killer hermits??

What are the chances of blue leg hermits killing fish?? I've had 2 very healthy fish end up in crab claws. No signs of disease or parasites, one day great and next day gone. I have noticed that they dissapear over night which is why I'm suspecting this. I've had most of the same blue legs in the tank over a year now and they've grown quite a bit. I'm pretty upset about this as my fish are pets and not cheap. I grow attached to them. Right now I want to crush every crab in my tank.

 

Practically zero. Granted, they'll grab them once they're on the last leg of life, but if the fish has any fight left it them, they easily shake them off.

Something else is responsible here; the blue legs are just taking care of what's laying around.

 

I suppose if a fish is asleep it could fall victim to a larger hermit crabs. Personally I am not a fan of hermits and never keep them any more. Cute little guys with a lot of personality but they are clumsy, kill each other, kill snails. I prefer the ones that stay tiny.

You're frustrated I am sure but a hermit is just doing what hermits do. Take them back to the LFS.

In my years of reefing I have noticed a phenomena, I call it the fish threshold. My tanks will only hold a certain number of fish, it does not have to be over crowed. Once I reach that magic number, which is different in every tank a fish dies mysteriously. No disease, no aggression, water parameters stable. I have no scientific data or research to back this up just personal experience.

 

Thanks guys. I just purchased a complete 150 gallon system for my predator tank and moving my 36 reef into a 55. No more hermits for me. I removed a few big ones and it took a bit of strength to remove them from a rock. No way a fish could escape that grasp. Thanks again.

 

Are you sure they're all blue-legs? IMOPE, true blue-leg hermits stay fairly tiny. There are some larger species that are predators too, BTW.

 

Indeed, Bill is correct here, as I can attest, I bought a variety of hermits, red leg and blue. They all stayed around the same size, and didn't bother anything in my tank, except for one red leg crab, which upon getting visually larger than the rest, started to torment my turbo snails. It was found hanging on to a turbo, sliding up the wall, trying to pry it off the glass. All my other turbos were mysteriously upside down for a week, and I couldn't find out why. Down in the sump he went, and when I made attempt to get him, it raised claw at my hand, and pinched me multiple times. I can assume that in the big blue we all call a shopping mart, there has to some blue leggers that get naturally aggressive. Keep in mind, the LFS's don't see bad hermit, or good, just $0.50 a shell.

 

I swear that this is true! I haven't been keeping reefs near as long as coralline but in all of my years of fish keeping, this is something that I hypothesized.

SS - what other fish did you lose? I'm sorry to hear that this has happened I sense your frustration.

 

IMO there is slim chance a blue leg could grab a healthy fish. One that is dead or on its way out maybe.

 

Then these are some other type of blue hermit because they're a bit large and the grip on them are outrageous. OFK, I lost my flame angel, a perfect potters angel and a small yellow tang. I spent months looking for the right flame and potters angel and had them eating from my hand. It really ruined my day. All large hermits have been removed. Thanks to all and thanks Mr. Bill, I'm sure I was sold a variation of hermits.

 

Yep, it happens. There are hundreds of hermit species, and the collectors and handlers are not biologists, so if it's tiny and has red or blue legs...

FTR, I've yet to buy a cleaner pack from anywhere that didn't include at least one of a larger species. I have been more fortunate, however, in that they were all still reef-safe (usually electric blue or scarlet reef hermits).