hermits!!!

[nycfatcow]

Have about 10 hermits in my tank. WAnt to take them out...But they are all hiding somewhere..Any bright ideas to lure them out? They been eating all my snails gotta get rid of them

 

[Brenden]

Xterminator trap, glass tilted on a rock with bait, are two ways to catch them. What kind of hermits? I have no problems with mine ( blue ones fight each other on occasion). I have blue and scarlet hermits

 

[DragonForce]

Why not just leave them? They are great additions to any tank. You can let them eat your snails, just leave the shells in there for them to live in and they won't kill off anymore. If they are the large bully type you could take them out, otherwise leave em.

 

[nycfatcow]

yeh they a bully killed like 10-15 snails already, its becoming a problem..i cant even find them..they molting....so they will start killin my turbos for bigger shells..

 

[DragonForce]

Thats a shame. My hermits go crazy when it's feeding time, maybe you can try and capture them then by hand.

You can try to lean an ordinary glass up against a rock and place some food at the bottom. When the crab crawls into the glass he wont be able to climb back out because it will be to slippery for him. HTH!

 

[austinsdad]

And you sure there's nothing going on with the water that's killing the snails off? I think they're the most sensitive to certain water conditions. Nitrate maybe.

Crabs will always eat on a dead snail. What kinda hermits you got? 10 - 15 dead snails in a short (I presume) amount of time sounds like a crazy amount IMO.

 

[tecwzrd]

You’re better off keeping the hermits then the snails in the long run imo because they are more efficient in keeping the tank algae free and are more interesting to look at. As long as they are the smaller red/blue leg hermits and not the 2”-3” hermits.

Also due to the snails slow nature and habit of hanging out in one spot for a long time you may not notice that they are dead and can foul up your water parameters quite quickly with a high NH3 spike and kill of the rest of the tank. Especially with 5+ dieing at one time!

I keep 5 shells of different sizes in the tank for them so they don’t mess with the snails. I haven’t lost a single snail yet. Also most snails are very hardy once in the tank but need to be acclimated slowly (I did mine for 4 hours using drip method.) If you see them dieing off within a week it’s usually due to improper acclimation.

 

[mykpoz]

Xterminator trap, glass tilted on a rock with bait, are two ways to catch them. What kind of hermits? I have no problems with mine ( blue ones fight each other on occasion). I have blue and scarlet hermits

did you ever put the bandanas in there?

 

[nycfatcow]

haha thanks for the replys, the snails were eaten over a 3 months period...i see the hermits constantly around the snails.. im sure they eat them...then they take over the shell...ok gonna try the glass trick thanks

 

[austinsdad]

Are the culprits electric blues? They are mean IMO.

 

[BillyZ]

Hermits have been known to go after snails in order to make their shells available. But it is usualy only because other shells aren't available. One way to help alleviate the situation, is to go to a LFS and see about buying a selection of empty shells. Get a variety of sizes and just drop them into the tank. The hermits will come across them in their wandering and check them out. If the size is right they'll move in and leave your snails alone.

 

[nycfatcow]

lol not the point, i am getting rid of them regardless...they all hiding i cant find them!!!

 

[ace1uno_00]

set your alarm clock to 3 am and get them when they least expect it.
lol