All hermit crabs created equal?

srossnz

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Aug 28, 2007
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Silly question I guess.. I am in New Zealand and no LFS anywhere near me sells cleaning crew animals. I wouldn't mind having at the least a few small hermit crabs. Now 100 meters from my house are pristine tide pools on a remote beach, there are 100's of little hermit crabs in there. I doubt I could use a couple of these? I am not sure how different my tank would be for them and also I would be worried about spreading of disease or foreign bacteria. It's just a thought and interested in views or if anyone has done such a thing..
 
I used to have hermits I caught in with my nurse shark. Just check the specific gravity of the water where they are to see what it is in comparison. If you do it, quarantine them in another tank.

What type of tank do you have? Fish only, FOWLR, Reef? Some may not be reef safe.
 
currently fish only but i'll be adding a few things such as polyps, etc to spruce up the environment. The polyps are attached to live rock which I assume will eventually spread to my dead coral and make it live rock. I don't have a quarantine tank at the moment so I guess I will wait until I get one setup. How long should I keep them in quarantine if i give this a go? Thanks!
 
I just found this:

"Most marine hermit crabs will appreciate a salinity of between 1.023 and 1.025 (measured in specific gravity), and temperatures between 4–14°C (temperate species) and 24–27°C (tropical species),"

I have a feeling the NZ variety would be 'temperate species' since the water can be chilly here. If that is a case they would cook in my tank it seems.
 
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