do hermits hurt clams

[MarineTeng]

i've got 10 hermits and i've heard they eat pods and are wondering if they'll hurt clams at all, and if they really eat pods, cause mandrins are sweet along with clams

[Poseidon]

Most hermits are OPPROTUNISTIC feeders, meaning they will eat whatever they can get their nasty little claws on... Does that mean they will eat clams? How about a good solid MAYBE, especially if the clam is weak and or dieing... As for the pods, I wouldn't doubt it for a second! If they will kill and eat snails for the shell why wouldn't they stalk the helpless little shrimp...

[Ninong]

i've got 10 hermits and i've heard they eat pods and are wondering if they'll hurt clams at all, and if they really eat pods, cause mandrins are sweet along with clams

A lot depends on the species of hermits that you have because some are more aggressive than others. I have about 10 scarlet reef hermits (Paguristes cadenati) in my 120-gal tank with three Tridacna maxima and two T. crocea. The scarlet reef hermits have never bothered my clams and I have had them together for about 17 months now. These are the ones with very bright red legs and yellow eyestalks.

I added about a dozen or so of a species the vendor called "micro hermits" at about the same time. These turned out to be holy terrors. For starters, most of them grew VERY large, very fast. They did not remain tiny as claimed by the vendor and they were anything but harmless. Fortunately for me I did not actually order those hermits specifically, they came as part of a package deal, so I didn't have too many to remove. It took me at least a couple of months to get all of them out of there. They arrived wearing tiny little shells because none of them were much larger than the size of a typical green pea when I received them. Within three or four weeks I noticed them wearing much larger shells -- the same shells that had been worn by living snails just days earlier! I have discussed this problem with other board members who received the same so-called micro hermits from the same vendor and their experiences were similar to mine in every respect.

I don't actually recommend hermit crabs for reef tanks but if you would like to try some, choose wisely and start off with just a few. That way if they don't work out for you, you won't have as many to find. I love my scarlet reef hermits but I have no intention of pushing things by trying to keep too many.

[MarineTeng]

well i think i'm going to take them out and see if my lfs will take them for like 5$ or something, it's where i bought them, i have noticed that i can't see pods at night anymore... so there's a good indicator just wanted more opinions, i think i may have to many snails but the algaes are still growing, slowly but they are

[MarineTeng]

just thought of something, what a good non hermit or crab detritus eater, that's why i got them in the first place now that i think about it, or should i just leave a few instead of 10 in my 55 gal reef, with 55lbs of live rock

[Poseidon]

Here Scroll down to Nassarious Vibex they are an excellent crab replacement...

[Ninong]

just thought of something, what a good non hermit or crab detritus eater, that's why i got them in the first place now that i think about it, or should i just leave a few instead of 10 in my 55 gal reef, with 55lbs of live rock

Did you ever tell us what species of hermit crabs you have?

[MarineTeng]

i bought them in a package deal, there's a list of what they are in my lfs, that's not here so i can't tell u

[MarineTeng]

what about conches, those are cool and don't they eat detritus? and sift gravel/sand?

[Ninong]

what about conches, those are cool and don't they eat detritus? and sift gravel/sand?

The fighting conchs (Strombus alatus) are a nice addition provided you have a lot of open sand bed. I wouldn't recommend more than one per 100 gallons of tank and only if you have a pretty fair amount of exposed sand. If your tank is less than 75 gallons, it may not be able to support one of these for very long.

They eat mostly diatoms and microscopic algae from the top of the sand bed but they will also eat cyanobacteria if it is either on top of the sand bed or near the top. They don't climb rocks, so everything they eat is either on the sand or within the top 1 cm. They will stretch their proboscis up to eat algal film off the lower part of the glass near the sand bed.

They like to bury themselves under the sand bed's surface for days or even weeks at a time. I had two of them for about 16 months but now I'm down to only one. I don't believe my sand bed is large enough in my little 120-gal tank to support more than one. Both of mine were 1.75" long when I got them and the surviving one is now 2.25" long -- the same size the other one was when it died about two weeks ago.

P.S. -- The plural of conch is conchs, there's no "e" in it.