Mexican Turbo vs Red Leg Crab

My tank has a bit of an algae problem I'm working on but my question is about my Red Leg Crab. I have (had) a large population of Mexican Turbo snails along with common snails and hermit crabs to work on the algae problem. I've noticed the Red Leg Crab will turn over the Mexican turbos and seems to eat them right out of the shell even when the turbo has it's shield in place. Is this normal and any thoughts on a solution? :-/ quarantine the crab?

 

This is normal for most species of hermits...they get a taste for snail meat, and that's it. By red-legged hermits, I'm assuming you mean Clibanarius diguetti (AKA Mexican red-legged hermit) as opposed to the scarlet reef hermit (Paguristes cadenati).

IME, the scarlets (bright red crab with yellow eyestalks), are by far the most docile and least likely to harm tankmates. We won't use any other species in our setups.

You might try keeping the hermit better fed, which may help some, but likely won't, or toss it into the sump.

Hermits are opportunistic omnivores, and you hermit is going for the easy escargot meal.

 

yes, it sounds like you have the wrong type of hermit although maybe it doesn't matter if they've already found a taste for snails. I would get them out (maybe put in the sump like Greg said). I have some scarlet hermits and they don't seem to bother my turbos (knock on wood)......

 

I was affraid of that , I must have a dozen shells on the bottom and only a few left working. This guy has gotten so big he has taken up residence in a very large Mexican Turbo shell! :-X Hmmmmm :-/ maybe the LFS will take him back in trade for another batch of Mexican Turbos

 

I've never had scarlets bother anything, with the exception of grabbing a resting SH's tail while trying to climb over it.