HCA: Hermit Crab Association

wodesorel wrote:. Otherwise you'd need to put them all in tiny cups or something.

That is what some researchers have done. Set up right it can actually save time. One used a bead of hot glue as a ladder to let the little one's climb out of the water. Look for papers on compressus.

Keith

IF you are keeping anemones, other than the minimaxi varieties, I would suggest two things, A) that the tank be more mature before adding them say 6-12 month old and stable and B) that you upgrade the lights to LED, Halide or T5s. Having said that MHC are fascinating. I have several in my nano and t...

you do not need a cycled marine tank. Use the method Brody used in her papers and raise them in little cups. Much easier and if you have a cycles marine tank with live rock, the odds are that there will be other critters in that tank that will damage the kids, the pumps you will need to use will shr...

Is it just me or do they all appear to have their heads/mouths positioned over the joints of the antenna? It's not you. I suspect those buggers are feeding on hemolymph. I would kill them (As you are doing), manual removal may well take care of it. Many mites have a temperature dependent life cycle...

Stunning creature - I am glad he did well with the molt.

You may be inferring more than I intended. very possible, these internet discussions can sometimes be challenging I was referring to molting under leaves and moss as a "surface molt" for the purpose of distinguishing it from a subterranean molt. gotcha - I can see soem of the confusion. To read bet...

On the previous page Wodesorel stated that the pH of coco fiber can range from 5.5 to 6.8. So I guess depending on what type of coco fiber you buy your substrate may actually be pretty close to neutral. The pH of vinegar is much more acidic at about 2.4. Not really very comparable. Sigh. for the pu...

Also, I don't think the shell argument is valid. I think I said that. Shells are composed primarily of aragonite (calcium carbonate). Hermit crab exo is mainly chitin (closely related to glucose, a sugar). Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. I think I said that too. Just because...

Imagine my surprise when I learned that this tropical exo-skeletoned arthropod that molts is recommended to be kept on sphagnum peat moss. My initial reaction from having hermits was complete terror, thinking about all the warnings I had heard about pitted exos and bad molts. A) scorpions are not h...

This info here would explain the reasoning why some of our members (I know myself and Wodesorel) have had moss pit molts. Possibly the crabs think that the moss is the same thing as leaf litter? Or, simply that space satisfies that crab most at that time. It might be perfect, or simply the best he/...

JediMasterThrash wrote: Rather, they simply bury under decomposing leaf litter, or otherwise hide under rotting logs or other forest litter.

So surface molts themselves may not really be that unnatural for hermit crabs.

I think these two statements are largely at odd with one another.

Keith

general geological info is all well and good, and valuable, but what really matters can be summed up in a single concept:

microhabitat.

That is what counts.

Now - anyone got any data?

Keith

suebee wrote:whoops i was thinking of blood counter current exchange like in the repertory system kidneys - Do you mean more like the avian lung?

Yep - crazy birds.

Keith

I would up the natural oils in the diet. I agree, also, the quality of fats is important. Most decapods require high levels of PUFA and HUFA for development, especially early on. Get some cyclopeeze and try that, it has decent levels. Another thing to try would be mysis shrimp by PE mysis. They are...

suebee wrote: Me! Im one of them..Human Do i get points?

Negative. Here is a hint - no mammals.

What i think Keith is saying here is, and Keith correct me if im wrong..
Lets not compare apples to oranges...? yes?? Maybe? did i lose my points? lol

'Zactly.

Keith