# of crabs/snails

[Phischy]

Ok, for whatever reason I can't respond to the thread where t his was being talked about so I just started a new one.

What is the rule of thumb for # of crabs/snails in your tank? So far I've heard 1 per gallon for crabs. I've got 15+/- in a 40 gal w/ 55lbs LR. I thought that was too many, it may not be enough! A few scarletts, mostly zebras and all my blues died.

I am down to about 7 snails, so I should probably bulk up on those. Also 1 per gal? What kind they are I haven't got a clue.

 

[mikeguerrero]

I have 2 red hermit crabs; they work heavier with any type of algae growth. Then I have 5 blue leg hermits that are really small, smaller than the reds; they sift a lot on the sand.

Then I have 5 narcissus sails. And two baby brittle stars, they came with the live rock....

Mike

 

[fireFISH]

Personally, I like the 1 crab per gallon rule. i've eliminated almost all algae, and my sand stays clean and white. In my 20 gallon i've got 20 scarletts, and even with that many, there always seems to be enough for them to do. i'd say 40 in a 40 gallon would be a good number. you gotta figure a couple wont make the switch, and a few will just be bad crabs, so 40 seems good.

 

[incysor]

I've probably got over 200 between my two main tanks. I've also got urchins, snails of different varieties, starfish. I really do mostly go by how the tank looks. If I start getting a lot of buildup on the glass I get some snails, if I've got stuff on the sandbed or on the rocks I get some more crabs. With a couple exceptions I try to stay away from most of the larger crabs and snails, just because I have enough frags knocked over/moved around from the urchins, that I don't want to have to deal with it from crabs/snails too. The exceptions that I have, or have had, is the electric blue hermits, halloween hermits, and I've got a couple conch's now.

B

 

[Phischy]

Blue legged hermits at my store go for $6ea x 25 = 150 on crabs!!!! I may have to figure this one out, but my sand is getting grungy so I do need to fix this asap! Scarletts are cheaper but they also seem to be bigger.

What eats brown algea? It's tough and it's on my acrylic. I'd need snails but theyreally don't seem to munch down on it too much.

 

[incysor]

Blue legged hermits at my store go for $6ea x 25 = 150 on crabs!!!! I may have to figure this one out, but my sand is getting grungy so I do need to fix this asap! Scarletts are cheaper but they also seem to be bigger.

What eats brown algea? It's tough and it's on my acrylic. I'd need snails but theyreally don't seem to munch down on it too much.

Your LFS is a friggin rip off. Unless these are the electric blue legged guys they shouldn't be more than $1-$2 each. Scarlet legged one's should be about $3.

Try these folks, they're great to deal with, and have great prices.

http://keyscritters.com/

You mention a guy named Nate a bunch maybe you could split an order with him or some other reefers out there. If you do know several people they'll come down further on their prices if you have a big order.

B

 

[Phischy]

Holy crap that's cheap. I'll double check the prices when I go in today, usually they have decent prices on most of their inverts. Maybe I read the sign wrong or they were something else.

Nate is a manager at the LFS and he usually sets me up with special 'deals' so we'll see what I can't work out tonight, but it never hurts to shop around!

Thanks!

Oh and DJ: when I try to reply to the other thread I just get a red X in the upper left hand corner.

 

[mikeguerrero]

Mermaid Aquarium in Fremont, California has them on sale. Blue leg are 1 dollar a crab....

Nice.... the rule is go to LFS that has lots,,, not less,,,, drops the price down....

Mike

 

[djconn]

Yes that is expensive indeed. One of our site sponsors has good deals on clean up crews. Check out their site below. Group orders always save money as well.

 

[dragon79]

aww man...

I dont even get mini blue legs around here. I been to the three places, and they only have the red hermits, electric blue hermits and the regular hermits that are brown or with black & white stripes. They are 3 bucks for them except of course when buying the electric blue. everywhere i've seen it 7.99 for those guys.

BTW: I have 4 regular hermit crabs and 1 Electric blue

5 Nassarius Snails.

I am thinking of getting the mini blue legs if and when I see them, and perhaps a turbo snail. I'll see, next time I hit up Pacific Reef or Tongs.

 

[ravenhawk]

Boy do I not have enough in my tank. my turbo snails died. I still have 1 nassarius and I had 2 blue legs (those are the little ones with the blue and red striped legs right?) but havent seen them since switching tanks. and a sandsifting star that went MIA about a week ago. and thats all in a 20gal/long. When I had my 55g up and running I had an emerald crab and he cleaned the algae so fast I couldnt keep up with the supplements and he didnt survive. I couldnt imagine 1 per gallon or is that only for the little crabs?

 

[dragon79]

emerald crags..

