are hermits truly necessary?

Ive kept hermits in my pervious tanks but when i set up my most recent i kinda neglected the hermits in it at the beginning and then never got around to putting any in. I cant tell a difference between my older tanks and my new one. Any explicit benefit to hermits? im going on 6 months for new tank

 

They are like the vultures of the tank world, they will clean up all the extra crap thats left behind. Im still pretty new to this but idk what I would do without my hermits, im even gonna add 3 to my sump.

 

I dont have any in my 180, snails are more important IMO, and theres other things that can clean up like hermits with out the bad side effects of hermits. Hermits will kill any and all snails when they need a bigger shell, they can also knock over corals more so then most critters. If you need some things on the bottom there are certains snad sifting snails and even star fish and cucs do a good job.

 

just as i thought! well then in that case i wont bother ever getting any. leave it to my snails

 

In reality, you really don't need a CUC. If you want a CUC grew to actually work, meaning maintain your aquarium algae free/detritus free or close to it, then the amount of snails or whatever you need is very large, much larger then the majority of people have. Plus, if you do start out with the correct number, they will die off as they eat the algae as it won't grow back fast enough, then you won't have enough etc. I enjoy a clean up crew mainly for biodiversity. My glass scraper does perfectly fine and weekly water changes and a turkey baster keeps the rock clean. I believe having a CUC is just one of those things you do without thinking about if you actually need it.

 

I agree.

IME, Nerites knock frags over a lot more than any of my crabs though...

But I wouldn't have a tank without them. Mostly because I enjoy watching them. But they also do things snails won't do. Like stay in the tank! (most snails will, that was mostly a joke).

Hermits won't kill any and all snails when they need a shell... they'll just kill enough to find a shell they are happy with... might be one snail, might be 4... (so keep empties laying around to mitigate this)

Hermits have one big advantage over snails, IMO. They can't get up into the pipe work! I actually keep a crab in my skimmer and that keeps the detritus build up in there cleaned up. A snail would end up clogging the skimmer by getting up into the pipes... crabs are hassle free in this way...


so there's pro's and con's depending on the application...

 

Hey GM. Remember my CuC thread last year? I got a big one and tons of folks implied it was way too big... but it was what reefcleaners suggested...

Today, I have had 0 algae issues and 0 detritus build up (no sump, no refuge, no nothin).

The only die off I have had has been from my large Nerites (which John said would happen to begin with) and some Fl Ceriths that some crabs thought would make good homes.

I think these CuC can live off a lot less than most folks think. When they were first introduced there was ton of food and they laid a ton of eggs... I haven't seen snail eggs in months now... but they're not dying off...

I also don't do water changes but a couple times a year.


I think having a well stocked CuC is a lot closer to "natural" than having a light one. My position (to go with what you are saying) is that most people have an inadequate CuC and use band-aids like water changes and other nutrient exports to clean up their tanks...

(I'm saying water changes as a nutrient export is a band-aid, a WC as a mineral replenishment is completely different. I say this because I don't due WC and my CuC keeps the tank clean)

 

ya i have to agree with peredhil not having a CUC is stupid and even if your clean up crew has eaten all the detritus and algae they wont die because fish always will produce waste and for algae its easily supplemented with nori on algae clips plus algae is growing every day in the tank whether you can see it or not. i like hermits and other crabs especially emerald crabs =] mainly not only do they do a good job and are usually more diverse in the foods that they will eat its because there more interesting to watch climbing over your lr and argueing for the best shell haha. i had a battle royal in my tank for about an hour with 3 hermits fighting over one shell

 

You don't need hermits.
I like them because it make my reef more interesting.
I've always had extra shells for them to move into. Never had a problem.
I have the same clean up crew a year later. I've notice a dead body here and there but most are still there.

 

CUC.... is important... but not the most important. for hermits.... hermits by far are not necessary. I orignially started with turbo snails and never ever considered hermits. I purchased only 6 hermits on my 90 just because I like the way they looked and the life that they gave the tank. So to answer your question hermits are not necessary. they are plenty of other inverts to consider in a CUC.