hermit crabs

[rgun2515]

Anyone ever put Hermit Crabs from local waters in their tank? Just got a bunch from Glen Island beach... There are billions there...

 

[Domboski]

The hermit crabs found locally need cooler water temps to survive. If you have a chiller and a species specific tank (keeping the water below 70 degrees) they will do fine.

If you are planning on putting them in your home aquarium with tropical species be careful. Not only will they die and foul your tank most likely in areas you can not reach them, they can be quite aggressive towards your fish and inverts. They will kill all of your snails while they are alive and eat any shrimp they can catch. If you collected flat claws, they will most definitely kill fish much larger than they are.

 

[rgun2515]

The hermit crabs found locally need cooler water temps to survive. If you have a chiller and a species specific tank (keeping the water below 70 degrees) they will do fine.

If you are planning on putting them in your home aquarium with tropical species be careful. Not only will they die and foul your tank most likely in areas you can not reach them, they can be quite aggressive towards your fish and inverts. They will kill all of your snails while they are alive and eat any shrimp they can catch. If you collected flat claws, they will most definitely kill fish much larger than they are.

Put a few in sump to clean up... Let's see what happens. Tank is in the basement, so it stays around 72-74.

 

[Domboski]

They may be ok. I'd stick to a few. Try feeding them once a week too. They like shrimp and may eat some pellets.

Do you know what kind you collected? My guess would be the Long Claw Hermits. You should read up on them. Pretty interesting crab.

 

[rgun2515]

Yes. I Believe they are Long Claw Hermit crabs. (Pagurus longicarpus).

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recnum=SC0027


Fast little guys... And they are eating algae off the live rock in the sump already...

 

[rgun2515]

OK... It's been a week, and they are all still alive and have done a great job of cleaning up my sump... Wish I had before and after pictures...

I actually now have started to feed them, so at this point I think it's time to return them to the sea...

Any recommendations on how to do this?

I was thinking to float them where I found them for a 10 minutes. Then poke a hole in the bag they are floating in. Leave it like that for another 10 minutes. Then release.

 

[probe dms]

i remember catching some hermits from rockaway beach and they out lived everything in my tank. There wasnt much in that lilttle 15 gallon but they lived for a while. I also had some other tiny fish i pulled from the ocean that lived a very long time. dont know what that was but it wasnt anything pretty. id just set the free. they can deal they are some hardy suckers

 

[P-DUBS]

Not to sound rude or anything, But if those hermits cought a "cold" from your tank, and now you are returning them to general population you never know what kind of disease/virus can be transferred to hermits on the beach. I just wouldn't return them, i'd rather hear you fed them to the birds, then returned them after spending time in your aquarium. Thats like a general rule man.

 

[probe dms]

really?. how does one know they caught a "cold"?.

 

[P-DUBS]

You don't know, and there really is no way to know. Thats the issue. It could be anything its just not worth the risk to our wild populations of fish/inverts to return tanked species back to the wild, unless they are cleared completely of virus/disease.

Another thing is bringingld specimans to a tank can bring wild diseases to your tank, then they can harbor themselves in your tank and morph to become stronger... then put back into the wild can be even more detrimental to both your tank and the wild populations.

For Example : (this is the extent i go not to bring sickness from one tank to another)
I am nervous to use the same siphons, nets, etc. from tank to tank lowering risk of spreading anything. I have a siphon for each of my tanks, nets for each of my tanks... so that the only bacteria I have is from the tank the gear is used in.

 

[BZOFIQ]

They'll do fine in your tank. I keep them for months at a time. Plum beach is where I collect and the temp there at low tide int he middle of the summer is higher than in our tanks. Many collect them as food for puffers and triggers.

 

[P-DUBS]

They'll do fine in your tank. I keep them for months at a time. Plum beach is where I collect and the temp there at low tide int he middle of the summer is higher than in our tanks.

Sounds Right!

You can bring in as many to your tank as you want... but i just wouldn't advise releasing them back into the wild.

 

[probe dms]

wouldnt our tanks have less disease than the oceans?

 

[Dj Orion]

I thought that generally inverts couldnt carry parasites anyways.

 

[KathyC]

I tend to agree with PDubs that they should not be returned to our local waters.
The critters in our reef tanks are not from around here, they are from much warmer waters and there may well be things that our (reef) inhabitants have in their system that could be harmful to our local waters. We have NO way to know if the hermits you brought home now have anything inside of them that could be problematic to our local waters/inhabitants.

