Snails and MHC Crabs? (plus care info)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 6:07 pm

I've been thinking that I might want to set up a tank sometime in the distant future, and I was wondering if it would be possible to keep snails and hermits together.

Obviously the first thought is "no" as a crab might kill a snail for it's shell, but I don't think this would be a problem if there are enough empty shells.

If any of you guys have marine tank experience, I would love some opinions.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:12 pm

They're sold together so I THINK they'd be fine together, I had the same idea as you actual but it hasn't happened yet.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 8:00 pm

what do you mean buy "Sold Together" i have never seen snails and crabs sold together and i don't think it would be a good idea. The crabs will probley eat them.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:01 am

Well at a locally owned pet store they sell all of the coral, Snails, Hermit Crabs, and starfish from the same tank.

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 10:06 am

theres a snail in my saltwater tank that came with the live rock...as well as some anemones and a couple hawaiian lined fireworms. all coexist peacefully, the snail has never been bothered by the hermits. just make sure to provide lots of shells so that the hermits aren't tempted.

Caroline

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:39 pm

Thanks for the input everybody. I doubt I'll be setting up a tank anytime soon, but when I do, I'd like to have a little of both.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:41 pm

annopia wrote:theres a snail in my saltwater tank that came with the live rock...as well as some anemones and a couple hawaiian lined fireworms. all coexist peacefully, the snail has never been bothered by the hermits. just make sure to provide lots of shells so that the hermits aren't tempted.

Caroline

Hi

What kind of MHC's do you have? I was wondering because I have a reef tank. I have LHC's and love them and seen some MHC in the store the other day so I thought they would be great to have. They are mostly all brown with some orange on them. I didn't think to consider if they would bother my corals. Do you have any of those?

BTW, one of them was riding on my Turbo Snail this morning. I sure hope he was in for the ride and not for a snack

I didn't consider that he might want to eat them. Heheheh

I have enjoyed them though. I have had them for two days and they have already changed shells. They are nearly as shy as the LHC's and they hang out all the time. It is nice.

I hope they don't bother my corals or I will have to find a home for them.

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 6:37 pm

Chryss wrote: Hi

What kind of MHC's do you have? I was wondering because I have a reef tank. I have LHC's and love them and seen some MHC in the store the other day so I thought they would be great to have. They are mostly all brown with some orange on them. I didn't think to consider if they would bother my corals. Do you have any of those?

BTW, one of them was riding on my Turbo Snail this morning. I sure hope he was in for the ride and not for a snack I didn't consider that he might want to eat them. Heheheh

I have enjoyed them though. I have had them for two days and they have already changed shells. They are nearly as shy as the LHC's and they hang out all the time. It is nice.

I hope they don't bother my corals or I will have to find a home for them.

I have been lucky enough to have 11 species of marine crabs, these are what i have:

paguristes cadenati (scarletts)
clibanarius tricolor (blue-legged)
clibanarius seurati
clibanarius vittatus
clibanarius rhabodactylus
paguristes punticeps
clibanarius corallinus
diogenid sp.
calcinus elegans
calcinus tibicen
calcinus lineapropodus

i think you're talking about orange-clawed hermits (calcinus tibicen), like Cadmium:

but, i have a couple others with orange. Zinc and Mercury (paguristes punticeps):

Orestia and Eumenides are clibanarius tricolor:

Delphi is a subtype of calcinus elegans:

I don't have corals but i do know a bit about which hermits are compatable and which are not. so, tell me which one it is, and i'll probably have some ideas. hopefully its one of these.

Caroline

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 12:20 am

I have been lucky enough to have 11 species of marine crabs, these are what i have:

paguristes cadenati (scarletts)
clibanarius tricolor (blue-legged)
clibanarius seurati
clibanarius vittatus
clibanarius rhabodactylus
paguristes punticeps
clibanarius corallinus
diogenid sp.
calcinus elegans
calcinus tibicen
calcinus lineapropodus

i think you're talking about orange-clawed hermits (calcinus tibicen), like Cadmium:

but, i have a couple others with orange. Zinc and Mercury (paguristes punticeps):

Orestia and Eumenides are clibanarius tricolor:

Delphi is a subtype of calcinus elegans:

I don't have corals but i do know a bit about which hermits are compatable and which are not. so, tell me which one it is, and i'll probably have some ideas. hopefully its one of these.

Caroline[/quote]

Caroline

Thanks for the pics. I can't really decide that they look like any of those pics. They are similar to the the last one. They are mostly all brown and have tan/orange bands on their legs like the bottom one but not as defined.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 12:33 am

After looking some more, the bands are real thin and seem to be placed on the joints of their legs.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 9:13 am

Hi Caroline

I have done some researching and I got a much better look today and I believe they are yellow striped as I see fine yellow lines running up and down their legs. Do you know anything about them and if they are ok in a reef tank?

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:50 pm

so, vertical yellow stripes on brown? and do you think they still have the horizontal orange stripes?

i've got a crab with brown and yellow vertical stripes, Megara, a clibanarius rhabodactylus. but his lines are quite noticeable and not small, so i don't know if he's what you're looking for:

the two most helpful ID websites i use for my MHC (because my aquarium gets lots of different species but usually can't put a name to them). don't let the first site scare you, the guy is kind of anti-MHC, but the pictures are still useful. and the second site is in french, but that doesn't matter, you don't need to read the text, just scroll down for the pictures:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inver ... tcrabs.htm
http://www.recif.be/article/hermit.htm

Caroline

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:28 am

annopia wrote:so, vertical yellow stripes on brown? and do you think they still have the horizontal orange stripes?

i've got a crab with brown and yellow vertical stripes, Megara, a clibanarius rhabodactylus. but his lines are quite noticeable and not small, so i don't know if he's what you're looking for:

the two most helpful ID websites i use for my MHC (because my aquarium gets lots of different species but usually can't put a name to them). don't let the first site scare you, the guy is kind of anti-MHC, but the pictures are still useful. and the second site is in french, but that doesn't matter, you don't need to read the text, just scroll down for the pictures:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inver ... tcrabs.htm
http://www.recif.be/article/hermit.htm

Caroline

Yes I do beleive this is what they look like. So do you think they will be ok in the reef? It seems they are doing ok so far. I can't believe how NOT shy they are like my MHC. Two of them have switched shells (one of them twice) and the other switched but went back to his old.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:35 am

annopia wrote:so, vertical yellow stripes on brown? and do you think they still have the horizontal orange stripes?

i've got a crab with brown and yellow vertical stripes, Megara, a clibanarius rhabodactylus. but his lines are quite noticeable and not small, so i don't know if he's what you're looking for:

the two most helpful ID websites i use for my MHC (because my aquarium gets lots of different species but usually can't put a name to them). don't let the first site scare you, the guy is kind of anti-MHC, but the pictures are still useful. and the second site is in french, but that doesn't matter, you don't need to read the text, just scroll down for the pictures:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inver ... tcrabs.htm
http://www.recif.be/article/hermit.htm

Caroline

Ok I went to the French site and I believe they look more like this one:

Clibanarius sp

They have the small stripes like that and their pinchers look just like that and they have the small bands I was telling you about at the leg joints. So . . . hehehe - do you happen to know anything about that species?

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:41 am

ah yes, i am familiar with the type of crab, they are extremely similar to several species i have. this species is about as safe as it an get with MHCs. there is never a guarentee that MHCs wont try to eat corals, but this one is unlikely to, especially if provided enough other food. they are also not very aggressive and they are some of the hardiest MHCs sold.

Caroline