About how many hermit crabs for a 55 gallon?

[runway1]

I have 10 now but I've seen cleaning crew bundles that have 30 hermits for a 55 gal! Should I add more hermits? Thanks all!

 

[IndyReefMan]

I had about 20 in my 72 gal and that seemed to work okay for a while. However, they eventually started picking on other inverts in my tank, especially the feather dusters. I guess the hermit population should be dependent upon the bio-load in your tank... mine apparently wasn't high enough to support that many hermits or they wouldn't have felt the need to turn so aggressive. As they began to die off, I didn't replace them and instead added more snails. Nassarius are especially good for cleaning up detritus. I now keep the rest of the hermits in my 35 gal sump. The 25 lbs of live rock rubble in there keep them pretty busy. You'll find that these message boards have some mixed reviews on keeping a lot of hermits in your tank. I'm not saying not to have any at all. They certainly have their place in the clean up crew. If you want to add more, I wouldn't dump a whole bunch in at the same time. Consider adding just a few at a time so you won't experience what I did. Best of luck to you.

 

[Morticus]

I've heard that the blue leg hermits will kill each other and pick on inverts occationally, but scarlet hermits won't. This isn't based on experiance, so maybe someone else will chime in.

 

[IndyReefMan]

That would explain my problem... mine were blue leg hermits. It is my experience with them that has turned me into a snail fan.

 

[mjvincent]

I had 12 in my 32 hex (red legs). You really need to use your judgement and look at what your tank needs and then decide what will help you the most. If you have alot of build up on the substrate and your rock then I would get more. If not leave things as is...