Trouble keeping hermits.

I have a lot of hermits (at least 15 in a 50 gallon tank), redlegs, bluelegs, greenlegs and even some yellows. And the trick is to have a lot of empty shells because they love the get bigger houses even if somebody else is already living in it. I picked al my shells straight from the seabottom.

 

I really think I've only lost 1 or 2 hermits in about 2 years out of 15 or so other than a trigger eating one. One crawled out naked and wouldn't take a new shell and eventually died. They are all blue legged hermits and RARELY pick up a new shell. They just do their thing, don't bother anything and eat whatever the cleaner shrimp doesn't horde if something should reach the bottom.

 

Interesting. I think I have lost mine for one of two reasons or a combination of both. Water quality is not perfect. I don't do water changes all that often so I have a high load in the tank. Everyhitng else is fine and I have turbo snails and a urchin and brittle star that all do fine. But I have a feelign it plays a part and they are just more supseptiable (spelling).

The bigger reason I think is because of my brittle star. I have a feelign he somehow eats the slow moving hermit crabs.... I never see a body.

 

Well, the scarlet hermit is actually alive. Seems he was hiding in a cave all this time.

I just can't believe their molt is about the same color as they are! Reddish legs with some white stuff hanging off (what I thought was their 'body'). Whew.. here is the best pic I could take of the molt:

 

I have never seen a hermit molt!! I dont think thats a molted hermit, I think thats a doa, sorry

 

Then how come I bought 3 hermits, and found 2 "molts" or "bodies" just like that last pic... yet still have 3 living hermits!? Can two hermits hide in one shell? lol

O, BTW there are some extra shells now, but maybe I didn't even need them? Saltwater sure has a lot of surprises!

 

Do you have stray voltage in the tank? :-/

 

Nope, I read somewhere that this little guy molts because he is a scarlet 'red-reef' hermit.
Here is an excerpt, "hermit crabs also have a tough exoskeleton, which doesn’t grow with the hermit crab. But the crab shed this exoskeleton and grows another one very fast. This process is known as molting. Molting cannot be determined before hand, but hermit crab does become inactive and may bury itself in the gravel for two weeks. A small hermit crab molts once a month and larger crabs molt once every eighteen months."
Here is a good pic of a live one:

 

Well, maybe your right. I have seen "bodies" in my tank before but I thought it died. Thanks........ again David

 

yea the reds molt.i had one but a blue one killed it for a bigger shell