfs for some of the empty shells scattered around the sand in their invert tanks. Walked out with a couple handfuls of them and scattered them around the sand bed in my tank so that might be part of the reason as well.

I've always kept extra shells around and it helps but hermits seem to prefer more modern housing. Old shells are okay but need more renovation, freshly excavated shells are much more appealing. It really comes down to size. If the snails are big and the hermits are small or vice versa, probably okay.

I had one hermit that would run away when a snail approached it, until one day it didn't. Then it got into the housing market big time and the LFS shortly thereafter.

 

[kevgib67]

I've always kept extra shells around and it helps but hermits seem to prefer more modern housing. Old shells are okay but need more renovation, freshly excavated shells are much more appealing. It really comes down to size. If the snails are big and the hermits are small or vice versa, probably okay.

I had one hermit that would run away when a snail approached it, until one day it didn't. Then it got into the housing market big time and the LFS shortly thereafter.

The empty shells that I installed little hot tubs in seemed to be the hottest properties.

 

[kevgib67]

@WalkerLovesTheOcean ?

 

[kingranch2003]

I have not had this experience with my dwarfs but that is the exact reason I don’t have some of the bigger beautiful ones like electric blues or Halloweens. Early on I asked my lfs for some of the empty shells scattered around the sand in their invert tanks. Walked out with a couple handfuls of them and scattered them around the sand bed in my tank so that might be part of the reason as well.

You have great luck with troublesome critters Kevin. I think it's the unique way you wear your hat. :)

 

[kevgib67]

You have great luck with troublesome critters Kevin. I think it's the unique way you wear your hat. :)

Thank you, does that make me a critter whisperer?

 

[kingranch2003]

Thank you, does that make me a critter whisperer?

Yes. Yes sir it does.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

I have not had this experience with my dwarfs but that is the exact reason I don’t have some of the bigger beautiful ones like electric blues or Halloweens. Early on I asked my lfs for some of the empty shells scattered around the sand in their invert tanks. Walked out with a couple handfuls of them and scattered them around the sand bed in my tank so that might be part of the reason as well.

Good point. The hermits I have now are small. The two I mentioned in the previous tank were picked by my son because they were cool looking and were a little bigger.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

The empty shells that I installed little hot tubs in seemed to be the hottest properties.

That is one of the most searched for amenities on AirBnB. Who knew crabs and people had so much in common?

 

[Imrahilwjz]

 

[Imrahilwjz]

Nice Luis! Second place for August! Way ahead of me, and deserved!

 

[kevgib67]

Wow Wes, beautiful pictures and beautiful country!