Best Hermit Crab?

[ZachariahBeanz]

Hi, I’m getting some Hermit Crabs for my tank soon, it’ll be a reef tank that is 15 gallons of usable space. Which hermit crab would you recommend?
PS..I’ll be having other CUC members like snails, and one shrimp

 

[lapin]

Some will say no hermit is good. I like all of them.

 

[ieatbugman]

Scarlets look really cool and stay smaller, so they are a good option. Definitely avoid the bigger species, they will for sure eat your snails

 

[ieatbugman]

Some will say no hermit is good. I like all of them.

I agree

 

[jabberwock]

Just say no to Hermit crabs. They are all snail killers.

 

[lapin]

See I told you so.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Scarlets are the best IMO. The chances of them bothering your snails are extremely low as long as they have extra shells. Blue legged or red legged are good too.

 

[jabberwock]

"You have a beautiful shell. It looks so warm and roomy."

muffled snail scream

 

[jabberwock]

Scarlets are the best IMO. The chances of them bothering your snails are extremely low as long as they have extra snails. Blue legged or red legged are good too.

Yep, extra snails are a must if you have hermit crabs...

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yep, extra snails are a must if you have hermit crabs...

Lol. I fixed it.

 

[jabberwock]

Lol. I fixed it.

Weren't nothing wrong with it.

 

[Spare time]

I'd get two blue legs or so. They are very small which is helpful.

 

[Jeremy_d]

Blue legs (Clibanarius tricolor). Just buy a bag of shells from hobby lobby for like $4. Rinse them in RO/DI water, then soak them in saltwater for like 20 min and dump them in the back behind the rocks. That’s what I did and I’ve had the same 9 blue legs in my nano for 4 years since I set it up. With proper sourcing and care, they can live for 20-40 years. It’s crazy to me that they are part of the “throw away” clean up crew and generally purchased yearly. They are a long lived species, you have to take extra care to ensure their survival. I care and feed mine a mixed diet like I treat my fish and corals, and I ensure they have shells adequate in size for them to move into. If you can verify they are sourced from the Caribbean they generally fair well in the aquarium.

 

[ZachariahBeanz]

Just say no to Hermit crabs. They are all snail killers.

What would you recommend as a substitute for hermit crabs?

 

[ZachariahBeanz]

Blue legs (Clibanarius tricolor). Just buy a bag of shells from hobby lobby for like $4. Rinse them in RO/DI water, then soak them in saltwater for like 20 min and dump them in the back behind the rocks. That’s what I did and I’ve had the same 9 blue legs in my nano for 4 years since I set it up. With proper sourcing and care, they can live for 20-40 years. It’s crazy to me that they are part of the “throw away” clean up crew and generally purchased yearly. They are a long lived species, you have to take extra care to ensure their survival. I care and feed mine a mixed diet like I treat my fish and corals, and I ensure they have shells adequate in size for them to move into. If you can verify they are sourced from the Caribbean they generally fair well in the aquarium.

When buying shells, would you only need to buy them once? Or will the hermits not reuse shells?

 

[jabberwock]

What would you recommend as a substitute for hermit crabs?

Micro brittle stars, nassarius snails, pistol shrimp, rock flower anemones, porcelain crabs (the only crab I endorse)

 

[jabberwock]

When buying shells, would you only need to buy them once? Or will the hermits not reuse shells?

In my experience they ignore the empty shells and go after the occupied shells. Must be good if someone else is using it...

 

[Reefer AJ]

I’ve got red and blue legged hermits and have seen them occasionally take out my snails. Pretty funny to see my hermits walking around in a big snail shell though. Just by more snails after the hermit gets it. They aren’t expensive

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Hi, I’m getting some Hermit Crabs for my tank soon, it’ll be a reef tank that is 15 gallons of usable space. Which hermit crab would you recommend?
PS..I’ll be having other CUC members like snails, and one shrimp

The only ones I trust in my tank are blue legged. Definitely NOT BLUE KNUCKLE, they look very similar. As long as you keep an abundance of extra shells in there for them, they mostly will leave your snails alone, and they are VERY GOOD little cleaners.

 

[Jeremy_d]

When buying shells, would you only need to buy them once? Or will the hermits not reuse shells?

Once a hermit moves into a new shell, unless it doesn’t like it, it’s not going back into its old one. It’s old one becomes part of the boneyard and is available for another crab to use.