Are the emerald crabs, for the jbj 12 gallon, safe to have? Will they get along with the electric blue hermit, and the nassarius snails and regular hermit crabs? Just wondering, I notice my bro doesn't have any other he would have told me to pick one up for my g/f. I'll see what you guys say about that, and how beneficial they are for our size tank.

 

[incysor]

Re: emerald crags..

Are the emerald crabs, for the jbj 12 gallon, safe to have? Will they get along with the electric blue hermit, and the nassarius snails and regular hermit crabs? Just wondering, I notice my bro doesn't have any other he would have told me to pick one up for my g/f. I'll see what you guys say about that, and how beneficial they are for our size tank.

I didn't have any of these guys for the first 2yrs I had the tanks set up. I read that they can get agessive once they get larger, so I just skipped them. Then I bought a bunch of rock from a hobbyist that was moving and it had some bubble algae on it. After I scrubbed as much of it off as I could I set it up in an empty tank with no lights, a small filter, and a skimmer and bought 3 emerald crabs and threw them in there. These guys are the only thing that I know of that are fairly reliable about eating the stuff. I didn't feed the tank for a month, and just emptied the skimmer cup and topped off the water. By the time we moved the rock was cleaned up of the small bits that I inevitably couldn't get rid of. I've got two of them in the 25 and one in the 75. I do watch them closely, and at the first sign they're getting agressive they're gone.

B

 

[Krystin]

Hi! I'm new here, I notice that this forum was last posted to in December, can I still post to it? I don't want to start a new thread about this topic, so...

I am new to Nano's, I have a jbj 12 gal original. I was just thinking that my glass, sand and live rock are all still staying pretty junked up even though I have some crabs and snails in there, it sounds like I may need more. Right now I have, 1 Scarlet Crab, 1 sm. Emerald Crab, 1 Bumble Bee Snail, 1 Margarita snail, 1 Trochus Snail, 2 Dwarf Red Tip Hermit Crabs, 1 Cerith Snail, (and Brown button polyps, and a yellow-tailed Damsel.)

My emerald never comes out from under the live rock, I can just see it grabbing at stuff sometimes. One of my red hermits (was very active) disappeared a day ago, and my scarlet barely moves, except a little at night.

So, my question is: Should I have more clean-up crew in here?

I really like this forum, I just need to figure out how to use it! Thanks!
~Krystin

 

[dragon79]

the real active hermit crabs are the mini-blue legs, they are cool addition. Also you need some sand sifters, the Nassiurius snails do a great job for that.

 

[mihkaail]

Blue legged hermits at my store go for $6ea x 25 = 150 on crabs!!!! I may have to figure this one out, but my sand is getting grungy so I do need to fix this asap! Scarletts are cheaper but they also seem to be bigger.

What eats brown algea? It's tough and it's on my acrylic. I'd need snails but theyreally don't seem to munch down on it too much.

I got a baby abalone from my LR. They really eat ALL the cyano and brown algae they can get their radulas on. I highly recommend them to anyone. I would pay $5-8 for one of them on my next tank.

And as for your complaint that $6 crabs are rip-offs, scarlets cost $12-18 each here in Canberra. But then again, why complain if Lysmata Amboinesis is $199 for a 1.5" specimen, no kidding.

 

[Krystin]

Hi! That's a lot of money! Why is it so much higher there? My scarlet was $2.50 in a small town in Indiana. I assume costs in my town might be slightly more just because it isn't a city and there isn't any competition for my supplier. (Supplier? Dealer? Well, I DO feel like I'm addicted to my tank!)
Do you ever order livestock online? It seems like a cleaner shrimp online for $18 would still save you money after paying shipping costs. I'm just guessing.

~Krystin

 

[djconn]

Hi Krystin and glad you found the site.

Just off the top of my head I would suggest you add 4-6 more mini-blue leg hermits and maybe a fighting conch. Not knowing all the specifics of your tank, such as fish (ie. bioload), its hard to judge the cleanup crew amount but you should be fine with that.

 

[Krystin]

djconn,
Well, I just bought a few more (a couple of days ago) It seems to be going well. The Turbo is amazing, but maybe almost too big? Also, the zebra hermit is great at cleaning the sand. At this point, I have 13 crabs and snails in the 12 gal, I think that's good for now. I want to move on and start adding something colorful and probably get some more LR.

Actually, do you get more LR by buying frags that are partly LR? Or just buy another big chunk?

I tried to add more of my specs to my signature box so it'll be more clear what I'm working with.

Are you anything like Napoleon?

~Krystin

 

[djconn]

Yeah, sounds like you've got the clean up crew covered now. I bought all my LR upon setup with a few of my tanks and had to eventually clear some of it out because of all the frags I acquired over the years. Believe me, it will add up.

Nope, no resemblance to Napoleon. Just like the movie a lot.

:jacko: