How Many Hermits/Snails for a 110 Gallon?

Jenna09

Jenna09

Reefing newb
How many hermit crabs and snails should there be in a 110 gallon reef aquarium?

I was at one of my LFS yesterday and I when I looked into their coral display tank I couldnt believe how many hermit crabs they had in there. I stop counting at 50 and those were just he ones in a small area. They appeared to have tiger stripes and what I consider medium sized shells.

Currently in my 110 gallon reef tank I have probably 5 tiny blue legged hermits. I used to have more but they have since died off.

Since I am basically starting my tank from scratch fish wise, I have decided to start off with adding a bunch of hermits and snails.

Suggestions on how many?
I currently have some assorted corals, 1 clownfish 7 feather dusters and a brittle/serpant star.

Thanks
Jenna
 
Personally I would start out with like 10-20 nassarius snails, 10 ceriths, maybe 5 trochus and 5 turbo snails to start out. Then add more as needed.
 
you can have 1-2 hermits/snails per gals. In your case 100-150 would not be extreme.
 
Last edited:
I'll answer you question with a question.
How many do YOU think you need to keep up with keeping the tank clean?
You only want enough to keep the detritus and algae cleaned up.Any more and some will starve to death.
Personally,I'd add 5 or 6 of em every couple of weeks untill untill I had just enough to keep the tank clean.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.

YOTE: I am thinking that I may need quite a few lol. I have always had problems with algae; first with horrible green hair (which is now under control) and now with bubble & red algae. I dont think that I have ever had enough hermits and snails which is why I have problems keeping algae growth down.

I am thinking now from the info that has been provided here I will go with 50 hermits and 25 snails for now and then add some every 1-2 weeks until I find I have reached my limit.

Now what are peoples opinions about getting different kinds of crabs? I currently have blue legged hermits; is it ok to get different kinds of hermits? From what I have been told is that different hermits will kill each other if put together.

From what I have been reading on other threads I think I may also get an emerald crab to help with the bubble algae.

Thanks again!

Jenna
 
You can get different types of hermits. They will kill each other, but the same type will kill each other as well.

All hermits will kill snails, which is why a lot of people prefer to have a hermit-free tank (myself included). I find that a good variety of snails will do the jobs that any hermits will do, and without massacring each other.
 
I completely disagree that you should have about 150....
I don't think there is a "Set" amount, and that more so than gallons, it depends on bioload. The more food available for them to eat, the more you should have. In my 75, I have a pretty light CuC crew by "standard" numbers, but I don't have any problems. Since you had more and they died of, there is a good chance thy starved. If you're having problems related to not enough CuC, then add more. (such as a lot of visible detritus on the ground, on cyano building up) Adding too many will just create a die-off...
 
In my 125 I have a total of 5 trochus snails,several Nass. snails,several cerths and 6 or 7 hermits I think.I also have a serpent and a brittle star that help.
 
parrotchute said:
I completely disagree that you should have about 150....
Click to expand...

I didnt mean that he must have that many. I meant that its not extreme to have that many if needed. his tank is 110 gals, if enough algae it can easily support that many. Thats what i meant, sorry if i wasnt clear enough.
 
My tank is not located in a great place and gets sun from my window which creates more algae growth.

When I said I had hermits that have died I meant over the last 8 years; the ones I have in my tank have been in there for years. I honestly dont even remember the last time I bought some. The most hermits I have bought at once was 10 and I thought that was enough but I think I may have been way off base with the amount of algae problems I have had in the past and hopefully this may solve any future problems.

At my LFS they have some nice really tiny blue-legged hermits and so a larger number probably wont be a problem.

I wont be getting anything for a few days/weeks...I want to make sure everything in my tank is settled down and ok.

Jenna

PS. I am a girl lol
 
I didnt mean that he must have that many. I meant that its not extreme to have that many if needed. his tank is 110 gals, if enough algae it can easily support that many. Thats what i meant, sorry if i wasnt clear enough.

I understood you Game.
I think it also depends on the size of them. I have around 100 in my 150 gallon, but most of them are very small. I am also willing to feed them if I think they are not getting enough to eat and are becoming aggressive towards each other, which I actually never see.
 
cthegame said:
I didnt mean that he must have that many. I meant that its not extreme to have that many if needed. his tank is 110 gals, if enough algae it can easily support that many. Thats what i meant, sorry if i wasnt clear enough.
Click to expand...


I figured that much, CT, coming from you, but I've heard/seen a lot of recommendations that do go that way...
 

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