Too many hermit crabs?

[gmerfbox]

I have 4 thin-striped hermit crabs in a Fluval 13.5 nano build. I collected them from a bay in florida which led to me setting up a saltwater tank in the first place. they are all a pretty good size, using shells roughly 1"-1.5". You can see pictures of the tank below and there are also shells in there for them. With the rock work (which they climb all over), I'm worried that I may not have enough room for all of them.

I've also added 5 fish now, so do I have too many animals in there? so far my levels seem fine. But I guess the main concern is there just isn't a ton of room for the crabs.

Also, I want to add corals at some point, so I'm worried all these crabs may either walk all over them or eat them.

They do a great job of keeping the sand clean however, so that's a plus. But any guidance would be appreciated.

thanks,

 

[fishski13]

For that size hermits crabs and that many fish, that is a way to small tank. Usually in that size tank 2 fish is advised and some people push it with three. I would say definitely look to upgrade to a bigger AIO tank and you can than keep all your livestock.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

agree, the tank is too small for what you have

 

[Uncle99]

Crabs = Bad.
Looks pretty stressful there.
If you love them, keep them, but understand they will eat anything they can catch, that’s the trade off.

 

[Enderg60]

The right number of hermit crabs is 0.

That many large ones in that size tank....the fish are just potential snacks.

 

[Jekyl]

Agree with above. Too many fish and too small of a tank for the fish you picked in general.

All the ones I see have bad temperaments even in a larger tank

 

[gmerfbox]

The picture does look stressful, but it's not as stressful as it seems, the crabs are all up front because I had just dropped some crab pellets for them. But yall have more than confirmed what I was thinking.

I know it's not big enough for these big crabs even without fish, being a newbie and needing to act quick, I didn't really have time or money to get a bigger, more elaborate setup.

Will likely remove the crabs this weekend and just keep the fish.

As far as the fish, so far they are getting along quite well. The clowns and the wrasse shared a tank at the store so were already used to each other. Certainly won't be adding any more, but they all seem happy at the moment.

and thanks everyone for all the responses.

 

[fishski13]

The picture does look stressful, but it's not as stressful as it seems, the crabs are all up front because I had just dropped some crab pellets for them. But yall have more than confirmed what I was thinking.

I know it's not big enough for these big crabs even without fish, being a newbie and needing to act quick, I didn't really have time or money to get a bigger, more elaborate setup.

Will likely remove the crabs this weekend and just keep the fish.

As far as the fish, so far they are getting along quite well. The clowns and the wrasse shared a tank at the store so were already used to each other. Certainly won't be adding any more, but they all seem happy at the moment.

and thanks everyone for all the responses.

As time goes on these peaceful fish wont be so peaceful especially the clowns and wrasse as they are known to become territorial. You dont need to get an elaborate setup, A good size tank for this stocking could be a 30-40 gallon AIO tang with the same operation that you already run this evo on.

 

[WheatToast]

Crabs = Bad.
Looks pretty stressful there.
If you love them, keep them, but understand they will eat anything they can catch, that’s the trade off.

+1
Clibanarius vittatus has been known to eat other invertebrates in captivity.
@gmerfbox if you do get rid of these hermit crabs, consider seeing if you can sell them to a LFS. Releasing them back into the wild will introduce nonnative pathogens from the fish.

 

[gmerfbox]

+1
Clibanarius vittatus has been known to eat other invertebrates in captivity.
@gmerfbox if you do get rid of these hermit crabs, consider seeing if you can sell them to a LFS. Releasing them back into the wild will introduce nonnative pathogens from the fish.

Will do, was already told by one LFS that they would buy them from me for nominal amounts that I could spend on food. I do like the crabs, but the fish are so much more interesting. I knew I was in trouble with these big crabs when i saw the LFS selling hermit crabs that were no bigger than a fingernail. These guys are monsters, seen a couple molts and a couple have changed into bigger shells, so they are growing too.