HEEELP! Desperate Newbie with a mayhem tank!

H

hebbah

Reefing newb
You may all start laughing right now! I give you leave to tease me mercilessly...
We researched this tank endlessly, read tons of books, dreamt about it for a couple of years and finally dared to set it all up...

Finally the day came and the tank was ready, it had been running for about 2.5 weeks with perfect water tests. sg and temp.
We got a little cuc (you may start laughing now) consisting of 2 peppermint shrimp, 2 hermit crabs and 3 snails. I did the perfect drip acclimation and was so proud of my first time adding things to the quarantine tank (10G). Everything looked great until I released the two hermit crabs into the tank. One of them right away attacked a snail that was two sizes smaller than it (there are also about 20 shells in all sizes strewn around the tank for his convinience..). I managed to pry him off the snail and he decided to leave the snails be but 30 min. later I find him in a dead lock with the other crab! I tried to get him to let go of the crab with the very smart method of using a spoon (yes, you can all laugh) and of course it didn't work at all. Next thing you know, the crab he was fighting fled its shell and went to hide under a rock where it is either dead or dying and now the peppermint shrimp is eating him!!!! And the other crab (the fighter) isn't coming out of his shell anymore.
I feel like I am in a horror movie! What on earth did I do wrong??? I didn't see anywhere that you are supposed to have only one crab in the tank. Is the quarantine tank too small for two??? Was I not supposed to get the shrimp??? I carefully picked out critters that were PEACEFUL... I feel like a full scale idiot!
What should I do now? Take the dead crab out of the tank? Leave it for the shrimp to eat? What about the other one, how do I figure out if it is still alive? Please do help this newbie after you are through laughing....

Hebbah
 
They will get rid of that whole crab before it messes up the water? How very depressing that I got myself such violent tank mates ... so much for the peaceful part...
 
I can't really give you advice, I'm a newbie too, but I had a similar situation when one of my crabs attacked my snails "for fun". I was horrified. I didn't try the spoon method but I did watch the other crabs eat the snail. It's nature, that's what they do. If the shrimp is getting a meal out of the crab I would let it continue it's snack. How big is your tank? It seems like you need a whole bunch more hermits and snails than just a couple. Also, I was under the impression that you should wait a bit before you get shrimp but again, I really don't know anything. I'll tell you this from experience.... get over it, they eat each other. I'm a total hippie, vegetarian pacifist. It took me a bit to get used to that idea too. You can't blame them for being themselves, circle of life, you know?

Welcome to the best site on the web!
Catherine
 
Wasnt anything you did.Hermits are just little basterds sometimes.
Theres also no need to QT your inverts.Just acclimate them to your display and put in there where they can do you some good.


Although I would have liked to see you trying to pry the hermits apart with that spoon:D
 
Yes, I felt like knight with a shining spoon :)
I am glad to know that I didn't do anything wrong. I was sure I overlooked some important something...good to know that I don't need to QT inverts. I just wish now that I hadn't gotten the pretty banded leg crabs...they were $8 for one!
 
8 bucks for one hermit??:shock:
Just how big IS that hermit? I know around here,you can buy those little blue legged hermits for about 2 bucks each.
 
Well, it was (emphasis on was) a little bigger than a dime. The other one is the same size. I got them at liveaquaria.com
We live in a teeny town where the only LFS is Petco and did not have any hermit crabs. I should have stuck with the $1.99 ones...
 
Picasso said:
I can't really give you advice, I'm a newbie too, but I had a similar situation when one of my crabs attacked my snails "for fun". I was horrified. I didn't try the spoon method but I did watch the other crabs eat the snail. It's nature, that's what they do. If the shrimp is getting a meal out of the crab I would let it continue it's snack. How big is your tank? It seems like you need a whole bunch more hermits and snails than just a couple. Also, I was under the impression that you should wait a bit before you get shrimp but again, I really don't know anything. I'll tell you this from experience.... get over it, they eat each other. I'm a total hippie, vegetarian pacifist. It took me a bit to get used to that idea too. You can't blame them for being themselves, circle of life, you know?

Welcome to the best site on the web!
Catherine
Click to expand...


Thanks so much Catherine! You have described me perfectly! I am definately a hippie pacifist! So this was kind of a rough start :) but then again a little nature won't hurt me. Of course the children thought it was kind of lame :) They did like the spoon thing tough...
 
Oops, I forgot to let you know that you are right and we will need a bigger CUC but I wasn't sure at all if I could keep anything alive so I started small :) It seems that was a wise decision....
I am going to think twice about those hermit crabs
 
BigH55 said:
feed them something. Be glad its not fish doing that. They get expensive fast.
Click to expand...


Do you mean feed the crabs something? I just got them a few hours ago so I was going to give them some food tomorrow...not good?
Will the two shrimp really take care of that dead hermit and how will I know if the other one is dead (it is inside its shell and has been there for the last few hours)
 
If its been in the shell for that long,I'd say its a decent bet that its dead.But I'd give it untill tomorrow to make sure.
And you'll be surprised at just how quick shrimp and the other critters you get in live rock can process dead crabs and such.
 
You didn't do anything wrong! And I agree with you that it's a good idea to start with a SMALL cleaner crew, just like you did, and add more animals as you need them. I think you started with a perfect number of critters.

Hermit crabs can be mean. They'll kill each other, and they'll kill snails too. I honestly don't think you're missing much by not having hermits; there are other good cleaners that can do the same things they do but aren't aggressive towards other animals. The shrimp will finish up anything small like that that dies in the tank -- that's their job as part of the cleaning crew. I'd say hold off on adding any more crabs for now, see if the rest of your crew can stay alive for a couple weeks, then after that you can add something new.
 
PS -- remember, these are still wild animals. So no matter how much research you do, you will inevitably come across one or two that don't do what they're "supposed" to do.
 
I am definately NOT getting any other hermit crabs right now. I am going to wait and see if I can get these critters to stay alive. Thanks so much for all your advice, encouragment and help!
 
Hebbah,

Great story.

I am with Biff, not a fan of the crabs either. They are too disruptive IMO.
I am down to 2 scarlet crabs and the rest of the CUC is a deep mixture of snails.

Good Luck.....and keep the spoon holstered.
 
I added a teeny baby hermit to my tank a couple weeks ago and it attacked my bumblebee snail, and took its shell. Albeit, I'm sure the snail was dead already anyway, but you always worry that the crab develops a taste for snails and start attacking live ones just cuz. But +1 to everyone who said that sometimes, sh*t happens. I've had my fair share!
 
hah.i have about 15 hermits and about25-30 snails and the hermits dont even touch my snails.hate to see that kind of stuff.
 

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