So for over a year I had a hermit crab billed as a "Hawaiian Dwarf Hermit" in my 1-gallon with my 40-50 supershrimp (they've bred at least a half dozen time so not sure how many are in there now), and he's pretty interesting to watch. Small, maybe half an inch across. But his stripes are more reddish, he has no blue on him and the claws are the same size and pointy, so he doesn't seem to be the "hawaiian dwarf/left handed hermit" often billed.
I decided I wanted to give him some company and read two can live in the same bowl, several weeks ago finally got a new one. It was definitely an actual hawaiian dwarf hermit, had the distinctive blue and one large claw, Was STUNNED at how small it was. About the size of a lentil. When I first dropped him in the bowl, I got a little bit scared because the big guy almost immediately sought him out, grabbed him, and pulled the open end of the shell towards his face. After a couple of seconds he dropped him, so I figured he was just getting to know him.
About a month ago I came back to my office after a long weekend and the small hermit was nowhere to be seen, not even his distinctive small blue shell. I didn't see him for weeks, I was hoping he molted and was hiding under my barnacle cluster.
Finally rotated the bowl around and inside of one of the barnacles is what I think is post-hermit-cannibalism carnage. They're definitely empty shell limb parts, oddly orangish. At first I thought they were molted pieces of the "big" guy, but they're too small, and the actual blue hermit crab I had has been MIA for over a month, so I'm about 90% certain the big guy ate him. Although my Chaeto is growing again I've only seen about 2-3 active nerita snails down from close to 10, Opae haven't berried since I changed jobs and moved them 3 months ago, so a 1-gallon is definitely a delicate balance!
Darn, just occurred to me, I wonder if the hermit has been eating my snails too. I definitely need to feed that guy at least twice a week.
Right now I feed my tank once a week with 2-3 mini pellets, mostly because after about 1-2 minutes of the pellets hitting the bottom and the shrimp feeding on them, the hermit gets the scent and BOLTS over from wherever he is to grab and eat the whole thing. I think I may need to feed just him 2 times a week, drop a pellet right by him. Can you overfeed a hermit? Especially if I want to get another dwarf hermit; I guess mine was a super young juvenile to be that small.
Below is a picture, the small round blue shell at the bottom *was* the new left handed hermit, you can see how tiny he is compared to the other.
Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
Moderator: Mustafa
Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
- Attachments
-
- FullSizeRender.jpg (269.36 KiB) Viewed 2927 times
Re: Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
Oh my, how tragic!
I have the same guy on my tank.... He is fun and so far harmless.... Feeds on the algae and detritus, even climbs the glass to eat the algae off of it!
The first thing that comes to mind is, do you have plenty of shells for him to switch homes? That's the biggest thing you can do for everyone else's safety imho. That's usually the reason why they will kill snails and other hermit (although this is the first I hear in re. To hermit killing each other...)
As for feeding, since you have such a small tank.... I feed mine in a separate tank, once a week.
It has to have some grip, or else he can't move or grab the food. I use a mixing bowl, the same I use for everything related to my tank: cleaning marimo balls, filters, water changes, acclimating, etc.
I put some tank water in, and a bunch of different foods. Let the food sit for a while to soften up, and then put the little guy in the bowl. He stays there for hours eating.... When he is full, I clean him up on clean tank water, and release him in the tank.
Just an idea
Good luck!
I have the same guy on my tank.... He is fun and so far harmless.... Feeds on the algae and detritus, even climbs the glass to eat the algae off of it!
The first thing that comes to mind is, do you have plenty of shells for him to switch homes? That's the biggest thing you can do for everyone else's safety imho. That's usually the reason why they will kill snails and other hermit (although this is the first I hear in re. To hermit killing each other...)
As for feeding, since you have such a small tank.... I feed mine in a separate tank, once a week.
It has to have some grip, or else he can't move or grab the food. I use a mixing bowl, the same I use for everything related to my tank: cleaning marimo balls, filters, water changes, acclimating, etc.
I put some tank water in, and a bunch of different foods. Let the food sit for a while to soften up, and then put the little guy in the bowl. He stays there for hours eating.... When he is full, I clean him up on clean tank water, and release him in the tank.
Just an idea
Good luck!
Re: Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
Overfeeding the hermit is not an issue, but by overfeeding the hermit crab you'll be overfeeding your tank. Even if you feed the hermit crap outside the tank as Carolina suggests, the excrements of that meal will still land inside the tank and possibly increase the organic load. This is especially problematic in really small tanks. Hermit crabs seem to need regular food and aren't really suitable for a tank that should only be fed every 2-4 weeks. I personally don't recommend hermit crabs if your goal is to breed your shrimp and keep them alive for as long as possible.
Re: Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
With the abundance of organic waste in my tank, my little crab has been quite handy as a cleanup guy actually... I haven't fed him in a while. He has molted twice successfully, and grown, and is eating the decaying algae and the detritus in the substrate. He's doing a pretty good job. I will transfer the shell from the other tank, after boiling, of course, so he has enough homes to grow. So far he is doing well with what's in the tank.Mustafa wrote:Overfeeding the hermit is not an issue, but by overfeeding the hermit crab you'll be overfeeding your tank. Even if you feed the hermit crap outside the tank as Carolina suggests, the excrements of that meal will still land inside the tank and possibly increase the organic load. This is especially problematic in really small tanks. Hermit crabs seem to need regular food and aren't really suitable for a tank that should only be fed every 2-4 weeks. I personally don't recommend hermit crabs if your goal is to breed your shrimp and keep them alive for as long as possible.
The crab and the snails have been a great help imho.
I think what happened to the op was the lack of shells.... They need plenty of shells to change homes and grow.
Re: Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
The "organic load" I am referring to above are dissolved organic compounds like nitrates..not just solid organic stuff. After you feed the crab it will "poop" and release ammonia. Both of which eventually turn into dissolved nitrates which can fuel bacterial and algae growth. If it doesn't happen excessively it's fine...but with increased feeding the probability of something going wrong increases...especially in small tanks.
Re: Hermit crab ate the other one; feed more?
Oh, I didn't realize the OP had it in a 1g tank.... Yeah... I see what you are saying...Mustafa wrote:The "organic load" I am referring to above are dissolved organic compounds like nitrates..not just solid organic stuff. After you feed the crab it will "poop" and release ammonia. Both of which eventually turn into dissolved nitrates which can fuel bacterial and algae growth. If it doesn't happen excessively it's fine...but with increased feeding the probability of something going wrong increases...especially in small tanks.