Hermit Crab???

[Stephen]

Anyone know anything about these? I'm planning on placing one in my 75 when it cycles or maybe setting up an empty 55 gallon tank just for it. I'm not talking about the smaller ones. The one the pet shop is holding for me is about the size of a orange, not including the shell. It's overall orange with a little blue and yellow, and hair on it's legs. The only thing they can tell me about it is that it gets big. It's pretty big already. I did a search and couldn't find any pics that look like it. There's one at the national zoo that's similar and I've spoke to a volunteer there about feeding habits and such.

I know it will probably eat the fish that I put in the tank. Or is the info I recieved about that incorrect? I'm wondering if setting up another tank just for it would be a wise idea? I do not want it making a meal out of the future inhabitants of the 75 and I'd rather this tank hold fish instead of just one hermit crab. It's already full of live rock and such. It was a spontaneous buy I'll admit, but I enjoy unusual things like this. I have an empty 55 gallon at the moment but the lighting is just one coral sun bulb. Is that fine? Do I need something more? If I set up the 55 I'm planning on using an old fluval 303 and a HOT Magnum or tetra 60 to filter it. I think that would be sufficient but I could be wrong. I may just use the fluval 303 by itself with a double bio-wheel. The substrate will be sand like all of my other tanks and I don't plan on adding anything else except maybe a few chunks of live rock. I'm guessing that these need open bottoms. Will this be proper? Is there anything else I should add? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also can I add more than one hermit crab?

The tank at the zoo looks like it's about 200-300 gallons and the HUGE hermit is in there by itself. The thing is huge. Like the size of a volleyball with it's shell. There's nothing else in the tank and they have crushed coral on the bottom.

Thanks in advance...

NOTE: I'm going to set up the 55. Still though any other information you could provide would be great.

[BrianH]

I wouldn't put any fish with a hermit that big. IMHO they will just become an expensive meal.

Brian

[Guy W]

if you want to dedicate a tank to just 1 crab I say go for it. It wouldn't be something I'd want to try but it could be neat. But ya putting fish in with it, unless they are really big fish, is probably not a good idea, unless you have something like a 10,000 gallon tank where the fish can get far away from the crab... Maybe then. :)

[kreblak]

A hermit the size of an orange can and will eat just about any fish that you put in with it. Actually, it will eat just about anything else, too. My large hermit is about the size of a golf ball, and he ate a damsel that was in the tank with him.

[liquafaction]

where in the world did you guys get a hermit like that? My local pet store has some that are "dry land" hermits.

[widdledink]

WOW! That Hermit sounds absolutly awsome! Could you post some pics if you get him. I haven't seen a hermit that big or that colorful. Let us know if you get it.

[kreblak]

I'm not sure of the species of my hermit, but he is brownish in color and has hairy legs. His legs are very curved, like scythe blades. He is about the size of a golf ball, including his shell. He eats like an lion, too. Pretty much anything I feed him gets gone real quick. He isn't colorful like firefighter's, but I think he's pretty cool.

[OrionGirl]

Make sure you can provide him new shells. Hermits that outgrow their current shell will often kill a shelled animal, just to check out the potential shell, and must have larger shells as they age or they will die.

As said above, the dedicated tank will be a good move. You could add other inverts--hermits are seldom aggressive toward shrimp,regular crabs, and some starfish would be safe as well. A large decorator crab would be very cool in there! I would put a substrate in though--plain glass is hard for hermits to move around on. They tend to lose traction and slide around.

[Stephen]

The 55 I set up for it has 3 inches of sand in the bottom. They had 2 of these at the pet shop. A larger one (which they are holding for me) and a smaller one (which is the size of a golfball without the shell). It's nothing compared to the one at the National Zoo though. That thing is huge. It's in the invertebrate house if anyone would like to check it out. I'll see if I can borrow my step fathers digi cam when I bring the crab home and take some pics of it. I have been meaning to take pics of my other tanks and my 2 ponds. I've already placed some shells in the tank so it will have plenty of choices when it gets here. I'm just wondering though. The shop said they would hold it up to 10 days. I wonder if placing it in a still cycling tank would hurt. I've read they are very hardy and survive the cycling process well but I don't want it to sucumb to too much stress. Say I did pick it up friday and and do 25% water changes each day until the tank is cycled. Think that would work?

[Stephen]

Here's a pic of the hermit I took with my webcam. Sorry about the quality. It was the best I could do with the lighting and crappy resolution of the cam. I'm going to try and get more sometime this weekend. Hopefully I can show you the bright orange it's wearing and the blue on the legs a little bit better.

Hermese the Hermit Crab
http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-10/30527/hermit3.jpg

I've placed it in the 55 gallon tank and I'm planning on doing 15% water changes every day or if the ammonia gets too high.

Click here if the pic doesn't work. (http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-10/30527/hermit3.jpg)

[mogurnda]

Cool crab! Watch your fingers.

[Guy W]

It would be cool if you could put something next to it so we could gauge the size of the crab better. In that picture it looks like a close up of a small hermit. Not to put you on the spot, but I think that would be cool to see.

[Stephen]

Guy... There's nothing in the pic to compare size except the front and back corner of the tank. The tank is a 55 gallon and the crab was about 2 inches from the front of the glass when I took the pic. The second is as much of the tank as I could get with the webcam and the crab still in it. In the second pic the crab is in the bottom left corner.

http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-10/30527/hermit04.JPG

http://home.villagephotos.com/2003-10/30527/hermit5.JPG

[Guy W]

:eek: Wow, that thing is a monster...

[kreblak]

D*mn! That is one large harmit! That thing makes mine look like a dwarf blue leg!