help! My hermit is eating the feather duster!

[derekschwabe]

Hi I just bought a feather duster today and after indroducing it to my tank and placing it in there, my hermit crab got a hold of it and started ripping small pieces of it off the back end and devouring them! I had no clue that there would be this problem and now im worried about my new frogspawn and mushrooms too. Has anyone else had this problem. I moved the hermit away and watched him for a while. He hasn't touched the feather duster.. yet. I don't want that 3 dollar crab destroying my 20 dollar plus corrals. Should there be a problem.

 

Thanks in advance

 

-Derek

[Daemonfly]

Then just get rid of the hermit.

[derekschwabe]

Ive never had a problem w/ the hermit before

[gjones]

what kind of hermit is it?

[derekschwabe]

Just your average reef hermit. Like 3 bucks at the LFS.

[Izzue]

Hmm just a hermit??

I know their are several species -- My LFS only carries blue leg and red leg. If im not mistaken the red leg is better cause they produce their own shell where as the blue leg needs shells to host as they molt and get larger-- so they tend to be a little more aggressive for a new home when needed-- Just my 2 cents

 

Izzue

[derekschwabe]

really? Iv never heard that before. Well, mine change shells and have many times

[Izzue]

Derek

Dont hold me on that cause Im a Newbie and Im probable wrong-- but I could have sworn Ive read that somewhere before. Im going bye LFS this afternoon to get 5 more hermits and 2 more astria snails-- I added a new light and everthing including algae is taking off. I ll ask when Im their to try to confirm for ya. Actually the other evening one of my red legs basically knocked over a single frag of Sun polyp and appeared to be eating the base that was in the agralive-- I stuck it back down and put some rubble around it and have not noticed any ill affects from sun p.

 

Izzue

[Izzue]

Yep Derek

Im diffently a newbie--hermits dont make shells they host shells!!!

LFS said he didnt think their was to much difference in Red legs and Blue legs except -- REd legs tend to grow faster and do a better job at their duties compared to blue legs. Blue legs to well but dont grow as fast-- Sry for the bad Info. I know I did read somewhere on this forum that one of the two is a little more aggressive about taking host shells-- just dont remember if they said the blues or reds.

 

Izzue

[scd]

Snails make the shells hermits live in... There are MANY types of hermits that people keep in their tanks... More than one type of red and more than one type of blue, along with other colors. Some are certainly more aggressive than others. At the end of the day they are all crabs and hence have the ability to kill if they are hungry. You need to feed them. They prefer meaty stuff like pieces of fish or schrimp... But a worm will work as well ; )

[scd]

You also need to have a supply of shells in the tank for them to move into. Otherwise they will kill snails or each other or die.

[embryoguy]

get rid of any blue legged hermit crabs. buy red legged, scarlet hermits. they are very timid and very peaceful and WILL NOT bother your corals, snails, etc.

 

your blue legged ones will EAT your snails and potentially pick on your corals.

 

for months and months i kept keep losing snails, and finally realized it was the blue legged hermts doing it.

 

after replacing them with red legged scarlet hermits, i have not lost any in the past 2 months.

 

and yes ALL hermits need extra shells to grow into.

[derekschwabe]

Are the legs on the hermits actually blue and red, bc my hermit's legs are brownish/yellowish/greyish.

[gjones]

yea, depending on what type of hermit it is. I don't know what type you have, sorry.

[Daemonfly]

There are many types of hermits. Some are safer than others, some aren't safe at all, but yours already has shown he will eat featherdusters. If you don't want him to do this anymore, remove him from the main tank.

[bluebastion]

You could put him in a toilet tank... and you don't have to pay for a new sump either.

[steelhealr]

Well..better yet...take that guy out or limit the hermits you get. From my brief experience, hermit crab cleanup crew abilities are WAY overstated and they DO want a bigger shell when they outgrow the one they are in. Astreas are incredible LR cleaners. Margaritas and trochus/turbos great glass cleaners. Cerith are good. If I had to give a trophy, I think astreas would get it. JMO. SH

[Caesar777]

If your crab is "brownish/yellowish/greyish", then he is neither a blueleg nor a redleg, and certainly not a scarlet hermit. He's most likely some "misc hermit", most of which are anything BUT reef-safe. Frankly, ALL crabs will inevitably cause some level of problems, but the scarlet hermits (solid red body) are by far the safest, and least likely to bother things. Yours is probably not reef-safe at all, as he's proven by eating the duster. Take him back to the LFS to trade for a scarlet or two, or flush him. If he'll harm the duster, then he's more than likely to go after other sessile inverts too.

 

Also, just to be clear...Hermits can't create their own shells; they rely on either finding empty shells or killing snails (or fighting other hermits) and stealing their shells. For the record, scarlets rarely do this, but bluelegs and redleg/red-tip hermits commonly do this quite often.

[derekschwabe]

Ill see if i can get a pic

[ourtankismoreawesome]

Hey guys!! I know this is and old post but my wife came up with this really cool,easy and cheap idea we put our feather on a see through solo cup with half of the cup filled with sand. I wanted to show a picture but i dont know how anubody cares to teach me?

[cjm3fl]

From your brief description it sounds like it could be a Black Hermitcrab. They are somewhat bigger and more aggressive then the Blue-legged Hermits, and I feel that the Blue-legged are pretty aggressive compared to many other Hermitcrabs.

 

There are a crap-load of good CUC animals out there. The right species of snails and shrimp can cover all your needs without having to introduce hermits. I like the Scarlet Reef and the (sometimes called) Right-handed hermits as usually reef-safe.

All hermits need empty shells to choice from or they will turn on (kill) snails for new homes.

 

There is something I've tried to let people know about when they are stocking their aquariums...always know what you're putting in your tank.

"I got a hermit"..."I got a snail"...can be problematic, if the "hermit" starts eating other things in the tank and if the "snail" turns out to be a whelk.

"When in doubt get it out," is what I've told others when they think an animals might be causing a problem.

 

Someone mentioned Margarita snails. Many species of snails get lumped under this name, just like "Turbo" snails. The "true" Margarita is a coldwater animal, and like the Catalina gobie, doesn't belong in a reef temperature aquarium. Care should be taken when ordering these.

 

As for the Featherduster, I just bury the "back end" under a few pieces of rubble and they've been OK. The rubble protects that delicate part of the worm so other tank animals can't bother it/them.

[DurocShark]

My feather duster didn't like where I put it, so it bailed out of its tube and dove into the sand. It's built a new tube there and seems pretty happy. So they can relocate if they're uncomfortable.

 

My red legged (not scarlet) and blue legged hermits don't bother it, thankfully. I like it, and would honestly love to have a little forest of them.

[metrokat]

fill the cup with sand, the dusters like to be bury themselves

[ajmckay]

Holy old thread Batman! I'm not even annoyed, it's amazing this was even found...

[DurocShark]

Holy old thread Batman! I'm not even annoyed, it's amazing this was even found...

 

Evidence people actually use the search.