HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello!

I recently discovered a ton of tiny, gross whitish bugs in my crabitat. After initially freaking out that they were infesting and killing my babies, I did some research and I am thinking they are some harmless type of food or wood mite (see picture - can anyone ID?). In any case, I hate them and they gross me out and I want to get rid of them!

Members here seem to encourage using predatory mites (specifcally the H. Miles). While it sounds so counterproductive, people seem to have great success with it, so I want to try it.

But I have a lot of questions! I have a small tank (10g with one large and one little crab), and the smallest amount I can find is 12,000! Do I really need to add that many? Bugs creep me out as it is, so its already hard for me to even consider trying this method! I dont want them overrunning the tank, that just seems like a lot for such a small space.

How long can I expect the predator mites to take to clean out the unwanted guests, and then themselves? Weeks? Months?

Do the H. Miles need any special care or conditions, or can I just dump them in and let them do their thing?

I would love to hear from someone who has done this before and your experience with it, but all advice and input is appreciated!

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I haven't done it before, but find out how long the predatory mites will last in the canister and do half now and half before their time runs out. Usually there is enough food for a couple of weeks in with them so they don't start eating each other right away.

There really is no other effective way to get completely rid of food mites, mostly because the predatory mites can travel out and clear a wide area. And there is still a risk of them showing up again in the future as they are native to our environments and can travel their way on into the tank on their own without our help.

Thanks for your response!

I know I will likely end up getting the mites again, but I want to keep their numbers as low as possible...I hate seeing those nasty things crawling around on (and into!!!) my crabbies shells! There just seems to be so many of them, I cant even take their decor out without them crawling onto my hands! D:

I guess I hadn't considered that the H. Miles would crawl out and around my house too! This plan is making me so nervous, but I will do what I have to. Would sealing my tank after adding them help?

I would love to hear more input!

It's disturbing, but to have the best effect you want them to go and hunt down as many mites as they can find. For sure you can seal the tank up and use double sided tank around the rims to try and nab as many as possible before they leave, but they will follow the food, so whenever they go the food mites are already there, too.

Food mite explosions do happen in bursts for some reason. Some ways of controlling them include letting the surfaces in the tank dry out a bit, switching to dry foods for a bit, and baiting them with slices of banana - leave in the tank for a few hours after lights out and then scoop the slice and some of the surrounding substrate up and toss it in the trash outside. Having springtails (another bug..) will outcompete them for food sources. Using saltwater to initially wet new substrate the first time can also help.

This is all fantastic advice, thank you so much. What you're saying is that by letting them leave the tank and go out into my home, they will help clear out the food mites already in my environment that I don't see, therefore slowing/preventing repeated reinfestations? Am I understanding that right?

Do the predatory mites (especially in such large numbers) bother the crabs? I understand they aren't harmful directly, but are they potentially stressful?

Hopefully my last question, is there a chance that the predatory mites might not eat the specific mites I have? I am only assuming they are food mites based on descriptions in the Bug ID sticky and other members' experiences that sounds like mine, so they could be something else. Do the H. Miles discriminate?

Thank you for your assistance, you have no idea how much better you're making me feel aboit the whole process! I think I'll try some of your control suggestions in the meantime while I wait for the big guns to arrive.