I recently got a few marine hermit crabs to go with my Pipipi snails to help curb the algae in my 4g tank. The snails are fine, except for trying to escape the tank but two of my hermit crabs have crawled out of their shells and died. I drip acclimated then to the brackish water when I bought them they were in a saltwater tank at the fish store. I followed the directions Of the shrimp guy. This is the same place I bought all of my opae .
Any ideas ? I feel bad because I know these little Hawaiian hermits like company ... before one died the two of them would hang out at the top of one of my decorative plants and on top of the rock right at the waterline ... Now Chuck is all alone in the 4g and Roxy is alone in the 1.5g Yes I named them Any ideas
I can't help you with that beyond knowing that animals gotten from pet stores may not be as healthy as they first appear, the stress of acclimating may have just been too much for some of the crabs.
However, it is my understanding that hermit crabs can't help much when it comes to controlling algae, as they lack the means to scrub at it like shrimp and snails do.
Thanks for your response but my last crab died this morning .
I took him out of his tank and isolated him. He seemed to be doing well, he even ate when I gave him a bit of food. But then he came out of his shell, he even had two more to choose from. He was trying to crawl back in but I watched him and within 10-15 minutes he died. I think these crabs just do better at the beach .... I hate that I caused some deaths
One more thing, the hermit crabs from the Pet Depot here in Hawaii all come from the beach. I have a feeling they just did not acclimate well to the brackish water in my tanks
Aloha919 wrote:Found out the crabs like moving water. My tank has no running filter...
it's also been my experience that they like to be able to climb out of the water from time to time. Every so often a few of mine climb out of the water and sit on the rock near the waterline. One of them climbs all the way to the "precipice" of the rock each night after the light goes off
Yes I named them 
Any ideas
