Dwarf Hermit Crab

[Corucia]

Mustafa, I've had successful breeding in one if my 3 gallon tanks with the miniature hermit crabs. It's actually not the oldest set-up but arguably has the most hiding spots, etc.

[Corucia]

And to clarify, I only add a small pellet of crushed food once per week

[Mustafa]

You don't do water changes, right? Any type of macroalgae in there to suck up the nutrients? Thanks for the additional info.

[Corucia]

Mustafa,

Correct, no water changes across any of my tanks and no filtration. I have some of your microalgae in each as well as angle hair moss from another vendor. The angle hair grows fairly quickly and I periodically remove some to keep it in check.

[MaryLou54]

I just added 5 tiny hermit crabs and several empty shells into my brackish 5 gallon tank with about 75 super shrimp. Do I need to supply food for the hermits. I just purchased micro algae ball but was under the impression that they didn't need to be fed and just ate algae. Please advise.
Thanks, Mary Lou

[Corucia]

Mary Lou, I don't think the algae alone will support the crabs. My sense is that they definitely need an external food source vs. just the algae.

In terms of my experience, I've lost 30% - 60% of my initial crab population within the first 1 - 4 months of introducing them to my three tanks, which I suspect was directly linked to a scarcity of food. I only feed each tank one a week and didn't modify the amount of food after introducing the crabs.

Note however, since the initial losses, I've maintained a pretty stable population of 2 - 4 crabs in each of my three tanks. My oldest tank (3 gallons, ~2.5 years old) initially had six crabs, four of which died within the first several months. However, the remaining two have been very healthy and active and have doubled in size over the past two years. I suspect they are both more hearty vs. the four that died, and the ecosystem is supporting their nutritional needs w/the once a week feeding, which they scavenge actively.

Similarly, I still have four of the six crabs in my 7 gallons tank (lots of hiding spaces) and three in my other 3 gallons tank (just about 2 years old). In each after the initial die off, thyey seem to have reached a stasis given the once a week feeding and nutritional needs of the population. Interestingly, I had the population in this three gallon tank decimate Mustafa's algae ball within the first month of introduction. In my 7 gallon tank, the ball wasn't touched by the crabs and has split / replicated once already.

In any case, I hope this helps.

Eric

[Mustafa]

Mustafa,

Correct, no water changes across any of my tanks and no filtration. I have some of your microalgae in each as well as angle hair moss from another vendor. The angle hair grows fairly quickly and I periodically remove some to keep it in check.

Ahhh...I see. The hair algae ("angel hair moss") and the macroalgae are probably key in your success here. They help tremendously in keeping nutrient levels down in tanks that are fed more often. As I've said elsewhere though, I'd be careful about the hair algae. It tends to get really dense and baby larvae, baby shrimp and even adults get stuck in it and can't free themselves. And during pruning time you will probably throw away at least some shrimp that are embedded in it. I got rid of all the hair algae in my tanks for that reason...although some of it tries to keep coming back periodically.

[MaryLou54]

Corsica....sheeez!! I can't believe that I never read your post until now. I started with five miniature hermits and now only one survives. I bought them from another web site and they said I didn't have to feed so therein was my mistake.

Once a week now I am putting the tiniest little bit of algae next to him and he latches on to it. Darn! I feel as if I am starving him and should've just kept shrimp in there. I have a 5 gallon tank and also worry about dirtying it up if I feed him too much. Thank you for your advice.

[MaryLou54]

Oh I forgot to mention that I do have one of Mustafa's little algae balls but don't notice anyone eating on it.

[Corucia]

MaryLou, glad to be of help. I still have fairly stable populations in all three of my tanks. Few pics attached. My oldes tank (approaching three years old) has two left of the original six, both quite large now in white shells. My second oldest tank still has three of the original six. Two pics attached shows one that has taken over a snail shell. Not sure if he killed / ate it or just scavenged it when the snail died. My largest tank (7 gallons) has four of the original six. Hard to find as they are often hiding in nooks and crannies but one just popped out on top of some of my blue coral. Pics attached. Again, I feed each tank a small amount of crushed pellet one a week and I suspect that the snails eat most of the food vs. the shrimp. I've had no problems with water quality despite no water changes, filtration, etc. All tanks are stable for two to three years and measure pretty close to perfect with no ammonia, etc.

[Corucia]

Here are the two "big boys" foraging together

[Mustafa]

Thanks for the pics!

[Corucia]

Mustafa, I think I've noted this in a earlier post but I've had successful shrimp reproduction in one of my three tanks that have the dwarf crabs. Not so in the other two tanks however so perhaps the reproduction is unusual / an anomaly

[Mustafa]

Mustafa, I think I've noted this in a earlier post but I've had successful shrimp reproduction in one of my three tanks that have the dwarf crabs. Not so in the other two tanks however so perhaps the reproduction is unusual / an anomaly

I thought I replied to it. Not seeing the tanks (or knowing more about them) I can't really say what the reason might be why one of them has reproduction and the others don't.

[shrimpy4]

Sadly, after about 3.5 years, my dwarf hermit has passed. I’m not sure of the breed exactly; when I ordered a second a month later it was the size of a lentil (shell included), whereas this guy was the size of a dime in his shell.

He even ate the other one and almost all of 3 batches of snails. I had started feeding him only every few weeks a few months ago because my shrimp were not breeding. Sure enough, I have at least 7 berried shrimp right now and they’ve been breeding for months. But today I noticed what I hoped was a molted hermit shell but it was his whole curly body.

I feel bad since I fear I starved him. Any idea how long they live? I had him since 04/14, and he was fully grown so likely at least 1/2 to a year old already.