seastar Posted January 14, 2009 Report Share Posted January 14, 2009 I have about 18 hermit crabs in my salt tank. They are getting big. But the two larger ones are really starting to pick on the smaller ones. I had over 20 of them and some recently went missing. I think the big ones are eating the little guys. Does anyone have any ideas on what to feed them to keep them satisfied so they will not eat each other. I feed them lots of flake food, and Crab bites sinking pellets. I feed them once and sometimes twice a day. One of the little crabs is missing some legs. Does anyone know if hermit crabs grow back new legs. http://i408.photobucket.com/albums/pp162/s...rettyhermit.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Pressure Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 I have hermit crabs in my saltwater aquarium and do not think I will get them ever again. We started out with the J&L clean up crew and throughout the couple of years we have owned the tank they are slowly picking one another off. I find it really gross that they kill and eat each other and do not find they do a great job of cleaning the sand bed. Just FYI this was my experience. There are still a few crawling around in there but once they are gone I shall try something else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seastar Posted February 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 I have hermit crabs in my saltwater aquarium and do not think I will get them ever again. We started out with the J&L clean up crew and throughout the couple of years we have owned the tank they are slowly picking one another off. I find it really gross that they kill and eat each other and do not find they do a great job of cleaning the sand bed. Just FYI this was my experience. There are still a few crawling around in there but once they are gone I shall try something else! Thanks for the info. Now I know I am not the only one with this problem. I find it gross too. It was hard to believe they kill and eat each other. My seastars eat anything in the tank that they can get a hold of, but they have never bothered the hermit crabs. At first I thought it was the seastars killing the hermits until I saw the larger hermit crabs attacking the little ones. A couple of weeks ago I put some hair algae in the tank with the hermit crabs. They devoured it! So once or twice a week I am going to give them this treat. I had two tanks overgrown with the algae and when I was pulling it out I thought there must be a use for the stuff. And I am glad I tried it with the hermits because since I gave them the feast of algae they are not picking on each other. When I run out of hair algae I am going to try Java Moss. I like my hermit crabs - and I would like them to just get along! I have a bunch of extra shells for them. One day when my granddaughters came over for a visit I let them paint the little shells. They painted spots and stripes and smiley faces on the shells. When the shells were dry we put them in the tank with the hermit crabs. The next day there were 6 little hermits walking around with bright colored outfits. When my granddaughters come over they always check the hermits to see what outfit they are wearing that day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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