Hermit crab or turbo snail??

Hi there, just maturing my tank and was thinking about adding either turbo snails or hermit crabs?? or both? although ive heard that mixing them is a bad idea??

also is there a rule to how many i should add??

any advice greatly appreciated ;D

 

i wouldnt add turbo snails i would add Astrea Snails they are the best snails i own , and some opinions about hermits are different i loves them they keep rocks clean and stir sand also eat dead fish and are all around good scavengers

 

I have both. Occasionally the hermits do kill off a snail or two (or three ). But I take to good with the bad. The hermits are useless for cleaning the glass and other hard to reach areas and the snails don't go after detritus and other dead and decaying matter.

 

It depends what your needs are. Hermits will stir sand in their scavenging. Snails will eat algae from rock and glass. Hermits stick to sand and rock on which they can climb. Snails have more mobility.

As far as what you heard regarding "mixing them is a bad idea," I'd check your source. Clean up crews often contain both. From what I understand, they're completely compatible. A hermit would never kill a snail or attempt to feed on it unless the snail was dead. That's a good thing.

 

I use both hermits and snails in my tank but I don't have any of the turbos simply because I've heard they eat a ton and will easily starve to death in most tanks .

I like the astrea, cerith and nass snails and all three of them get on ok with my hermits....for now at least, I'm sure the day will come when my hermits will decide to take out the snails for their shells. However, I've never heard anyone say that mixing them was bad although lots of people don't like the hermits cuz they do tend to kill off snails on occasion.

 

Sometimes my hermits climb up the bead of silicone in the corners... not really sure why.

I have both turbos and hermits in my tank. Sometimes the hermits kill the snails, but I just replace them and keep plenty of empty shells for the crabs to change into.

 

They're in search of food. They can grip the silicone. They won't climb glass unless there's a lot of algae on which they can get a foothold.

 

I've found nerites and hermits seem to get along pretty well with no deaths by the hermits so far.

 

You did not mention how many gallons your aquarium is.
Well i have a 55 and i have about 25 Hermits and 12 Turbo's.
Yes as mentioned earlier, the hermits will eat the snails for the bigger shells. But this will not happen often. You shouldnt loose to many snails if you mix it up

 

Gotta disagree. I have watched hermits go after live, healthy snails when needing a shell to molt. Also are much more opportunistic when it comes to feeding, especially if overstocked. I keep a mixture of snails and hermits, but with hermits being the minority.