the trouble with tribbles....

Bouncer420

Bouncer420

New Member
WOW finding this site is a God-send.... I was one of those people that rushed in and got started without doing much reasearch... almost everthing I have in my 20gal right now was the wrong choice. Now it's my "experiment" until I get a big 100gal later next year. Hopefully I can turn this one into a nano-reef by then. Anyways...
Question #1 :confused:
Are all hermit crabs alike? (Blueleg,Red-tip,Scarlet?) I got a fuzzy brown one with zebra striped eyes, any idea with this one is? (Same size as the others, just different color)
Question #2 :mad:
Are hermit crabs bad for sand beds? (I have LR/LS) I was reading in another post how they kill all the helpful sand critters.
Question #3 :eek:
I have a fan worm in my tank and it's been spewing out this white mucas stuff?
Question #4 :(
I bought some liverock and all the color drained from it when I took it home and put it in my take. Is this the "curing" process?
Question #5 :mad:
Is the Blue Damsil fish the meanest fish on earth? I have him right now in my 10gal isolation tank, he's just a mean little bugger. Hopefully my LFS will take him back. If I buy some more would he be more peaceful, or is he a lost cause?


Any info on these questions would be awsome....:explode:
 
Curtswearing

Curtswearing

Active Member
WELCOME TO RS!!!

I have no idea what type of crab you are discussing with the striped eyes.

I don't really like the blue-legged hermits at all but some people don't mind them. I just find them to be too aggressive.

If you have too many hermits and there isn't enough food, they will go looking for food. For those who want hermits, I don't recommend stocking as heavy as a lot of the web sites promote for this reason.

For question number 3, it is either producing waste or sperm.

The color drained from your live rock. Well that means that it had coralline algae on it when you got it new and it has bleached. Not to worry though. All coralline algae requires is good tank chemistry and time. It will grow back.

Damsels are often fairly aggressive. Getting them into a tank is easy. Getting them back out is problematic once they have rockwork they can hide in. If he is in a quarantine tank without rock in it, trade him in now----getting him out of your reef would be quite a challenge.
 
Witfull

Witfull

Well-Known Member
Question #1 :confused:
Are all hermit crabs alike? (Blueleg,Red-tip,Scarlet?) I got a fuzzy brown one with zebra striped eyes, any idea with this one is? (Same size as the others, just different color)
Click to expand...
Yes, Crabs Are Evil!

Question #2 :mad:
Are hermit crabs bad for sand beds? (I have LR/LS) I was reading in another post how they kill all the helpful sand critters.
Click to expand...
See answer to question one, crabs are opportunists, if they know they can eat it they will,and f they think they can eat it they will try.
Question #3 :eek:
I have a fan worm in my tank and it's been spewing out this white mucas stuff?
Click to expand...
what size of a fan worm is it? does it grab bits of debris then pull it in? if so it may be a Spagetti worm.
Question #4 :(
I bought some liverock and all the color drained from it when I took it home and put it in my take. Is this the "curing" process?
Click to expand...
when coraline is exposed to air it will turn white, it will recover in time.
Question #5 :mad:
Is the Blue Damsil fish the meanest fish on earth? I have him right now in my 10gal isolation tank, he's just a mean little bugger. Hopefully my LFS will take him back. If I buy some more would he be more peaceful, or is he a lost cause?
Click to expand...
Damsels are more evil than crabs (is that possible?) because of the speed of their constant attacks. in a 20G tank, take him back when your tank cycles completely.

what else is in your tank, how long has it been set up and how is your water testing?


you found a good spot for info here, feel free to ask any questions.
 
Bouncer420

Bouncer420

New Member
Thanks for the quick responses!
I was really freaked out when I saw a slug in my tank (not a sea slug, but it looked like a land slug) I'm pretty sure it was a snail that was robbed of it's shell by my hermits. I think I'll keep them in their for now though.
I've had the tank for about 2 months now. I must admit I have quite a bit of fish in there already, but after the initial tank cycling, everything has been pretty stable. I usually wait only a week or so before introducing something new. My lighting is poor, so I'm going to stick with a Fish Only tank for now.

My fanworm's "fans" don't really move for food at all, they just sway back and forth. It's been spitting out small brown globs (about the size of a pin head) every once in a while. I'm really intrested/worried about the worm. He's pretty big (6in long, 4in feather span)

As for the damsel... good thing I got him out when I did. I had to move my LR all around chasing that guy. He was fairly clever... but my 2 nets and "home field" advantage payed off.
 
sharks

sharks

Contributing Member
LOL WELCOME home :D
Yes you met our claw hater Wit ;) All hermits are questionable IMO ( and evil in his)
The damsel needs to go. If it were a 75-90 I would say one is OK but your tank is to small for any damsel IMO.
The slug is probably a Stomatella. Here is a nice pic from Gumhead a member here.
2stomp01.jpg


Dave where is that close up from the other site?

The small brown globs are probably just worm poop :hammerhea
HIH
S


^EDIT^
If it has no shell and is totally soft it’s probably a nudibranch(SP?) of some type and there are many out there. Most are not safe to a reef IMO
S
 
Last edited:
Bouncer420

Bouncer420

New Member
That picture looks exactly like my slug, except it's back is fleashy and looks scraped. If a hermit crab did "steal" a snails shell, could it (the snail) still survive?
 
M

mredman

Member
Chances are the hermit ate its way into the new shell. I know of no snails that are able to adapt to another shell.

Mike
 
sharks

sharks

Contributing Member
Snails grow the shell and the crabs steal them. IME If a crab steals the shell the snail ALWAYS dies and that is why I think you have a Stomatella or a nudi.
S
 
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