Hermit Crab Poop

[Tree6foot6]

Has anybody else had problems with lots of poop from hermit crabs? I have 3 and its like they dont stop pooping. Ill try and post pics later. Is there a solution to this problem or do i just need to vacuum it out?

All comments apprecated

Thanks Andrew

[Tree6foot6]

http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=P1010036.jpg

http://s186.photobucket.com/albums/x...t=P1010037.jpg

hope this works

[Bri Guy]

I wouldn't worry about it, all that poop would have been leftover food or algae, just sittin there rotting, instead they helped break that down further. Youve heard of the "Circle of Poo" right?

Increase your flow to flush it around, until the filter finds it.

Good Luck!

[Tree6foot6]

Thanks for the advice so I dont need to vacuum it out? Ill just increace the flow! I dident think of that

[Tree6foot6]

Is there some kind of critter that i could get that would sift thru the sand and turn it over? Im thinking that would work also.

any suggestions will help.

[StunnaShadez]

nassarius snails, they keep my sandbed clean by shifting through it. yellow watchmans are a gread addition to any tank. they sift through the sand looking for food

[Bri Guy]

Sea cucumbers work great for fine sand, which it looks like you have, though Ive never had one myself, Ive just seen there work

And yes you can syphon it out if you want, or what I do is use a turkey baster and blow all the detritus and poo off the rocks/sand.

I 2nd the nass also, I have those!

[Tree6foot6]

Thanks I like the turkey baster idea I think ill try that in the morning. If i can convince my mom to let me put her turkey baster in my fish tank. That should be fun LOL.

Ill also try and pick up some nassarius snails when i get some more money. How much do they cost?

Thanks Andrew

[Tree6foot6]

While looking at stuff at liveaquaria.com stumbled on pistol shrimp and it says in the discription that they stir up the sand bed. Would this be a good choice for a reef?

[Tree6foot6]

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_...cfm?pCatId=702

[chujai]

i think the simple thing to do is make sure you have enough flow, thats what i learned, increase the flow, so that it gets picked up by skimmer.

i find my snails poo more

[StunnaShadez]

pistols are great additions especially when you have any gobies that have symbiotic relationships with them. but the bad thing IMO about pistols are they will move around too much sand under your rock and cause them to collapse if you set them on top of the sand.

[dynaschm0e]

Originally posted by Tree6foot6
Thanks I like the turkey baster idea I think ill try that in the morning. If i can convince my mom to let me put her turkey baster in my fish tank. That should be fun LOL.

Ill also try and pick up some nassarius snails when i get some more money. How much do they cost?

Thanks Andrew

You may want to get a turkey baster just for your reeftank. From what I have read here on reefcentral, you want to try to keep as many unknown/outside nutrients as possible out of your tank: don't know what may be in/on a used piece of equipment from the kitchen, maybe leftover soap residue if nothing else. HTH -Trey

[Tree6foot6]

Thanks for all the help.

[annhill2011]

IMG_2552.jpg

Please tell me this is hermit crab poo from either my scarlet hermit crabs or the mystery brown hermit crabs. I was told they are "black bugs" but they don't move and honestly look like poo to me. I have literally gutted my aquarium pulling all rock, sand, everythin in fear it's a pendemic!!!

I noticed it right after adding the crabs and a Bubble Tip anemone. The Bubble Tip is not longer in my aquarium, due to the fear of black bugs and it not acting right I took it back to the pet store.

Thanks in advance!!!

[ReefWreak]

Can't really tell, it might be planaria flat worms?

[annhill2011]

From an bta? Also it's important to note I have no corals of any kind in my aquarium.

[annhill2011]

IMG_2553.jpg

IMG_2554.jpg

IMG_2556.jpg

Of course now it's empty, wildlife in a bucket with small filter. Just salt, water, power head, and heater. Haven't plugged in the heater waiting on the water to reach room temp. RO/DI water.

[annhill2011]

The most important reason I need to know is because I need to know besides all my sand, what else needs to be replaced? Wave maker skimmer etc... no I don't want to treat with a chemical poison if possible if it's pests.

[annhill2011]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=2443750

So that's what it looked like, well before I vacuumed the sand like every tiger day and finally pulled all my sand. I will be honest, the crabs and snail are cute, but if that's their poop they must go.

[annhill2011]

Erg every other day

[homer1475]

You kind of need a CUC(crabs and snails), well not so many crabs, but you definetly need some snails.

It's called the circle of life. Eveything eats, everything poops. Get used to it.

There is a reason we siphon the sandbed when doing water changes, one is to get rid of poop.

You want to see pooping machines? My chitons poop every couple minutes. My starry blenny poops so much it killed one of my plate corals(likes to use it as his personal toilet).

[Smokey Stover]

Yea, My Hermit Crabs make more of a mess than they clean up lol. Their numbers are dwindling though, Witnessed 5-6 Blue legs catch my biggest Scarlet molting, Oh the horror, It was viscious. They go after each other as well.

[Majority_Rules]

I have this issue too. Hermit crabs are literally pooping machines. I have two small ones in my pico. I use the turkey baster everyday to dust off the rock. It's just part of my daily maintenance.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

[annhill2011]

Thanks everyone. Too bad I didn't find this out before I got rid of all my sand ☹️