Has anyone used small local hermit crabs in there tank?

[Lenny718]

I was down at the beach on Staten Island the other day and it was low tide, there was literally hundreds of mud snails and small hermit crabs. I took a handful of the hermits and put them in my tank and they have been doing a great job at cleaning my sandbed. My question is has any one used them and did they ever bother your corals? So far they show no interest in my coral but I wanna make sure before I decide to keep them or its to late lol. Here is a pic of the little guys

 

[caad3]

Great question. I was thinking of doing the same from some hermit crabs I saw at Tobay beach on Long Island

 

[Lenny718]

Yea I've been using the little black snails I find there for years and there great but this is the first time I've seen so many hermit crabs I had to try a few.

 

[caad3]

How did the snails do? Did they eat the algae well?

 

[arnaldolex]

ive been doing that for years and they last along time one of the hermits got huge on me I have even found and added moonsnails in the beach with no problem so I say yes and the hermits don't bother anything in my tank

 

[salpet]

i also have been using both of them for years with no ill effects on anything and if you take your time at low tide you can also find larger snails beside the little black snails and yes they do eat algae, one problem is if you have aggressive wrasses they will eat them

 

[arnaldolex]

where can we find diff kind of hermits or snails in the ny area anyone I just have the regular black snails by me

 

[salpet]

arnaldo go to orchard beach at low tide and look for a rocky part of the beach and just look in tide pools if you bring a net you can get a bunch of copepods as well but you have to look under rocks for them.

 

[Lenny718]

Thanks guys, it's reassuring to know they won't eat my corals lol. If anyone in Staten Island is interested I go to the beach at the end of page ave, just be sure to check the tide charts cause you have to go at low tide, there literally thousands of snails all over the beach and the hermits tend to be under rocks.

 

[Paul B]

The snails live forever and there are a few in my reef all the time. I can fill a fifty gallon drum with them. The hermit crabs are very cool but not being tropical, I can't get them to live in my reef more than a few months, but they live in my local unheated tank for over a year.
My avatar is also one of them

 

[MIKE NY]

Firstly all these species of snails and hermits aren't tropical so their life cycle is accelerated with our warmer water so they don't live as long. Those black Nass. species Snails are great scavengers and although I never had one live longer than a couple of years they do a great job in a reef. The larger moonsnails feed primarily on clams in the wild and usually starve to death in our tanks. I had one live about a year or so feeding it a little neck once in awhile. I don't recommend any of the local hermits for a reef. There are a few different species with some getting large and all are scavengers eating almost anything they can including small fish and corals.

 

[ssminnow81]

I've noticed the snails last longer than the hermits.
Usually after a couple months the hermits are gone.

 

[Ariel110G]

I've noticed the snails last longer than the hermits.
Usually after a couple months the hermits are gone.

+1 I had the hermits but they don't seem to last long the snails are still with me for almost 2 years.

 

[caad3]

I'm going to the beach to get me some snails this week..

 

[homegrowncichlid]

don't bother collecting any oyster drills, unless you want to feed them to your crabs and have them capture your shells. The drills are carnivore. You can also find purple sea urchins if you go deep enough along the rocks.