red/blue leg hermits eat snails?

[Viggen]

I am seeing a few more snail shells laying around & see a few crabs eating what's left of a snail.  Is it common for crabs to kill the snails?  Or are they dieing and they are just cleaning up what's left

[jeblin]

Do you have empty shells laying around for the crabs to use as they grow? If not, then yes, they'll attack snails for their shells....and some are just plain mean ;-)

[Viggen]

there are a couple extra snail shells laying around..... but I guess not enough

thanks

[Twizted1]

All of my crabs are just mean. I wish it wasn't like that because I really like the crabs. But I have kicked them all out of the tank. & it will new while befor I let any more in the dt.

[Wall_Tank]

Crabs will kill snails for food, and just because they want the shell too. I refuseto keep crabs because of this.

[Neogenesis]

I'm the same....I no longer keep hermits for that reason.

[HUNGER]

Crabs will kill snails for food, and just because they want the shell too. I refuseto keep crabs because of this.

+1

[Sunny]

Crabs are evil !!  I bought 2 white legged ones in hopes that they would not be so aggressive.  So far, I haven't seen them eat any snails.  The blue legged ones I banished to the sump.   I had plenty of empty shells in the tank, they still went after the snails.   

[Boonjob]

Crabs are evil until you have a fish die in your tank that you can't find or see....then they are your best friends.

The snail sacrifices are for the greater good IMO.

They are opportunistic feeders, they don't kill unless they need to... so either your snail was dieing, the crab(s) was starving, or it wanted a new shell...

The shell issue is easily solved... put a variety of empty shells in the tank.... and if they are still eating your snails... feed more.

[Sunny]

This is my graveyard of snails that have past due to crabs ...  and it goes on down the length of the tank to the other end.  Good grief ... I feed 3 cubes of frozen food a day.   Plenty of empty shells in there.  Maybe they just don't like my tank ...


They are evil I say .... lol   

[Boonjob]

The snails still dieing or did it stop? It doesn't take much to put a snail out the door and in the ground, the crabs could have just been capitalizing on the oppotunity and helping them on their way.

And I didn't deny they were evil, just stated they have a job, and what you see as extermination of your snails could be them just doing their jobs of eating the dead/dieing in the tank.


Just remember they are a scavenger first.... they will never work harder than they have too... if their is nothing to scavenge they will become a predator... But most anything is that way...

[Sunny]

So far, the only ones in there is 1 blue legged and 2 white legged.  Hard to tell if any more are dieing with so many empty shells in there.  But, I do know that when I bought a snail package from Reffs2go, as soon as I put them in the tank, the crabs went after them.  It was a smorgasbord for them.  That's when I took all the ones I could grab and sent them to the sump.  Leaving the white ones and the blue legged one.   I would like to get more white legged ones though, they seem less aggressive.  And we do need crabs in our tanks to do house cleaning ...

[Wall_Tank]

Crabs are evil until you have a fish die in your tank that you can't find or see....then they are your best friends.

The snail sacrifices are for the greater good IMO.

They are opportunistic feeders, they don't kill unless they need to... so either your snail was dieing, the crab(s) was starving, or it wanted a new shell...

The shell issue is easily solved... put a variety of empty shells in the tank.... and if they are still eating your snails... feed more.

Get Nassarius snails.   great for the sandbed, and will eat dead fish faster than you think.   I never find my dead fish.

[Boonjob]

I use both

[Neogenesis]

And we do need crabs in our tanks to do house cleaning ...

I don't necessarily agree with this.  With enough snails, varied over multiple species, you can have a very successful clean up crew minus the headaches of hermits.  My tank is coming up on I think 2 years now, and I've yet to put a hermit in there.  The very few dead fish I have were mostly consumed by the time I found them.

Just off the top of my head, species I can think of that I'm keeping

Banded Tiger Trocheus
Nassarius
Cerith
Nerite
Chiton's - not sure if that's considered a snail or not
Tiger Cowerie
and some periwinkles.

I also keep mini brittle stars, and emerald crabs for the obvious reasons, but my tank is looking good.  The only problem I have is Aiptasia, which snails nor crabs take care of, and bubble algae.  My carpet nems like to eat emeralds, so I'm losing that battle for now. 

[Sunny]

I thought crabs cleaned out the crevices in the rocks.   

[Boonjob]

They do among other things....


I have had/ have both and they co exist just fine for me... I am not going to go into who is better at cleaning or what not... I was just stating that what some of you percieve as pure agression towards your snails most likely is not the cause... aside from the shell, hostile acts are usually out of neccessity.. they are a part of nature... eat or be eaten, survival of the fittest, yadda yadda.....

They are scavengers not predators, saying they solely prey on your snails is objective...

It is purely agreeable that a system can flourish with a lack of crabs, and there are plenty of snails who perform the same work.

[Sunny]

Oh, I didn't mean they solely preyed on snails.  But, I did witness them going after snails when there were plenty of shells in there that were vacant.   Maybe I just got a batch that had issues that day.   

[Boonjob]

Your just a hater

[mbettman]

you guys are freaking me out. I just ordered 100 strong snails and crabs from reefs2go. So I should just put all the crabs in the sump?

[Steve]

I love my hermits especially the scarlets and red legs. Though they can be aggressive, blue legs seeming the most, I have always kept them. I have also found, IMO, that alot of the snails we purchase are not that long lived and alot of times the hermits are just doing what they do, scavenging.

[mbettman]

This is my second round of snails for my 125 gallon. Most of the first batch died off. I wonder what the life expectancy is on them anyway. All I know is I need cleaners.

[lazylivin]

There aren't any crabs that I know of that reproduce in a tank. They do prey on snails as others have said and don't live long. Maybe 3 years if your lucky. Very few snails reproduce but their are some. I like hawaii strombus snails. In a tank without crabs they will grow into a large group that is forever sustainable. They clean the sand, rocks and glass. They don't leave eggs all over the place like other snails, hide during the day, stay small and won't knock anything over. Great choice for most tanks

[Viggen]

feeding 2x's what I did.... hopefully that will help

Need to find a sinking food vs what I have been feeding

[Sunny]

 

Your just a hater

True ... 

[mbettman]

so what a gimmick, reefs 2go sells the package knowing the snails will get eaten so you have to buy more. 

[lazylivin]

Yes all the stores that sells these package's likely know they aren't compatible in a small confined space like a aquarium. This is probably why they keep them separated and only bring in enough for what they can sell in a few weeks.

[Reefpete]

There aren't any crabs that I know of that reproduce in a tank. They do prey on snails as others have said and don't live long. Maybe 3 years if your lucky. Very few snails reproduce but their are some. I like hawaii strombus snails. In a tank without crabs they will grow into a large group that is forever sustainable. They clean the sand, rocks and glass. They don't leave eggs all over the place like other snails, hide during the day, stay small and won't knock anything over. Great choice for most tanks

+1