Best Buds (MHC tankmates)

[Doose]

Well I don't know too much about marine hermit crabs but wouldn’t ya know? – they are as equally adorable as land hermit crabs, cute cute cute! I work at a hospital as a security guard and I do rounds to ensure the upkeep of the equilibrium and whatnot. We were given strange instructions to keep an eye out on a MASSIVE marine hermit crab a couple weeks ago who had been eating the (up to) $3,000 exotic fish. One night I went to check on our little assassin to find that the hermit crab and the local lionfish were lying on the tank bottom within centimeters of each other! BEST BUDS! It was the cutest and strangest thing and I will post pictures shortly for all to see! Is this normal behavior for either of the two species? I am so intrigued.

Respectfully,
Lauren

[annopia]

i've never had fish in my marine tank with the hermits, but mine did enjoy eating the peppermint shrimp i once tried to keep in there.

generally, the bigger the crab, the more of a threat they are to fish. but it also depends a lot on the species of the marine hermit-some are more aggressive than others.

so how massive is this crab? my marine hermits range from the size of half a pea to a little less than a quarter in size. however, some species can get as long a a full foot! the biggest i've seen were some dardanus megitosis in the keys, these suckers were soft ball sized:



Caroline