Basic hermit question...

[MattP725]

Do hermits eat algae? I wasn't really sure but now where my hermit has sat for about 12 hours is crystal clear in the substrate. I have seen him pick at the rocks but I didn't know if he was searching for food or eating the algae. It is actually diatom brown algae.

 

[Corty]

I purchased two types of hermit crabs, scarlet reef and red tipped. Upon placing them inside the aquarium, they went nuts. One of them realized there was food first, and mowed down the algae through the sand.

The others climbed onto the rock and mowed down the hair algae.

It took about three days until I had to supplement the tank. They pretty much destroyed all the alage available.

Foster & Smith offers an algae attack pack with them: http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=520&TopCatId=420

 

[MattP725]

Ya I still don't know what kind I have... it is red (but not scarlet red) and has little yellow dots all over... it is kinda fuzzy too. I got it from the dreaded petco.