Herd of hermits

[mattmku]

I have a dozen blue legged hermit crabs in my 20 gallon. I put them in about a week ago and all twelve of them have made their way to the highest point in the highest live rock in the tank (cleanest rock you'll ever see)...is it normal for hermits to group or is this a sign?

 

[quarryshark]

You say its the cleanest rock, is there any algae where they are gathering? If so they may be feeding on it.
I don't think its a sign of anything.

 

[wlam18]

BTW, anybody knows hermit crabs mold like shrimp or not?

 

[revhtree]

Yes they do!

 

[aquafreak]

...threw a bunch in with my 110 gallon while it was cycling... they're pretty happy little critters on the new live rock.

 

[grimlock3000]

Sometimes during the night, my hermit group together on the peaks of LR. Never figured out why

 

[sevise]

Some of my smaller hermits form groups during the day. At night or when I feed the disperse though.

All my astrae stay within the top 1/3 of my tank, I think they just prefer the prime algae.

 

[aquafreak]

...does anyone know what to do when they start outgrowing their shells? Is there somewhere to get more... they're little dudes.

 

[IfoundNemo]

You can buy some larger empty hermit crab shells from LFS, wash them good, and drop them in your tank. The little dudes will eventualy venture into their new homes when they are ready.

 

[got bait?]

a good LFS will sell empty shells or better yet, give them to you. You can find them on line too. You should have a little hermit shell junk yard in your tank. need a variety of transition shells. You'd be surprised how big of a shell these little guys can carry.

 

[jaiden]

two of my hermits took out two of my snails to take their shells...

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

I've found my snails grouping together alot too. I wonder if they are having a "safety meeting"

 

[quarryshark]

Ya, they will grow. Check this guy out. He has grown to 2" wide now. I had to get a couple of those tree crab shells for him. The only ones that are big enough that I can find around here.

 

[aquafreak]

woah neato -- 'big' little blue colorful dude ...will have to get to a LFS then...

 

[grimlock3000]

I look forward to the day when any of my Hermit get anything close to that large

 

[quarryshark]

He has become one of the "prides" of my tank. Hard to believe a little dude purchased as part of a cleanup crew would become one of my showcase inverts.
Don't expect them all to grow like this, so far he's the only one I have had that has approached this size.
I have to watch him close. He has a tendancy to get stuck in the rockwork with that big shell. I have had to "rescue" him more than once.

 

[grimlock3000]

A LFS close to me has some Hermits that are about .75 inches across and they sell them for $6 each. I really want one, but everytime I see them, they are eating large snails I figured if any of my Hermits get that big, they can deserve the snails they eat up until that point. I would hate to drop a large Hermit in the tank and have it go through a couple snails a week though

 

[quarryshark]

Hmm, I have never seen an aggessive move out of mine. Can't say what he does after dark though.
It may help that I target feed him.