Marine Hermit Crabs

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:34 pm

Are there any sites dedicated to marine hermit crabs? I am interested in them, I am thinking about getting another tank and starting a marine hermit crab colony. It's hard to to find info on how to care for them.

Are they ever available at pet stores? I haven't seen any at my local ones.

I read some where that they are illegal to keep. is that true?

OIF_VET · Post by **OIF_VET** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:52 pm

Yes...I have Kept Marine Hermies...But these were from the Beach...Wild...
U can get all sorts of Marine Hermies...Some Good Places online as well.
I know I have seen these sold as Reef Cleaners.
U can get them from a Good Aquarist Shop..U may want and Need to Talk with the shop in regards to Lighting and Water Quality..and of Course temps.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:56 pm

Marine hermits have to be kept in a reef tank. Your best bet to find them is to look at salt water fish stores. I dont think they are illegal because me and my hubby was at one of the stores and they had them all over the place. However, a reef tank is very expensive to set up. You have to have special lights, pumps, salt water, something to make a current, ect, and if Im not mistaken, everything in it has to be live, so you are looking at live sand, live rock, ect. My hubby is planning on doing it (thats why we were in the store) but he has to go extremely slow with it. Buy the stand one week, a pump the next, a light the next, ect until he has everything he needs because it is so expensive. Hope that helps

Angela

hermiegirl · Post by **hermiegirl** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 2:13 pm

They're not illegal, a store near me has one salt water tank, and when I went in, they were slowly adjusting the marine hermies to the new water. But CtryLuv is right, they're expensive to keep since they're saltwater creatures. They have all sorts of colors of marine hermies. I've seen electric blue, bright orange, and bright red legged hermies on Ebay. I'm sure there's more that are available if you find the right place to look.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:06 pm

About how much is a set up? what is a good size tank?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:14 pm

According to the guy we talked to at the aquarium place, the smallest would be around a 55 and he said that might be pushing it. I havent even begun to price everything yet, but I am figuring with tank and all, probably over 1000 minimum. The only reason the hubby is getting one is so he will lay off me about my hermits, lol!

EDIT: Ok, I just did a search and it said its between 2000-3000 dollars

Angela

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 10, 2006 10:54 pm

What do marine hermit crabs eat? How do they molt? Do they need to come out of the water at all? I may be able to get a good deal on pumps and a huge tank from a friend i found out, so now i am starting to get a little serious about doing this.

BAB · Post by **BAB** » Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:01 am

I believe marine hermits can be used to clean the reef tank... so algae? I'm sure they eat more.

I don't think they come out of the water... for any reason really.

I'm thinking they do molt... but I do not know how... hehe... not much help there...

Shell's are just like the ones we use for land hermits. There's a little different variety because they can be just as picky as the land hermits too.

Reef tanks need to be bigger because the reef you set up in the tank reduces your water permitted. And the pumps are necessary and need to be just so to simulate the ocean current.

(We have a good friend who is TOTALLY into saltwater tank stuff and I've learned a LOT from him. He's as nutso about saltwater reef stuff as I am about hermit crabs. HEHE )

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:36 pm

To start one up you'll need...

A good sized tank.
Heater.
A hood that can hold a high watt bulb to encourage algae growth.
Water treatment. (I suggest Prime.)
A good protein skimmer.
A wave maker.
A good brand of salt mix.
Saltwater and Reef test kits. (Very important!)
TONS of shells, I'd say at the least 10 per crab. (The more the better) I've heard tons of stories of shell fights and cannibalism in marine Hermits due to not having enough shells and some about marine Hermits who just couldn't get along with other crabs so you'll want a LARGE tank.
At least 5in of live sand.
Tons of live rock for lots of hiding place.
Like once a week you'll want to drop in a dead fish (Cut up) for them to eat.
You'll need to have your tank up for at least a month with everything in it before you add Hermits, you need a good algae growth for them to eat, they also eat off live rock reason you need a lot.

I would research the different types and make sure your water levels are correct before buying any. Like I said before, you'll want to have the tank running for at least a month with everything in it to encourage algae growth before getting them plus you'll want to stock up on shells and watch the water levels during this time.

*owns a saltwater tank*

I love it but my mom hates it cause it's expensive and annoying to maintain.

And yes, they do molt just like LHC's and it's just as stressful so make sure you have a variety of sizes and stuff so that they can grow into them.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 4:52 pm

You dont exactly have to have a humungous multi hundred dollar tank. a big thing right now are nano reefs, small saltwater setups consisting of only 1-10g that have a small chunk of live rock, a inch or two of live sand,
and a couple corals on the rock. you can keep 2-3 crabs in there along with a few snails quite comfortably, and it only cost $50-$100!

