Blue Legged Hermit Crabs

[justinp]

I have found some Hermit Crabs, I am interessted in adding to one of my brackish tanks but just want to know if they will be ok in slightly lower salinity than sea water. I dont know the scientific name but they are called Blue Legged Hermit crabs...they also had White Legged Hermit Crabs, which they said had the same scientific name. I am wanting to add them to my 40g GSP tank which is now at 1.016...Is this too low? Should I wait until it is higher, in a few months?

 

[AMS]

I have found some Hermit Crabs, I am interessted in adding to one of my brackish tanks but just want to know if they will be ok in slightly lower salinity than sea water. I dont know the scientific name but they are called Blue Legged Hermit crabs...they also had White Legged Hermit Crabs, which they said had the same scientific name. I am wanting to add them to my 40g GSP tank which is now at 1.016...Is this too low? Should I wait until it is higher, in a few months?

I believe CFC and Moray kep some blue leg hermits in their brackish tank at an even lower SG. Surprisingly Moray has said they are doing fine at the current SG. At $.99 apiece I say it is worth a shot, but do not fully expect it to work. Keeping the nitrates down will probably help a lot in their chances of survival.

But be aware of what you are trying to do: Keeping any small invert with a puffer is death sentence.

If you are using the hermits for algae cleaning I suggest going for a Nerite species. Many nerite snails are brackish water, and some are even freshwater. Though no freshwater species are in the aquarium trade. In particular, the Olive Nerite Snail (Vittina usnea) is almost exclusively brackish and will accept your current SG just fine, its the puffer that will be its problem.

 

[moray]

ahhh AMS do I hear doubt in your mind

they are doing fine, though we think a couple may have been eaten the rest are cleaning algae and doing hermit crab things quite happily thank you very much.

 

[nmonks]

There are dozens of brackish water hermit crab species, and hundreds of brackish water crabs generally. If you spend any time in a brackish water lagoon, you'll see thousands of the blighters. What worries me is that identifying the species best suited to brackish water may be tricky. One person will have a brackish tolerant blue-legged species, but someone else will try it, with a different species that, despite having blue legs, dies in brackish water.

Are there any good web sites for identifying marine inverts to species level?

The advice on Nerites is good. Also bear in mind Malayan livebearing snails will do well at anything up to SG 1.010, and many of the freshwater shrimps are brackish water animals in the wild. In the wild, there are actually far more brackish water inverts than freshwater ones, at least of the type aquarists would be interested in. They just aren't traded much.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[AMS]

ahhh AMS do I hear doubt in your mind

they are doing fine, though we think a couple may have been eaten the rest are cleaning algae and doing hermit crab things quite happily thank you very much. tongue2.gif

No doubt, just surprise

 

[justinp]

ok...good advice. Are they any types of hermit crabs then that you would think are safe with my puffer? I actually never thought of the puffer attacking them, but that make sense! I just want to keep some other type of creature in the tank with the puffer but Im not too sure what...You guys gave me good advice on a few fish I could try, but I think the SG is a bit too low right now. If anyone has any ideas on anything that might be nice with the GSP please let me know!

 

[AMS]

ok...good advice. Are they any types of hermit crabs then that you would think are safe with my puffer? I actually never thought of the puffer attacking them, but that make sense! I just want to keep some other type of creature in the tank with the puffer but Im not too sure what...You guys gave me good advice on a few fish I could try, but I think the SG is a bit too low right now. If anyone has any ideas on anything that might be nice with the GSP please let me know!

No small hermit is safe with puffer. Snails are not the only tankmates not safe with puffers, ANY small invert such as shrimp or hermits will also fall prey to puffers.

 

[justinp]

How would a knight Goby do with the puffer. I have one who is about the same size and heard they might be ok together. I would actually worry about the puffer though maybe because the goby is extremely aggressive. He has killed a few mollies before. But I do want to move him too, so let me know what you think. I guess the only other problem may be the Salinity difference between the two fish (the knight goby is much lower right now).

 

[nmonks]

Are we talking about GSP or figure-8s here? The former need at least 1.010 when young and quite possibly something approaching fully marine conditions as adults. Knight gobies do not like an SG more than 1.005, though they may _survive_ in higher salinities for a while.

Figure-8s, on the other hand, only need an SG of 1.005, and mix fine with bumblebee gobies. Possibly knight gobies too, though I don't know anyone who has combined them.

Personally, I don't think GSPs are easy to combine with any tankmates, but if you do choose to, you should like at high-end brackish to marine fish of similar size and aggressiveness.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Flumpus]

Figure-8s, on the other hand, only need an SG of 1.005, and mix fine with bumblebee gobies. Possibly knight gobies too, though I don't know anyone who has combined them.

I keep a Figure 8 with a few knight gobies, and they're doing great. The gobies stay in the caves most of the time, and the puffer just swims around.

 

[AMS]

I keep a Figure 8 with a few knight gobies, and they're doing great. The gobies stay in the caves most of the time, and the puffer just swims around.

Agreed, knights and 8's do fine together. Its just knight and BBG's that you have to worry about.