Hermit Crabs for Saltwater Tanks

[mwilliams]

I do not know which ones I have either the Red or Blue legged Hermit Crabs in my tank and the other night I saw a pair that was possibly mating.
If they indeed was matting and it was a sucessful mating what do I need to do?
How long will it take before she lays her eggs?

 

[redneckgearhead]

I dont believe they can mate in the "normal" reef tank. I believe they need a "beach" to lay the eggs. And they may have just been arguing over a shell, happens alot.

 

[Ziggy953]

I would google hermit crab mating and breeding. I'm pretty sure that redneckgearhead is correct here.

 

[austinsdad]

And even if they did mate, there's nothing you can do to get baby crabs. If they start doing it again, best you can do is turn the lights down low and play some Barry White.

I agree though, they were prolly just jockying over a shell.

 

[Jaybird]

If you can see the hermits you will know if you have blue-leg or red hermits. Blue-leg hermits have obviously blue legs. They fight all the time over shells. Get some extras and toss them in there and it should help with some of the fighting.

 

[austinsdad]

Good advice to put some empty shells in there for them to grow. If not, they'll fight a lot and kill snails often.

 

[Jaybird]

Mine do that anyways. They usually go after the margaritas for the shells.

Good advice to put some empty shells in there for them to grow. If not, they'll fight a lot and kill snails often.

 

[mwilliams]

I don't think they where fighting over the shells because it was the bigger one on the small one. And I did go and read some info on the internet and they where doing actually as it was described for mating.
but I could not find much info on what takes place after the fact.... but will go and look some more

 

[speckrb]

Interesting point brought up. Ijust got 2 hermit crabs and am planning on 3 or 4 snails for my CUC. Do I have to worry about the crabs going after the snails? The 2 crabs I have are red legged hermits. LFS are all out of snails for months now.

 

[Jaybird]

Depends on the snails and it depends on the hermits. The blue-leg ones seem, for me, to kill more of my snails but they do a better job than the reds. I find them mostly killing margaritas and cerith snails. The trocus stick on the glass too well for them to get them off but if they fall they can be food too.

 

[mwilliams]

Mine are the Red legged hermit crabs and they have not bothered my snails but four of my snails hide under the sand until they either feeding time or night time the others are stuck on the glass and sometimes on the rocks.