Pink hermit crab? Name/Where to buy? (pic)

[Darold]

My friend has this pink hermit crab in his tank. He moves around more than any of the other crabs in his tank. I really want one for my 20L. Can someone explain what the name of this bad boy is, and where I might be able to purchase one?

 

[minimalist]

I work at a custom frame store and someone recently brought in some photos from a scuba diving trip. One of the pics featured a close up of one of those guys. I don't think they're sold at fish stores, but rather taken straight from the ocean from those with tanks near the Atlantic. Wish I could be of more help.

[Darold]

Wow, thanks for the info. Does anyone know if they are reef safe?

[Alexraptor]

that looks suspiciously alot like a red hairy hermit, wich are not reef safe, they rip LR in pieces on their quest for algae. and they eat coraline too

[Darold]

http://www.scuba-equipment-usa.com/marine/APR04/images/Dardanus_lagopodes.jpg

 

Found this while doing some research on the hairy red. They do look a lot alike. His is not nearly as red or as hairy though. I hope they aren't the same.

[Caesar777]

Definitely NOT reef-safe. The ONLY hermits of any kind that I'd put in my tank are scarlet hermits.

[Six]

no hermits are really reef safe if you want to get technical. they can be somewhat safe, but it all depends on what youre trying to keep. if youre trying to keep something universal, like snails, they are not safe.

[Caesar777]

Well, THAT type of hermit--and most of the large ones--WILL eat anything, not just snails. And I've had bluelegs and redlegs pick at corals and other things. All of the "hairy" hermits are vicious everything-eaters (so sue me, it's 5AM and I haven't slept) and will kill fish, corals, other hermits, etc.

[Alexraptor]

hate to disagree with ye

 

but i not long ago had a Yellow Hairy Hermit(Aniculus maximus)

That left both corals, snails and fish alone, he was even careful and didnt put his legs down were there where corals, unfourtauntaley he kinda agitated them a bit with his big shell lol. but he wasent reef safe in the manner that he was a buldozer knocking around LR and corals, and eating ALL my coraline algae

so i had to move him, sadly he died not long after he molted

but i did note that it did some good, cause my LR now has more coraline than it even had

 

but i wouldnt do it again haha

[Six]

Alright, if the hermits are drasticly different in size, they may not try to eat your snails for a while.

Hermits use snail shells, they don't create their own... if they have outgrown theirs, they make a new home and get a meal as well.

[klagos]

I keep several different types of hermits. Reds, blues, zebras... Some are big, some are little, some are hairy. As Mr. Piranha said, mine have never gone after coral or living fish. A clown died and two hermits cleaned him up. The only problem I have is the larger ones do pull the bulldozer thing. Keep a bunch of different sized empty shells (My LFS just gives me empty shells when I ask) and keep an eye on him. If they are like mine, they will not be a problem. In fact the bigger ones are very active and fun to watch. I put one drop of the cyclopeeze/rotifer/oyster egg mix I use, and the hermits all come out and run around for awhile. Good luck.

[Darold]

Thanks for your posts everyone. Yeah, I knew that snails were the source for the hermits shells, but I am willing to live with that (my friend is too aparently). I feel bad for for the larger snails, so I bought several empty large shells and threw them in the tank. Although this hasn't eliminated the loss of snails, it definately did slow down the agression. I am using a majority of very tiny snails instead of larger ones that the hermits would eat. My friend is doing the same with his tank. I think I will use red tipps only next time around.

 

I really just wanted to know how agressive this particular species was, since I did not want it to completely kill all the snails/hermits in my tank or eat my corals. So far the little pink guy has proven to be a very hard worker in cleaning up my friends cyano problem. He always has a big bald spot of algae around him, and will run across the tnak when he finishes a job at one place.

[genuck]

OMG!! check out my avatar! that is my favorite hermit. i got him from the lfs and he never bothers anything. doesn't even go after food scraps. eats algae only and is somewhat 'scared' of certain corals. i've seen him take off running after accidently touch a ricordia. and he has never changed his shell yet, even though he's molted 5 or 6 times already.

 

[Darold]

Yep, thats the guy! I have yet to see him touching anything other than algae in my friends tank, which he eats at a much quicker pace than any of the other hermits. He seems to be the ideal crab.