actually, the setup is a little more complicated than that, limeslide.
first of all, bravo to you for helping out these little ones. i myself have a c. vittatus named Corinth. do your guys look like him?
although i'm very glad that the little ones are in caring hands now, they are not out of the woods yet. first, you mention salt water. what kind of salt did you use to make it, is it marine grade like Oceanic or Instant Ocean? if you use something like API, it just won't work. Also, with marine hermits you have to be very careful when mixing their water because the specific gravity (basically, how salty it is) needs to stay within a certain range to be livable.
to survive these guys are going to need a setup that involves a filtration system, preferably a biological one. I could walk you through setting everything up that you'd need for a marine tank, but even then it would need to cycle before it was ready for any invertabrates. the best chance those hermits have is you getting them to an aquarium shop. explain the situation and ask if they can take them in...another member here was in a similar situation and this worked for her.
marine hermit care is a world apart from LHC care...the species you have is tough, and they're more adapted than most to live outside of the ocean, but in the end they need a complete marine setup.
in the meantime i would advise (if you have one of the marine grade salts) mixing up water very carefully and keeping them in it. you can feed them a shrimp by placing it down in the water,but remove it quickly, before one hour, because deteriorating organic material does all sorts of bad things to your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.
good luck! my MHCs (especially little Corinth) are rooting for your guys.
Caroline
26 LHC: 6 PPs, 5 Es, 1 Straw, 6 Ruggies, 2 Indos, 1 Blueberry, 4 Violas, 1 Aussie
I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, it's been 25 and 30 here over night. The seven that were brought to me are still alive! No food, water, or anything for a week!
