Tank cycling with hermits?

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gear-head

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 30, 2004
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Central Pennsylvania
Saw this comment on another site in a section about cycling a tank:

Add some hermit and/or true crabs instead. They are pretty hardy animals, rather inexpensive, and will cycle your tank just as well as fish do. Besides, they can be pretty entertaining critters to have.

Any comments? I thought if this is true (aka crabs won't die!) it might be nice to have something moving in the tank during the weeks of cycling?
 
I had crabs in with my LR during cycling (hitchhikers) and they were fine. I don't think crabs would help the cycle process, as they produce very little waste/ammonia. Your LR is what will help your tank cycle.
 
yeah i hear their rock is pretty sweet. I have 10lbs of reef rock from the LFS that's got several weeks of curing to go through.
 
Here's a better question for you. If you were only able to take half the #'s of breaths that you take everyday.....how would you feel? Would you survive? Could you go to work everyday. The answer to the 2nd two would probably be yes. But you would most certainly be the worse for the wear after the experience was over.


Now..That was not meant sarcastically. It was meant to prove a point. If you can cycle a tank with a cocktail shrimp, why not do it. The crabs are living creatures...why put them through the cycle if you dont have too? And "impatience" is not a valid reason. We have to always remember that these are living creatures....treat them like it. :wink:
 
I'll echo Squishy's comment regarding that they might "survive" but the conditions of the water during a cycle are deplorable and unhealthy. Imagine living in your bedroom, that you can't leave, and is filled with dozens dirty diapers and dead rats that are rotting. When you go to the bathroom, it adds to the stink and the mess.

This is what you're putting animals through when you use them to cycle your tank.

Please read our article (instructions) on how to Cycle Without Fish. IMO, it's faster and easier than using fish because you don't have to worry about water changes or the levels getting TOO high, because there's nothing alive in the tank so you can let it spike all it wants and create a boat load of bacteria in your DSB/LR
 
From what I understand about nitrite and methaemoglobin, a good analogy is sitting in your car with the exhaust fumes piped in through the window. Sound familiar? Yeah it's how some people choose to end their lives.

This isn't being passionate or emotional about our animals. This is basic science.
 
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