Hermit crabs

ud56 · Feb 5, 2026

Have a 25g lagoon and getting ready to add some cuc. Thinking of getting a few blue legged hermits and a few scarlets. Don’t know how many yet along with some snails. Been reading a lot of mixed opinions on them. I have a very small wheelers shrimp goby and tiny pistol shrimp in there and I’m afraid one of the hermits might see them as lunch or a late night snack when there asleep. I will be providing empty shells. I can deal with any aggression if there is any towards each other or snails but I just don’t want them to go after my fish since right now they are the only ones in the tank. Some people say you can do without them and others say they are a must. I need some honest opinions one way or the other. Thank you for any responses.

Gumbies R Us · Feb 5, 2026

I never had any issues with my hermits. Had a couple in my tank and they were peaceful with the rest of my livestock (had snails and an urchin)

cdemoss01 · Feb 5, 2026

ud56 said:
Have a 25g lagoon and getting ready to add some cuc. Thinking of getting a few blue legged hermits and a few scarlets. Don’t know how many yet along with some snails. Been reading a lot of mixed opinions on them. I have a very small wheelers shrimp goby and tiny pistol shrimp in there and I’m afraid one of the hermits might see them as lunch or a late night snack when there asleep. I will be providing empty shells. I can deal with any aggression if there is any towards each other or snails but I just don’t want them to go after my fish since right now they are the only ones in the tank. Some people say you can do without them and others say they are a must. I need some honest opinions one way or the other. Thank you for any responses.

Hermit crabs are very slow moving and blue legs are usually extremely small. I doubt they'll be able to eat the goby or the shrimp as they can run away.

kevgib67 · Feb 5, 2026

I’ve had dozens of dwarf red and blue hermits over 4 years. Never a problem.

rayadog · Feb 5, 2026

I’ve never had scarlet’s but my blue legs at their worst have been seen on coral or each other (maybe incidentally, fighting over food, or battling for shells) when the tank was not really providing for them. They could have just been cleaning something on coral too or eating what was already dying. I do like to drop some crab cuisine in every now and again as a treat. But my overall observation is they’re very peaceful.