missing inhabitants

woodstock '69 · 11/25/2006, 10:32 PM

My tank is about 6 weeks old. I have put in 5 snails, 4 scarlett leg hermits, 2 pepermint shrimp, 1 midas blennnie, 1 small branching hammer, and 1 small branching torch.

I can almost never ever see a hermit crab all day long, and I seem to see less and less of the snails. I have 36lbs porus rock.

Am I loosing things - or to put it more delicately - is somebody eating my critters? I picked 4 little scarlett legs out of the sand today, at first I thought it was cyno, but they were legs for sure.

Michael

corals b 4 bills · 11/25/2006, 11:19 PM

The things that make your livestock disappear are Mantis shrimp and brittle stars, or not acclimating your critters long enough.

woodstock '69 · 11/25/2006, 11:43 PM

Well I guess that that means that I have a mantis shrimp? Because I don't have a serpent or brittle star and I acclimated them the same way I did the fish and corals, and they seem to be doing reasonably well.

Is that your assesment?

Michael

malintner · 11/26/2006, 04:37 PM

Your hermits may eat the snails if they find the "new house" desirable. I have seen shimps attack snails too. Hermits will attack each other when shopping for a new house. And shrimp will eat wounded hermits if the opportunity arises. In truth, you are going to see a fair amount of attrition in this hobby. Get used to it.

caynus · 11/26/2006, 06:24 PM

Mantis shrimp have a bad name in this hobby which is pretty much undeserved.
If your hermits have gone missing and a mantis was to blame you would have heard sharp popping noises, which was the shrimp smashing the shells. You would probably also see empty shells with holes in them lying around. Your blenny would probably also be dead too, and your snails, and your shrimp

How big are you are hermits and shrimp too?

From the sounds of it, malinter is probably right. It is possibly your hermits taking out each other and the snails for better real estate, and then the blenny and shrimp would join in on a wounded/unprotected snail or hermit.

Overall though, at this point you dont have enough evidence to point the finger at anyone, just keep your eyes and ears peeled and see what happens next, keep us updated if you can manage.
Hope this helped,
Caynus

11/25/2006, 10:32 PM	#1
woodstock '69 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: central virginia Posts: 368	missing inhabitants My tank is about 6 weeks old. I have put in 5 snails, 4 scarlett leg hermits, 2 pepermint shrimp, 1 midas blennnie, 1 small branching hammer, and 1 small branching torch. I can almost never ever see a hermit crab all day long, and I seem to see less and less of the snails. I have 36lbs porus rock. Am I loosing things - or to put it more delicately - is somebody eating my critters? I picked 4 little scarlett legs out of the sand today, at first I thought it was cyno, but they were legs for sure. Michael

11/25/2006, 11:19 PM	#2
corals b 4 bills Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: San Francisco Bay Area (Belmont). Posts: 2,381	The things that make your livestock disappear are Mantis shrimp and brittle stars, or not acclimating your critters long enough. __________________ Reefkeeper - (ref-ke-per) n: Individual obsessed with placing disturbing amounts of electricity and seawater in close proximity for the purpose of maintaining live coral reef organisms. Current Tank Info: 29 gallon Bio Cube, HQI 150 watt Nanotuner~Vortech MP10W ES~Arctica Chiller~AC II~Tunze Osmolator ATO~ Tunze 9002 skimmer W/In Tank Cup~ Korallin Reactor W/PH Monitor~ Korallin Denitrator~APC Back-up~Phosban/Carbon Reactor.

11/25/2006, 11:43 PM	#3
woodstock '69 Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: central virginia Posts: 368	Well I guess that that means that I have a mantis shrimp? Because I don't have a serpent or brittle star and I acclimated them the same way I did the fish and corals, and they seem to be doing reasonably well. Is that your assesment? Michael

11/26/2006, 04:37 PM	#4
malintner Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 78	Your hermits may eat the snails if they find the "new house" desirable. I have seen shimps attack snails too. Hermits will attack each other when shopping for a new house. And shrimp will eat wounded hermits if the opportunity arises. In truth, you are going to see a fair amount of attrition in this hobby. Get used to it.

11/26/2006, 06:24 PM	#5
caynus Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Canberra, Australia Posts: 77	Mantis shrimp have a bad name in this hobby which is pretty much undeserved. If your hermits have gone missing and a mantis was to blame you would have heard sharp popping noises, which was the shrimp smashing the shells. You would probably also see empty shells with holes in them lying around. Your blenny would probably also be dead too, and your snails, and your shrimp How big are you are hermits and shrimp too? From the sounds of it, malinter is probably right. It is possibly your hermits taking out each other and the snails for better real estate, and then the blenny and shrimp would join in on a wounded/unprotected snail or hermit. Overall though, at this point you dont have enough evidence to point the finger at anyone, just keep your eyes and ears peeled and see what happens next, keep us updated if you can manage. Hope this helped, Caynus