In the same way we are supposed to freeze and dispose of any algaes we need to take out of our tanks, we don't know about any microscopic life that now may be inside of those hermits.
Have you ever seen a snail in any of the pics here with algae on it? I have . Do you want to take that chance?

One more bit of food for thought..there is a Koi disease called KHV..in temps below 72 degrees it causes no issue at all. In temps above 72 degrees it is HIGHLY contagious and will kill EVERY Koi that comes in contact with it.
Who is to say there is nothing affected by temp in the oceans?

Just one more reason we shouldn't be collecting locally IMO.

Ryan - They don't get ich but they may well be able to carry other parasites internally. Do you know for sure??

 

[P-DUBS]

wouldnt our tanks have less disease than the oceans?

I am gonna have to say yes and no on that one. The ocean is greater volume then our tanks so it is totally possible for there to be more disease in the ocean, but no because , so many different parasites/diseases harbor themselves at fish stores, home tanks and are given almost always, The most optimal conditions to grow in (fish tanks).

In the oceans most disease/parasite are just in their natural habitat. So as far as the amount of disease/parasite in the ocean is spread over a MUCH greater amount of water, Along with variable temperatures which may not allow those organisms to survive. Like i said above Most of the time our fish tanks are the most optimal areas for parasite/disease breeding because it is less water.

One more bit of food for thought..there is a Koi disease called KHV..in temps below 72 degrees it causes no issue at all. In temps above 72 degrees it is HIGHLY contagious and will kill EVERY Koi that comes in contact with it.

Very true Kathy. Another example could be VHS(viral hemmoragic septicimia sp.) in the great lakes. That was introduced from bait farmers and fish hatcheries who kept there hatchery ponds/tanks in poor condition (high in nitrates) allowing a feeding/breeding ground for this deadly disease that attacks Walleye, Trout, Bass....etc.Now VHS could bring down major populations of Great Lake fish/ Upstate NY.

Another example is Whirling disease in trout also. Also cause by the same above.

All of this was brought by releasing hatchery or tank kept fish back to the wild without proper management. It can mainly be blamed on the Minnows/Bait farmers due to the amounts fish held in small areas.

So as it is called the "Bucket Brigade" when you bring tank fish back to the wild. Please don't be one, It would be better for our wild populations if we never release anything from our tanks into a natural environment.

 

[EDDIE MTI]

HI I wonder what the large public aquariums do with there discharge water ? the ones that are on the oceans...some have open systems,with fish and other things from all over the world ????????? ...........eddie mti

 

[e.muehlbauer]

Keep them in your tank. I have frequently put local hermits in my reef tank...they are very entertaining, but don't live for long. They do live well in my local tank. I think the reason they don't live as long is based on salinity rather than temperature. I find them in pretty warm areas of the shoreline. However, the sg of the water I get them from (Peconic Bay) is about 1.017-1.019, depending on tide. The salinity in my local tank is also in that range. Most reef tanks are at 1.124-1.127...mine's about 1.125-6. However, they will not die en masse....it will be gradual, and your tank will not be polluted. Since you got yours from LI Sound, salinity will be higher, and they may actually do very well. My reason for your not releasing them is for the same reasons as other's...and I am not advocating collecting them for your tank knowing they will die...I no longer add them to my reef tanks...just my local tank.

 

[EDDIE MTI]

Hi.....I think I might be missing something here. I would just like to point out a few things that come to mind: 1.)What happens to all the water in the freshwater wholesale houses? They have fish that come from all over the world. So where do they dump their water? 2.)Large public aquariums that are built on the coast and se natural sea water, where does all of their discharge water go? 3.) (most importantly) At our international airports, we have people flying in from all over the world. Using the bathrooms at the airport. Where does all of that waste water go?
A friend of mine worked in a sewage treatment plant and said to me "Eddie, you can't believe what we have to let go by because it is just to much to handle." Before you answer item 3, see if you can talk to someone who works in a sewage treatment plant. So it seems very odd to me that we are upset about this gentlemen who wants to let some of his hermit crabs go...........Eddie

 

[EDDIE MTI]

HI........ another thing i dont understand....how does a salt water wholesaler or large pet shop keep fish from all the tropical seas of the world on a central system ? ..atlantic -picific-red sea -indian ocean & and every other place... ? these fish in the wild would never be liveing in the same water........ just trying to learn..............eddie...........