Additions to tanks

[Harry]

Yes, I will boil them.

[Mustafa]

Let us know how large these things get. I'll eat my hat if they stay that small. I bet these are still juveniles. As I wrote in another thread, they will definitely need additional feeding to grow and thrive (which will be a problem for the shrimp long term). Hermit crabs aren't algae scrapers...they need actual chunks of stuff to eat...even if it's tiny chunks.

I don't like the tactic of that site you guys bought the hermit crabs from of not mentioning the scientific names of stuff they are selling, and also deceptively mislabeling things. But that's a common practice, of course. Just so that everyone knows...that "angel hair moss" is just regular hair algae. It usually develops by itself in tanks over time, or you can just throw pretty much *any* hair algae into a Opae tank (even freshwater hair algae) and it will adapt and grow. I used to have hair algae all over the place before I replaced it with the brackish macroalgae. It's actually just as useful as the macroalgae when it comes to nutrient export, but the problem is that it can trap tons of tiny shrimp in it (it's *very* dense). That's a huge problem when you cull the algae periodically. But even without that some shrimp do get stuck in it and can't free themselves for long periods of time. Plus it looks like crap...even worse than the macroalgae...LOL,

[Harry]

There may be some confusion as to the type of hermit crabs I have obtained. They are dwarf hermits - Clibanarius zebra. They are also called hairy legged hermits and tree hermits, although they are not land crabs. I can see why they are called tree hermits, as they like to spend time high up on my tallest plant decorations. They appear to be eating the algae off the plants in the same way that the shrimp do. They also pick through the gravel. There is a bunch of research on the dwarf zebra on the internet, but none of it gives their full adult size; so that will be a wait-and-see. The other addition to my tank are Pipipi snails. They are larger than the trumpet shaped snails and do not reproduce to the same extent. My trumpet snails seem to take over their tank and must be periodically removed. I do agree about the macroalgae, which I prefer and have recently purchased from you. Hair algae is a mess and one should never pay for it.

I'll post more on the zebra dwarfs as I learn more about them. They definitely coexist peacefully with the shrimp.

[Harry]

I forgot to mention that I also obtained six Metabetaeus lohena shrimp, which appear to be a slightly larger variant of the Opae also endemic to Hawaii. These, as well as the dwarf hermits, will be going into a new 10-gallon tank. Hopefully, there will be enough room for everyone in there. I do have dwarf crabs in my smaller tanks (one-gallon) and all seems fine so far; water chemistry is good and the water is clear.

[shmohney]

I bought three of the dwarf hermits too. They've been in my Opae tank for a few days now. I fed my usual tiny chunk of fish food to the tank today (once every two weeks, of course!), and realized that one of the crabs had it and the shrimp weren't getting any. I fed another chunk, same result. So for the third time, I ground up the chunk into a powder, wetted it, and dumped that in the tank. I think the shrimp got what they wanted, finally. Haven't seen any other evidence of strife yet, but I'll keep you all posted. I'll be watching for them to grow, too.

[Mustafa]

I forgot to mention that I also obtained six Metabetaeus lohena shrimp, which appear to be a slightly larger variant of the Opae also endemic to Hawaii. These, as well as the dwarf hermits, will be going into a new 10-gallon tank. Hopefully, there will be enough room for everyone in there. I do have dwarf crabs in my smaller tanks (one-gallon) and all seems fine so far; water chemistry is good and the water is clear.

Harry, the M. lohena have entirely different requirements. Although they can eat chunks of algae, they can't eat the biofilm that the Opae feed on. They have claws and are more like tiny Macrobrachium shrimp. They need additional feeding, too.

[BostonJill]

There may be some confusion as to the type of hermit crabs I have obtained. They are dwarf hermits - Clibanarius zebra. They are also called hairy legged hermits and tree hermits, although they are not land crabs. I can see why they are called tree hermits, as they like to spend time high up on my tallest plant decorations. They appear to be eating the algae off the plants in the same way that the shrimp do. They also pick through the gravel. There is a bunch of research on the dwarf zebra on the internet, but none of it gives their full adult size; so that will be a wait-and-see. The other addition to my tank are Pipipi snails. They are larger than the trumpet shaped snails and do not reproduce to the same extent. My trumpet snails seem to take over their tank and must be periodically removed. I do agree about the macroalgae, which I prefer and have recently purchased from you. Hair algae is a mess and one should never pay for it.

I'll post more on the zebra dwarfs as I learn more about them. They definitely coexist peacefully with the shrimp.

Out of the five hermits I ordered. One died, the one in my small tank. As for the four in my five gallon, one doesn't seem to move at all but is still alive, one changed shells and is very active and two I have no idea where they are. The one that died and the one that is not active seemed to not be active from the day I got them so they could have been ill from when I received them.

Also Harry do you find that some of your red nerite shells tend to float up to the top of the tank and then stay up there? I don't know how they keep getting air in them.

[Harry]

You need to rotate the shells many times in a certain direction to make sure all the air gets out - you will see the bubbles. The shells are curled inside, so rotation is required. I thought one of my crabs died, but it was just a shed molt, I had two crabs in the tank and they are both still active, which is how I know what looked like a dead crab was a molt. Also, some are active and others are not. I think the ones that are not active are molting.

[sabbylina]

Can you post all the stuff you PMed to people? I'm really curious about adding these guys to my tank. If you don't want to post it, you can PM me. But i'm sure many people would appreciate the specs on these guys