Red legged hermit crab advice

Ruminant · 12/30/2015, 05:46 PM

Hi all

This is my first post. Been getting some good advice from my local stores, but have contradicting info regarding the hermits I bought.

Bought these guys early on as part of the clean up crew and the guy at that shop stated that we'd need to supply new shells as they grew, obvious really. When I went to the other local shop and asked if they had spare shells for sale. They said it was best to not supply new shells otherwise the crabs would go from algae eating to purely meat.

I've seen a few moults and the guys are still picking at the algae. Which is the correct advice?

Cheers in advance

Sapelo · 12/30/2015, 05:50 PM

Regardless of what they eat, they are still going to grow and still going to need new/larger shells.
Depending on the other members of your cleanup crew (CUC), the crabs will simply steal shells from snails.

Welcome to the hobby!

Dkuhlmann · 12/30/2015, 06:26 PM

Red legged or Scarlet legged hermits IME are not meat eaters, the blue legged ones on the other hand are. The only crab allowed in my tank of any kind is a scarlet legged hermit.

CStrickland · 12/30/2015, 08:29 PM

I don't get it. Did they say why?
It seems like if it made any diff at all, having more shells would cut down on their predatory drive b/c they wouldn't kill a snail to take a shell...

Ruminant · 12/31/2015, 04:47 AM

Thanks for the info.

They said that if they got large enough they'd start mugging the fish

Dkuhlmann · 12/31/2015, 05:30 AM

Scarlet legged hermits will never try and eat your fish or corals for that matter. I would seriously find a different LFS to deal with.

Xxero · 12/31/2015, 06:02 AM

Red Legged Hermit Crabs are different than Scarlet Reef Hermits.

My experience with Red Legged/Red Tipped Hermit Crabs is that they are very aggressive - with eachother and with snail varieties. They can also grow large and quickly, which only makes them more aggressive. I found the key to keeping the peace with them is to provide them with lots of empty shells of different sizes, and throw an occasional chunk of raw shrimp in the tank for them to munch on. I would consider the Red Leggeds to fall more under the scavenger category than an algae eater. Although they do an incredible job with GHA. They love the stuff!

I ended up trading all of mine in for a mix of Scarlet Reef Hermits and micro Blue Legs. The Red Leggeds made me nervous.

I hear people cautioning against the Blue Legs all of the time, but I don't get it. I've never had any negative issues with the Blue Legs. They're also the chosen Hermit Crabs that come with TBS's "The Package", soOo.........what has everyone been doing? Tossing them in the trash when they arrive?

GL!

Dkuhlmann · 12/31/2015, 07:41 AM

I know the red legged are different than Scarlets but have also seen both misidentified. As far as the blue legs go, you should have a talk with the dozen or so that live in my sump from being murderous bastards

Along with my murdering Emerald Green Crab

Xxero · 12/31/2015, 12:58 PM

My comment was more for the OP just to make sure...like you said, there's a lot of misidentification.

I keep my Emerald in my sump as well.

azcrazy · 12/31/2015, 01:21 PM

yep my 2 emeralds going to the sump tonight, cached one picking on my brain frag

Dkuhlmann · 12/31/2015, 05:12 PM

azcrazy, mine ate two royal grammas. The first one disappeared, and I saw him eating it in the RG's sleeping place

Now since he's been in the sump for about 6 months he's HUGE like 2" from point to point on his shell.

12/30/2015, 05:46 PM	#1
Ruminant Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England Posts: 3	Red legged hermit crab advice Hi all This is my first post. Been getting some good advice from my local stores, but have contradicting info regarding the hermits I bought. Bought these guys early on as part of the clean up crew and the guy at that shop stated that we'd need to supply new shells as they grew, obvious really. When I went to the other local shop and asked if they had spare shells for sale. They said it was best to not supply new shells otherwise the crabs would go from algae eating to purely meat. I've seen a few moults and the guys are still picking at the algae. Which is the correct advice? Cheers in advance

12/30/2015, 06:26 PM	#3
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	Red legged or Scarlet legged hermits IME are not meat eaters, the blue legged ones on the other hand are. The only crab allowed in my tank of any kind is a scarlet legged hermit. __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

12/30/2015, 08:29 PM	#4
CStrickland Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: New England, U.S. Posts: 4,595	I don't get it. Did they say why? It seems like if it made any diff at all, having more shells would cut down on their predatory drive b/c they wouldn't kill a snail to take a shell... __________________ If you're havin tank problems I feel bad for you, son. I got 99 problems but a fish ain't one Current Tank Info: 3/2016 upgrade to 120g. Chalk bass, melanurus, firefish, starry blenny, canary blenny, lyretail anthias, engineer gobys, kole tang. Softies / LPS / NPS. <3 noob4life <3

12/31/2015, 05:30 AM	#6
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	Scarlet legged hermits will never try and eat your fish or corals for that matter. I would seriously find a different LFS to deal with. __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

12/31/2015, 06:02 AM	#7
Xxero Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 1,054	Red Legged Hermit Crabs are different than Scarlet Reef Hermits. My experience with Red Legged/Red Tipped Hermit Crabs is that they are very aggressive - with eachother and with snail varieties. They can also grow large and quickly, which only makes them more aggressive. I found the key to keeping the peace with them is to provide them with lots of empty shells of different sizes, and throw an occasional chunk of raw shrimp in the tank for them to munch on. I would consider the Red Leggeds to fall more under the scavenger category than an algae eater. Although they do an incredible job with GHA. They love the stuff! I ended up trading all of mine in for a mix of Scarlet Reef Hermits and micro Blue Legs. The Red Leggeds made me nervous. I hear people cautioning against the Blue Legs all of the time, but I don't get it. I've never had any negative issues with the Blue Legs. They're also the chosen Hermit Crabs that come with TBS's "The Package", soOo.........what has everyone been doing? Tossing them in the trash when they arrive? GL! __________________ "You Can Lead A Gift Horse To Water... But You Can't Make Him Look In Your Mouth." Current Tank Info: 65g Mixed Reef Display - 15g Macro Algae/Refugium - 40b Sump

12/30/2015, 05:50 PM	#2
Sapelo Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: North Georgia Posts: 869	Regardless of what they eat, they are still going to grow and still going to need new/larger shells. Depending on the other members of your cleanup crew (CUC), the crabs will simply steal shells from snails. Welcome to the hobby!

12/31/2015, 04:47 AM	#5
Ruminant Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England Posts: 3	Thanks for the info. They said that if they got large enough they'd start mugging the fish

12/31/2015, 07:41 AM	#8
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	I know the red legged are different than Scarlets but have also seen both misidentified. As far as the blue legs go, you should have a talk with the dozen or so that live in my sump from being murderous bastards Along with my murdering Emerald Green Crab __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

12/31/2015, 12:58 PM	#9
Xxero Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Oklahoma City Posts: 1,054	My comment was more for the OP just to make sure...like you said, there's a lot of misidentification. I keep my Emerald in my sump as well. __________________ "You Can Lead A Gift Horse To Water... But You Can't Make Him Look In Your Mouth." Current Tank Info: 65g Mixed Reef Display - 15g Macro Algae/Refugium - 40b Sump

12/31/2015, 01:21 PM	#10
azcrazy Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2015 Location: WA Posts: 205	yep my 2 emeralds going to the sump tonight, cached one picking on my brain frag

12/31/2015, 05:12 PM	#11
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	azcrazy, mine ate two royal grammas. The first one disappeared, and I saw him eating it in the RG's sleeping place Now since he's been in the sump for about 6 months he's HUGE like 2" from point to point on his shell. __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300