hermit crabs.

[caz]

anyone have some good advice for me on these guys? are they hard to keep? do they require alot of extra lighting? thanx

[K9Decoy]

Hermit crabs require nothing but regular fluorescent lights. They are pretty hardy critters and do an excellent job of cleaning up excess debris and food matter in your tank. I believe that many of them also eat algae, so they are good for controlling this as well.

If you buy one or more, just be sure you have a couple extra empty shells in your tank for when they get bigger so they have a new home to move in to. Hope this helps!

[mogurnda]

I have had the best luck with scarlets and blue legs. Both tend to be good workers and well-behaved. Avoid larger species, as they can often be more predatory.
Extra shells are definitely a good idea, especially if you don't want them evicting your snails from theirs.

[caz]

thanx guys that helps out a ton! they will probably be one of my first purchases once my tank is done cycleing

thanx again

[rica5tully]

Do you guys quarantine your hermits before putting them in your main tank?

I only have one quarantine tank and I've used copper in the past, so it's hard to know what to do about buying inverts. I've heard they can carry in a bug that's stuck to them (even though they don't get parasites themselves).

What do you think?

[K9Decoy]

I put my hermit into my tank just shortly after I brought it home. I just added a little of my tank water to his bag at 10min intervals to help him adjust to the saline levels of my water and avoid saline shock. After 30min, I placed him on the sand, and he was ready to get to work!

[Sregnar35]

I'm going to recommend you add water to the bag over a longer period of time. I drip into the bag over an hour and a half, and I've had great success.