stallen Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 I just noticed that a few of my hermit crabs have these. Are they barnacles? Is this normal? This isnt an actual photo of the crabs. Its a photo I found with a google search, but it looks the same only each crab only has a couple on each. Quote Link to comment
flamingo Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 From my knowledge, yes. I had a few that were attached to my wild purple gorgonian I collected while in Florida. I didn't even notice them until it had been in my tank for a few months. Every couple of hours they send out big fan like structures like Anemone crabs have- and filter feed rapidly in 20 minute intervals usually. Well, at least that's what i've noted by watching them. Quote Link to comment
stallen Posted November 21, 2006 Author Share Posted November 21, 2006 Is it OK too have these in my tank? Quote Link to comment
flamingo Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Yes, they don't harm much. Quote Link to comment
stallen Posted November 21, 2006 Author Share Posted November 21, 2006 Yes, they don't harm much. "They don't harm much" isn't very comforting. Anyone else have anything to say. Should I remove these hermits with the "barnacles" from the tank? Quote Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Barnicals are harmless,unless they breed and continue to breed and over run the tank. Your hermit will change his shell and you can just scrape them off if you want.Use a dime or somthing. Quote Link to comment
endopsychic trashcan Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 I would not kill them, I have them in my tank and everything is thriving. The only reason I could think of them being harmful is like FUGU said, but that can be said for anything. Quote Link to comment
flamingo Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 "They don't harm much" isn't very comforting. Anyone else have anything to say. Should I remove these hermits with the "barnacles" from the tank? If they were a problem I wouldn't have said "they don't harm much". They don't multiply like crazy, they don't eat your fish obviously, and unless you have a million, they won't overfilter your water of nutrients. Need anything else on them? lol 1 Quote Link to comment
stallen Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 OK... it's been a couple weeks since I started this post. The crabs are now almost covered with them. There are a couple on my back wall. I went to the LFS today an the tank I got these crabs out of was COVERED with these things. I mean just like in the picture of my first post. All over the LR and back wall... COVERED! It looked pretty ugly. So I don't even know for sure what to do. Sure I could scrape off the ones on my back wall and maybe even get rid of the crabs, but I'm sure that wouldn't do any good. I'm sure these things are in places I can't see. Anyone ever have this happen to your tank??? Quote Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 (edited) Get one of those kent corillane scrapers or wait for your crab to molt into a "clean" shell. Do you have any pics? Now that I think of it,barnicals could be good in a fuge.Kinda like spaghetii worms. I don't know of any animals that eat barnicals.Barnicals have 10 legs you know. Oh pile perch's eat them but they are a coldwater fish.I could get one and ship it to you if you want to. Edited December 6, 2006 by FUGU!!! Quote Link to comment
stallen Posted December 6, 2006 Author Share Posted December 6, 2006 No pic necessary really I put one in my first post. That is what is on my snails. The penny in the pic helps with showing what size they are. They are just like the pic. Quote Link to comment
FUGU!!! Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 No pic necessary really I put one in my first post. That is what is on my snails. The penny in the pic helps with showing what size they are. They are just like the pic. Mkay Maby try a proven astipia killer on them.OVER AND OVER AGEAN.But I have run out of ideas....... Quote Link to comment
Mr. Fish Posted December 6, 2006 Share Posted December 6, 2006 Not sure what to do in your situation. Barnacles are harmless filter feeders, but your seem to be reaching plauge proportions. I would try scrapping the off the glass when you do water changes, apart from that I have no clue. I would ask Dr. Ron Shimek over at the marine depot forums personally. As for your question the white dots on the sides and back of my tank are Spirorbid worms. Think of them as mini feather dusters. They come off easily if i wanted to get them off, but they provide some biological filtration and are harmless. Here is a link with a picture and a little info on them: http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm D Quote Link to comment
HermitOhoy! Posted August 31, 2019 Share Posted August 31, 2019 I don’t think they can hurt them 🤔 but I have a few on my hermits shells, but they seem to be fine... should I scrape them off or just leave them? Idk what to do considering they haven’t spread anywhere... Quote Link to comment
Tired Posted September 5, 2019 Share Posted September 5, 2019 Barnacle decorations won't hurt your hermits. Doesn't matter what's on the shell as long as the shell is intact. They're just filter-feeders, and fun to watch. Also, this thread is from 13 years ago. It's generally good to start your own thread when the prior thread is over a decade old. 1 Quote Link to comment
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