Raising Hermit Crab Larvae?

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Zakary2003

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My blue legged and red legged hermit crabs have been spawning pretty consistently, and my mandarin definitely appreciates the extra food!

However, it would be interesting to raise the larvae. Catching the larvae would be as simple as cutting the flow, shining a flashlight, and gently siphoning out the larvae, but I have no idea what to do after that. What would a larvae raising setup look like? How long until they settle, and would collinista snail shells be small enough for them? What do they eat at that size, phyto? Rotifers?

I can't find anything on here about raising hermit crabs specifically, and there is very little about raising crab larvae in general or even other crustaceans. I've seen some stuff on cleaner shrimp, peppermint shrimp, and sexy shrimp, but that's about it. Can it even be done? Has it been done before?

Vids of the momma and her larvae are attached for anyone curious about what they look like or how I know they're from a hermit crab and not one of my other inverts.


 
I would take some out and put them in a small tank for grow out. They would need a sandbed to settle in and grow. You could feed them something like phyto, rotifers, small copepods, etc.
 

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