Snails and crabs, what kind?

[jden092901]

I need to buy about 20 snails and 20 crabs. I found a good deal online for 20 white leg hermit crabs, have you ever herd of these? I have never seen them before and dont know how they are as aposed to blue legged. Also, what is the best snail for algae eating, all types (a must for hair and briopsis). I used to have astrea snails, but they die too easy when they fall over and im not home enough to pick them up all day long. Are Nerite and margarita snails good? I just need to know what snail is best and if the white leg hermit crabs are any good?

Thanks,

Josh

[jenglish]

Nerites are good, I feel margaritas don't last as long. I think a turbo my eat the hair the best but they are little bulldozers. I never heard of white legged hermits, I stick w/ blue legs and red legs

[L98-Z]

Reefcleaners sells white legs for around $0.60 a piece. I was under the assumption they were much like blue leg or red leg hermits.

[jden092901]

Does anyone have or know a good place to buy some crabs and snails.

Thanks for your help

[Darkstar22]

I've seen great prices at Reef Cleaners.org....haven't bought from them though. Maybe someone can give us advice on their reputation.

[FirstContact]

I got tired of the margarita and cerith snails. The hermits kept eating them. I stick mostly with the turbos and nerites. I like the nerites because they are small and seem to zoom around everywhere. Plus, because they are small, the hermits never bother them thinking "Hey, you know, I might like that shell!"

For the hermits, I really enjoy watching my orange and my blue halloween hermit crabs. Next to that, I like the scarlets and the red legs or red legs with white tips.

[FirstContact]

oh yeah,

I like buying 'em from the LFS so I can pick 'em out. That's half the fun.

[robertifly]

20 crabs in a 29 gal is a lot of crabs, I personally try to keep the crab population as low as possible in my tank. CRABS ARE EVIL!

[crvz]

Originally posted by robertifly
CRABS ARE EVIL!

Agreed, and mostly useless in my experience. I would forgo the addition of the hermits, personally.

[bunzaroo]

I recently placed an order w/ reefcleaners, Good prices, excellent selection

[Ryan45]

Let me know how your order went, I always order from Live Aquaria but it seems Reef Cleaners has better prices.

Thanks

[johnmaloney]

Astreas are more trouble than they are worth I think. If you have long hair algae, than hermits might be a good option, snails don't really like the stuff as much. All hermits are bout the same when it comes to killing snails for shells and getting into mischief. Scarlet and red legs are "all the rage right now". Blue legs were a few years ago. The big difference between the two is price, the scarlets command 4 times the price than the blues, other than that they behave basically the same. I have owned thousands of each and I can see no difference. The only hermits I have seen that are somewhat nicer are what we call "left handed hermits" locally, but are called "orange clawed hermits" on the Internet. They have a red claw, so the name is somewhat misleading. I think they are nicer because the prefer whelk shells above all others, and there usually isn't whelks in our tanks. Jade hermits are a little better too.

I don't think you will find a hermit or a snail that will eat byropsis. Sorry, I have tried them most of them at some point in an experimentation tank. No dice. They may pick at it, but they learn there lesson and don't go back for seconds. Same with lettuce nudis despite what you may have heard.

Back to snails - Margaritas are a poor choice because they are temperate water snail whose range does not go down into the tropics. Great for colder tanks though because they do eat a good amount of algae for their size. Turbos love to bulldoze as previously mentioned. (Urchins are even worse! - much worse!) Ceriths are a good choice, for glass their is nerites. Chitons and limpets will eat hair algae, just make sure you get the right species, not all chitons and limpets are the same. Just like owning a "snail", the species matters.

[reeferstace]

I agree with JohnMaloney-the Margarita snails fair poorly in the warmer waters of our reef tanks.

The few hermits I have do little to nothing for algae elimination. They are fun to watch, however. I don't stock many of them because they are opportunistic...

Reefcleaners.org is awesome. I have ordered from them a couple of times. They have quick and efficient service and their prices are great. I totally recommend them. Nice guys who know ALOT.