HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have been told that Diogenids are particularly mean and aggressive hermit crabs, unsuitable for reef tanks, but my Osmium has never been anything but kind and friendly to his tank mates. Maybe its the high protein diet I give (fresh seafood daily) that keeps this gentle giant sweet.

Here he gives tiny little Eumenides a ride:



and just hours later, Ismene hitches a ride up the live rock:



big sweetheart:



surprisingly, the most aggressive crab in the tank is little Eleusis, a c.seurati, a supposedly completely docile species:



and we had some molts this past week! for those of you who aren't familiar with MHCs, their molts are incredible, they shed very quickly and rebound within minutes. at worst, they keep in one place for a day, but they are completely functional, and don't eat their exo.

Delos and exo:




and he just marches on:



Antigone also molted:





and my precious baby Mercury is sporting a new shell:





and, not to leave the LHCs out, little micro E Hey You came up his molt as blue as ever!




Caroline

GOOD!!that the diagonid is getting fine with the other crabs!

And nice molts!

You have one cute E, oh and I'm gonna have to steal all of your MHC

Aww so cute and colorful! Im glad Osmium is getting along well with his friends Just keep telling him that friends dont eat friends! (thats what I tell my adoptees!..seems to be working so far)

Did you freak out the first time you saw an exo just laying out there? Man I would have! I did when I had fiddler crabs...the exo was floating in the water and I completely lost it! ahhh...good times!

Now Eleusis, he looks prime evil with those eyes and that shell! (but very darling at the same time) lol....maybe its the stripes on his shell that make him want to be a Tiger

*time for Nar to go to bed* lol

Great pics! I'm glad to hear Osmium is getting along with the other MHC.

thanks guys!

Nar: hehe, yes i did freak out seeing the first exo (which, oddly enough, was Eleusis'). he's so deceptively cute...and he's dumped the tiger nerite for his old black one, so that theories out the window. just had to pull him off megara...i dont know whats up with him.

Caroline

Looks like a nice setup you have there.

But it seems that you haven't had the misfortune of getting a Dardanus megistos, yet, eh? You can grow one to about coconut size (I kid you not) as long as you can find a suitable shell (and a really big marine setup).

Oh and the C. compressus looks really nice.

NaRnAR wrote:Did you freak out the first time you saw an exo just laying out there? Man I would have! I did when I had fiddler crabs...the exo was floating in the water and I completely lost it! ahhh...good times!

I was FREAKED out when I saw my fiddler crab's exo, just sitting there.

I though he was dead then I thought of spontaneous regeneration

Just curious. How long can they live without being in water? And can you handle them?

They are AWESOME! I have a question, do Marine Hermit Crabs have the same living conditions as clownfish? Just curious.

-Joel- wrote:Looks like a nice setup you have there.

But it seems that you haven't had the misfortune of getting a Dardanus megistos, yet, eh? You can grow one to about coconut size (I kid you not) as long as you can find a suitable shell (and a really big marine setup).

Oh and the C. compressus looks really nice.

haha, no dardanus megistos for me! yes, ive heard that they can grow up to a foot long. i wonder if the large size is only typical of the d. megistos or for dardanus in general. i have a dardanus lagopodes, Mercury, who is about teenie size right now, i dont want her to start growing out of control!

Caroline

Grammarcia wrote:Just curious. How long can they live without being in water? And can you handle them?

I think the more hardy species, like the zebra striped MHC, can go up to three days without being in water. in fact, my zebra striped MHC (Corinth) enjoys perching in the tank so he's only partially submerged at times. handling isn't really something recommended just for fun, but at times it is necessary. I have probably handled Eleusis the most, almost every couple of days, pulling him off of tank mates. I also remove molters (if they seem to be in a vulnerable location) and put them in the refugium to recover...thats basically a small shower caddy submerged high in the tank where they are left in peace. Mercury spent all of yesterday in the refugium after her molt.

Caroline

Avatar wrote:They are AWESOME! I have a question, do Marine Hermit Crabs have the same living conditions as clownfish? Just curious.

yep, they need the same salinity, pH, temp, etc...only problem would be if you had one of the larger MHCs, then are sometimes able to take down smaller fish.

Caroline

Beautiful hermits! I especially like Delos! I think the blue and black stripes are gorgeous! Hey You is awesome too, I wish I could get Es here. They seem so energetic and fun to watch! Thanks for sharing the photos