Small Invert-Only Aquarium?

[HappyPotatoes]

Hello,

I’m new to this forum and I’m curious about a certain saltwater setup.

I’m wondering whether it’s possible to create an invertebrate-only aquarium, and whether anyone has attempted it. It’d also be nice to know the minimum aquarium size in gallons needed to attempt such a feat.

For example; I’m aiming to make an aquarium with 4 dwarf blue-leg hermit crabs, some snails, and some rocks. How small could this be and still work out? What snails are compatible with that species of hermit crabs? What errors could pop-up?

 

[sbash]

Great idea!

You could do this in a 1 gallon tank if you wanted to go that small. Keeping the snails alive will be a challenge though, aside from the fact (as far as I know, this will happen with ANY species of snail) the crabs will kill the snails for their shells, you still need to feed the snails. I have seen some snails trained on nori/seaweed. Or, you could intentionally keeps some algae around just for the snails (different snails eat different algaes).

That said, if your crab's shells are bigger than your snail's and you have new shells available for the crabs, you would lower the risk of the crabs killing the snails. Lots of options with inverts...

 

[count krunk]

If you want small i wouldn't go smaller than 5g.

You will need to top it off everyday to avoid swings.

you could do sexy shrimp. that would be very good.

smaller tanks are seen as harder due to their small size swings can happen even more easily.

Personally, i think 20g longs make great small reef tanks :)

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Do you guys think 10 gallons would be good for four tiny blue-leg hermit crabs?
It seems like a good in-between 5 gallons and 20 gallons.

Would there be any other inverts compatible with these species of hermit crabs if they were to be kept in 10 gallons?

 

[sbash]

Would there be any other inverts compatible with these species of hermit crabs if they were to be kept in 10 gallons?

10 gallon is pretty small for a lot of inverts, I like the idea of the 20 long! Anyway, a peppermint shrimp would be fine, as well as an emerald crab. A single small nessarius would be good for your sandbed, after the tank is a few months old... I have a pistol shrimp in a 5 gallon, so one of those would be totally fine for you in a 10 as well. As mentioned above a sexy shrimp would be a nice addition, they don't have a huge 'teritory'...

 

[link81]

i have a small 8g biocube on my desk running fallow right now. when i start it up, its going to pretty much be a zoa garden with some inverts. shrimps, hermits, snails, ect.

 

[HappyPotatoes]

Thanks for your responses!
If I was to upgrade it to a 15 or 20 gallon, what other inverts could now be kept alongside the hermits?
I've also heard of emerald crabs being aggressive, would they be fine among the small hermits?
And finally, is it possible to keep other hermits with the small blue-legs?