scarlet reef hermits

hello people..i was told to get these crabs because they good for the algae and cleanup..well i just got about 6 of them and was watching and it looked like all they wanted to do was turn over the snails and apparently eat them.what gives? i thought they were algae eaters..i have plenty of algae and stuff for them to eat so whats going on..also told last red legs i had were the harmful ones and these arent. if my snails are gonna suffer then i cant keep these guys. any input on this..also..anyone have green emerald mithrax crabs? they always seem to be under the rocks.i have tons of bubble algae that i got them for to eat and am wondering if they ever will...thanks :

 

the blue leg hermits are the safer ones.but if you have too many hermits,they may decide to kill your snails no matter what kind they are.

 

IMO, and from past experience, if not fed properly or if there are not enough empty shells for the hermits to switch to as they grow, they will kill a snail to be able to exchange one shell for the one the snail was living in to accomodate the hermit as it grows.

 

Also. Those hermits are most likely looking to upgrade their living quarters. Having a bunch of empty shells about will help or reduce # of crabs.

 

wow.thanks for the unsettling info..i did get a bag of empty shells with these guys so i think i better throw them in before disaster occurs..thanks

 

Not sure of the obvious

HI,

My breif experience with hermits is they feed on anyting that hits the sand be it deitrus or food , Mine climb all over the rocks don't seem to eat mcuh algae.
They tend to kill each other the larger red ones murder the smaller blue ones. So I have opted for only one speices the little blu ones.
For algae my tang and coral beauty really eat a lot of the algae, the tang eats all day long .
three little green crabs hide under rocks and grab food as it falls. not much in the way of algae removal.
My best tank cleaners are shrimp, I have 2 skunks, 1 fire, 6 peppermint, all seem compatible all clean rocks, and sometimes fish thats pretty neat to watch, the skunks take their long feeler antanee and seem to capture fish and the fish are very calm as they groom them my angels beg to be groomed all the time.
so for me shrimp are the best tank cleaners as are tang for algae and many angels will eat their weight in algae too. only one tang and angel to a tank they are rather grumpy toward their own so get your favorite angel cause thats it.
Doug

 

wow thats something else..i have this green hair algae growing on my rocks and bubble algae..thot the crabs and especially the green ones were supposed to eat that..if not i dont know what i will do..ill hold off getting any blue crabs til the red ones meet their demise..i had a peppermint shrimp and he didnt do anything..they all died on me..could have been my water..my angel pecked at the rocks but i didnt see any real feasting..my past blennies used to love to do that but i dont have luck with them either..i just got these crabs and now im all depressed..:-/

 

I have never seen a red scarlet do any harm to anything. There are 2 kinds of red hermits, the mexican red legged are apparently aggressive, my red scarlets eat my algae and never bug the snails.

 

well thank u all for your input..i guess ill just have to watch and wait and see what happens!:

 

your emerald crabs may eat that bubble algae in time.maybe they just have too much other food right now.i'm having the same thing right now with my emerald.mines a baby and my tanks not completely clear of all other algae.i'm hoping in time it with start eating the bubble algae.