FishProfiles.com Message Forums

	Aggressive hermits
MDSalty Hobbyist Posts: 99 Kudos: 115 Votes: 5 Registered: 29-Mar-2004	I got a dozen scarlet leg hermits and within a few days, the half dozen blue legs I already had have killed half of them. Is this typical? Are the blue legged hermits that aggressive? I see red legs and parts scattered around the tank. I have removed all but one of the blue legs in the hopes of saving the remaining red legs and want to get more of the red legs as they seem to do a better job of eating the hair algae I have. I'd appreciate any input, thanks.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
PeaceB2U Hobbyist Posts: 64 Kudos: 48 Votes: 0 Registered: 25-Jul-2004	I keep both types in my tank without any problems. Did you place some empty shells in the tank for the crabs? Mine will get agitated when they start outgrowing their shells and look for new ones.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
MDSalty Hobbyist Posts: 99 Kudos: 115 Votes: 5 Registered: 29-Mar-2004	Yep, plenty of extra empties. Just seems a little odd that they would go after the new addtions. I've never heard that hermits are territorial or anything like that.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
lil_mikey69 Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3180 Kudos: 2380 Votes: 1 Registered: 22-Jan-2003	Ive had to eliminate at least 3 hermits because they were killing tank mates. Lots of extra shells as well.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
MDSalty Hobbyist Posts: 99 Kudos: 115 Votes: 5 Registered: 29-Mar-2004	Were they blue legged? or is this just something that occurs with individuals, regardless of leg color, that need to be weeded out?
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
lil_mikey69 Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3180 Kudos: 2380 Votes: 1 Registered: 22-Jan-2003	If I remember correctly, at least two of them were blue legs. One of the others was green.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
Oleta Ultimate Fish Guru You can\'t rollerskate in a buffalo herd Posts: 3397 Kudos: 2260 Votes: 186 Registered: 16-Aug-2001	Don't suppose you might be finding molted bits of red leg hermits, perhaps?? I keep a good mix of both red and blue legs in my tank and I've not had trouble with them killing each other.. Obviously it happens, but maybe yours might be lurking about waiting for their new shells to harden??
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
MDSalty Hobbyist Posts: 99 Kudos: 115 Votes: 5 Registered: 29-Mar-2004	That's possible I suppose, though my understanding is that even after molting, the hermits will stay in their adopted shell but remain inactive. What I see is their empty shells and red legs scattered about the substrate. It is possible that they changed shells when molting and are hidden, but every time I looked, one of the blue legs was locked up with a red legged hermit and all of the blue legged hermits are still accounted for.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
razz Enthusiast Posts: 189 Votes: 1 Registered: 23-Aug-2003	Hey that happened to me two... I had about 20-25 blue legged hermits and added a dozen red legged scarlets.. I had plenty of shells around and within a week all my scarletts were history.... I was so mad]:\|]:\|]:\|]:\| so now I don't even bother getting anything but the blues cuz i figure anything else won't make it... they were all the same size too. But now my blue legged are pretty big and scarry.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
MDSalty Hobbyist Posts: 99 Kudos: 115 Votes: 5 Registered: 29-Mar-2004	I've heard that the the scarlet leg hermits are much better cleaning, especially algae, than the blues, and much more peaceful as even my blues are constantly fighting one another and I have lost a few of them. I'm now thinking of getting rid of all of the blues and replacing them with 2 dozen scarlets.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41
DarkRealm Overlord Moderator metal-R-us Posts: 5962 Kudos: 2166 Registered: 23-Sep-2002	I've heard that the the scarlet leg hermits are much better cleaning, especially algae, than the blues, and much more peaceful as even my blues are constantly fighting one another and I have lost a few of them. I'm now thinking of getting rid of all of the blues and replacing them with 2 dozen scarlets. They do a good job cleaning, and are probably one of the best hermits you can get (other than left handed/zebra hermits), but dont be suprised if you dont see them out and about cleaning during the day as they are nocturnal/semi-nocturnal.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:41


	Jump to:

The views expressed on this page are the implied opinions of their respective authors.
Under no circumstances do the comments on this page represent the opinions of the staff of FishProfiles.com.

FishProfiles.com Forums, version 11.0
Mazeguy Smilies