Hermits causing trouble...

[jlazo]

I just added my three baby maximas from Jeff's, My hermits were all over them! Right when I saw this I removed them and placed them in my sump. How many people are not using hermits? Will this harm or help my tank? Thanks!

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Jeffrey
"We learn wisdom by seeing the misfortune of others"
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[naser]

all over them how? just picking at the sides or on the clam itself? i have snails and hermits that clean the shell of my clams.

[cwa46]

I have no idea whether the hermits were doing the clams any damage, but I no longer keep them. I have far more diversity without them and many fry and eggs now survive to maturity in my system that the crabs used to kill. Its a matter of personal choice on what you want your tank to be.

[scubadude]

Im still using hermits and they do help with some of the algae still! [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] but every once in a while I see one picking on a snail or if I see a big one 1"+ then I might remove it (there are about 3 in my sump/ref) My snails outnumber the crabs though right now about 3 to 1 and most of my snails are trochus which hold their own fairly well and most of my crabs are micro crabs (less than an inch) This creates an excellent ratio IMO and has had very few casualities, I have a couple of crabs that are on the clams, however they are just cleaning the mantle [img]/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]
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[This message has been edited by scubadude (edited 05-10-2001).]

[golfish]

don't worry about it. The clams are something new in the tank and the hermits are just seeing if there's anything good to eat......

Did you do your baby clam research?

Mark

[Firefish]

Man, I was just going to post about hermits today...I came home last night to find one of my hermits knuckle deep into one of my smaller snails shell.(say that 10 times fast!)I lost three snails to hermits so far!
I've also found hermits picking at my polyps on occasion.
I wonder if It would be smart to just remove them all???
Anybody else have hermit problems...?

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"It's better to have a hen tomorrow then an egg today."

[naser]

a snail is a prime home for a hermit. snails grow while a hermits shell it stolen from a snail and will not grow anymore. so yes they will eat a snail to get the shell!

[Firefish]

Ya, but the snail was half its size...the hermit can't fit into its shell.

[reefhead]

Hermits will eat anything,I have 1 in my system.

watch them closly

joe

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My Reef Tank
:fish:

[Caesar Augustus]

I have heard them refered to as "reef terrorists". I keep a few in each tank but if any get big its, see ya[img]/ubb/wink.gif[/img]
IMHO,
Napoleon

[djheywood]

Not only did my hermits eat everything, they would constantly crawl over everything pissing off my corals. I removed all of them except 3 small ones. (Less than 1 inch) I had several 2 inchers for a while but they were just a nuisance.

Just a side note, watch any cleaner shrimp and lawnmower blennies with clams.

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http://www.ssaland.com/reefpages/reefhome.htm

[Ockers]

I have about 20 or so in my reef plus an uninvited army of hitchhikers who have an annoying habit of transplanting corals!!. I only have softies & LPS in the tank so just let them get on with it. Makes life more interesting.