Hermit crab relocation?

[typemismatch]

Hello!

I have a neat hermit crab, about 2 inches in size, he was doing really well, swapping shells etc but now he has decided my button polyp corals are yummy and is destroying a beautiful colony.

Anything I can do besides taking him to the store for a new home? The tank is 90G, has lots for him to eat but I think he now has a taste for them.

Thanks
Craig

 

[crew]

i put all of my hermits in the sump and let them deal with life in "prison".

 

[typemismatch]

do you feed 'em down there? - the little scarlet crabs seems ok.

 

[catgirl29]

I've thought about getting rid of my hermit crabs from time to time. They don't mess with coral but they do prey on snails, it seems. For this reason, I bought an assortment of extra shells that I put in the tank so that they can upgrade as needed. Doesn't really stop them if a tasty snail falls over though.

I'll bet you won't get that crab to stop picking on your coral. It might be best to find him a FOWLR home.

 

[crew]

I dont feed them. I find that they get enough food from the detritus that settles in my sump.

 

[civics14]

where do you get extra shells from? I seen my hermits rip other hermits out of their shell and same thing with snails.

 

[catgirl29]

I ordered some mangroves from Reef Cleaners a long time ago. Had difficulty with the live things in that order but the shells came. I now get all CUC locally. Maybe someone else knows of a store that carries shells?

 

[typemismatch]

Do a search on eBay for hermit crab sea shells, I found a seller in FL who sells batches of about 30 for $10, they are great, crabs loved them and were shell jumping in minutes.

 

[crew]

I've seen empty shells at several of our sponsor stores, but I can't remember which off the top of the my head. My issue is the hermits tends to continue to get bigger and bigger until things like fish become food.

 

[bulkrate]

If you need/want a variety hit up Hobby Lobby & get a bag of them for $2-5. Just keep in mind to discard any painted shells & boil in RO the ones you want to use.

Haven't had a case of hermit-on-snail violence in my tank for the last year or so... stopped stocking the more violent (red leg) hermits in favor of scarlets and also stopped buying tasty snails (Astrea) and switched to banded trochus & ceriths.

 

[civics14]

I would never have thought to check ebay or hobby lobby, thanks for the input

 

[camellia]

civics14;1067170 wrote: I would never have thought to check ebay or hobby lobby, thanks for the input

What sizes do you think you need? I've got a Tupperware full of extras I bought a long time ago and could send you a few in the mail if you PM me me me your address.

 

[tbub1221]

Sump it