Different crab in my order?

[hillegom]

Originally Posted by davej

Shell is irrelevant, it steals it from a snail, or picks it up after a snail dies.

+1
When it steals the new shell from a snail, it kills the snail.
So scatter various sizes of empty shells around your tank. If you have snails as well.

[Grant maj]

Yes I have snails. Should I just have one or the other. Or is both fine. Snails and crabs

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by Grant maj

Yes I have snails. Should I just have one or the other. Or is both fine. Snails and crabs

your hermits will eat your snails.

For food or to steal their shell.

This is very common.

That being said. most reefers still like to have both as part of their clean up crew.

[Dearth]

Originally Posted by gobytron

your hermits will eat your snails.

For food or to steal their shell.

This is very common.

That being said. most reefers still like to have both as part of their clean up crew.

I tend to over feed so there is usually enough detritus and leftover food for the crabs to keep them well fed leaving my snails alone

However with that being said I still lose snails because the hermits want the shell I find it funny that with all the shells in my tank the hermits still want a live snails shell over an empty one

[Myka]

Like I said, Scarlet Hermits are the lesser of the evils. I have 15 of them in my 50-gallon tank along with a few Astraea, Mexican Turbos, Ring Cowrie, and even a few Cerith. The Scarlets don't touch them. There was one Blue Leg Hermit in there and he killed off most of the Cerith before he got banished. Generally, the bigger snails are resistant to hermit predation.

[Grant maj]

Originally Posted by Myka

Like I said, Scarlet Hermits are the lesser of the evils. I have 15 of them in my 50-gallon tank along with a few Astraea, Mexican Turbos, Ring Cowrie, and even a few Cerith. The Scarlets don't touch them. There was one Blue Leg Hermit in there and he killed off most of the Cerith before he got banished. Generally, the bigger snails are resistant to hermit predation.

How many are required? I have a 90gallon. And I was reading on jlaquatics site and they recommend 70 crabs and 60 snails? Is this correct?

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Grant maj

How many are required? I have a 90gallon. And I was reading on jlaquatics site and they recommend 70 crabs and 60 snails? Is this correct?

No, their numbers are ridiculous. For your tank I would recommend something like this:

12 Scarlet Hermits
6 Mexican Turbos
6 Trochus (different species of Turbo)
10 Astraea (get some spiny and some pyramid if you can)
12 Cerith (these are the most likely to get eaten by hermits, but they are one of the only true detrivores)
6 Ring Cowries
1 Black Brittle Starfish
4 Fighting Conch or 2 Orange Lip or 2 Strawberry Conch (if you have sand)

Buy half now, and the other half in a couple months. The variety covers all the reef needs.

[gobytron]

I would also say that left handed hermits, or zebra hermits are about as safe as they come.

They also stay very small.