Heres a good nano reef site

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/

Oh, and marine hermits molt at night and They dont bury. It to my knowledge it only takes one day. You have to make sure your crab has a place to hide while it molts

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 5:55 pm

As in "colony" I'd guess they'd want quite a few and anything lower than a 10G I wouldn't suggest more than maybe 2-3 Hermits. Personally if I was going to put money into something like a reef tank I'd get at the least a 20-30 gallon long, add some coral, live sand, live rock and then get around 7-10 Hermits because the more you have the more likely you are to see them but the more you have the more space you need. (Since everyone I talked to said when they only had a few they rarely saw them.

If you only want 1 or 2 Hermits then little reef tanks (I'd have at least a 5-10 gallon for 2.) that fit on like computer desk and kitchen counters are the way to go.

I want a Marine Hermie but I don't think my tank would be well suited for it. I'd be scared it would eat my anemone or the anemone would eat it. o__o

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 7:09 pm

sorry, I didn't realize they siad colony. And I agree, if I boughtt a reef aqurium I would buy atleast a 20g. I was just saying it doesn't have to be so big.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:47 am

Rattie wrote:To start one up you'll need...

A good sized tank.
Heater.
A hood that can hold a high watt bulb to encourage algae growth.
Water treatment. (I suggest Prime.)
A good protein skimmer.
A wave maker.
A good brand of salt mix.
Saltwater and Reef test kits. (Very important!)
TONS of shells, I'd say at the least 10 per crab. (The more the better) I've heard tons of stories of shell fights and cannibalism in marine Hermits due to not having enough shells and some about marine Hermits who just couldn't get along with other crabs so you'll want a LARGE tank.
At least 5in of live sand.
Tons of live rock for lots of hiding place.
Like once a week you'll want to drop in a dead fish (Cut up) for them to eat.
You'll need to have your tank up for at least a month with everything in it before you add Hermits, you need a good algae growth for them to eat, they also eat off live rock reason you need a lot.

I would research the different types and make sure your water levels are correct before buying any. Like I said before, you'll want to have the tank running for at least a month with everything in it to encourage algae growth before getting them plus you'll want to stock up on shells and watch the water levels during this time.

*owns a saltwater tank* I love it but my mom hates it cause it's expensive and annoying to maintain.

And yes, they do molt just like LHC's and it's just as stressful so make sure you have a variety of sizes and stuff so that they can grow into them.

Hi

You seem pretty knowledgeable about this so thought I would ask you about having corals and marine hermit crabs? I have a reef tank and I have land hermit crabs. However, I do not have any marine hermits and thought I might like to try. Since they pick at the live rock, will they also pick at my corals?

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:20 pm

Eragon wrote:You dont exactly have to have a humungous multi hundred dollar tank. a big thing right now are nano reefs, small saltwater setups consisting of only 1-10g that have a small chunk of live rock, a inch or two of live sand,
and a couple corals on the rock. you can keep 2-3 crabs in there along with a few snails quite comfortably, and it only cost $50-$100!

Heres a good nano reef site

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/

Oh, and marine hermits molt at night and They dont bury. It to my knowledge it only takes one day. You have to make sure your crab has a place to hide while it molts

my MHC (almost 20 molts so far) don't all molt at night, some do but then others do it during the day. not all of them really "find a place to hide," some of mine do it out in the open (usually the bigger ones) but some do find a little hiding spot. they don't need to hide as much because they are much less vulnerable post-molt, they almost immediately are able to walk around and engage in eating and climbing. most of the time they are less active (but not non-active) for a day or so, but no where near the level LHCs are. the cool think though is that they never eat the exo, so you can take it out and preserve it, really interesting.

Caroline

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 12:36 pm

Chryss wrote: Hi

You seem pretty knowledgeable about this so thought I would ask you about having corals and marine hermit crabs? I have a reef tank and I have land hermit crabs. However, I do not have any marine hermits and thought I might like to try. Since they pick at the live rock, will they also pick at my corals?

no species of MHC is completely "reef safe", they will all pick at coral to some extent, but some are more destructive that others. this is a great site to tell you what crabs are most safe around corals:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inver ... tcrabs.htm

i have a 14 gallon and i love it. you don't have to have a huge tank. smaller tanks are more difficult to keep up, but i think its worth it. i've got about 8 or 9 different MHC species, so if you want to hear my experiences with MHC, just pm me.

Caroline