"Assorted hermit crabs"

[ACM725]

We have all seen this at the lfs. I have heard that many of the crabs are not reef safe. I have also heard of many people only trusting scarlet hermit crabs in their reef.

Any bad experiences with the "assorted hermit crabs" out there?

Am I better off ordering online to pick out exactly what I want?

Thanks

[smirkis]

i have lfs assorted hermits, my only problem is i bought a big one thinking it was cool, and what a mower that guy is, knocking frags off rocks or pushing over corals in the sand. pretty annoying.

[GoTakuF1]

Any bad experiences with the "assorted hermit crabs" out there?

Well, with an assorted question, you're going to get an assorted answer Obviously, they're all different so someone else's experience probably won't help you that much. Your best bet is to get acquainted with this site: Hermit ID to get a visual ID + the Latin and do your research from there. Then ask yourself if the crab you're getting fits into the overall scheme of your tank.

[Jessy]

Don't even bother with crabs if you want to keep snails. They'll all kill them one time or another. I run a 150 with 0 crabs. And there is no algae

[JHAI4]

I have read and have posted on this site that Scarlets are the only reef safe crabs, then I read a thread on Fenners site that contradicted my understanding and said blue legs are the only reef safe hermits... I would tend to agree with Jessy, but I still like to see hermits so I am willing to sustain a few snail deaths. I would place a few empty shells in the tank and you may avoid a few snail deaths here and there. In addition if you go with hermits make sure that there is enough food for them and they should leave the snails alone.

[sucker_fish]

I think I'm gonna go with jessy on this one, in my system I have crabs and snails. I started off with lots of empty shells for the crabs but still lost and am losing a few snails. I have scarlets and blue legs, they both insist on bumping off the snails if any get stuck on their backs, seems they are more interested picking off the snails instead of algae or food scraps or whatever. Needless to say less live snails = more algae, just my 2pennies.

[ACM725]

Ya. After thinking about it I will probably just get snails for now. Im thinking of buying a good variety of snails and adding them slowly. I dont know about turbos yet though, they might starve to death if I put them in right now.

My tank has been set up for about 3 months and I actually have a good amount of medium sized snails that came in with my live rock. I mostly see them when I first turn the lights on. All of the bigger ones outgrew their shells. Now they look like slugs. Well, atleast I got one good hitchhiker.

[imHUNG]

I never had a problem with my regular hermits. Only time I had problems was when they were in my nanos.