replenish Hermits

[Patman1]

Hello all,

I have a 75g reef thats been up for 1 year and is doing well. When I started, I added 50 red leg hermits.

Now, I KNOW that many feel that hermits are bad, but I have had no problems, and I constantly see them sifting through the sand, so I'm sticking with 'em.

My question, I don't know how many I have now......I'm sure some are lost over time (I saw my peppermint shrimp rip one of of his shell and carry him into the rocks........since then I've been feeding then tank more)....so, do you replace them over time? I was thinking about adding 25 more this year, and maybe repeat yearly?

Thanks

Pat Welch

 

[jmeader]

I sometimes replenish my hermit levels. I judge how many to get by the job being done at the time. If the ones left can't keep up, I get more. I don't get more if the ones that are left are keeping up. Don't want to starve new ones.

 

[Boogiechillin]

Just FYI, you may already have done this, but you can really cut down on hermit "turnover" by providing a number of appropriate sized empty shells. Try and find shells a bit bigger than their current shell and of the same shape. (I found a nice bag of shells for my blue legs for $3 at Michael's). You might find that many of your hermit disappearances were due to shell jockeying over choice digs