Isolate Streaking Hermit? Day 4…

[TinyReefObsession]

Hey All, apologies in advance but i can’t find much info on reef hermits evacuating their shells… my tiniest blue leg hermit recently molted (they surface molt in my tank, happy for suggestions), took a while getting moving this time.

Finally I spot him naked, with a row of shells, and leave him be (ALL AFTERNOON) but i’ve never seen them without a shell for more than a few seconds… next AM in a shell on the rocks - great- by afternoon- back in the sand, naked, on a shell, 3 more lined up again.

I thought something might be in the shells since he was climbing in head first, i’ve seen him start getting his butt in and then go in head first again. It’s been 4 days so while he’s been okay so far, i have 2 spawning clowns and am worried for their next nest…

He’s not afraid of my tweezers- seems like isolating might stress him out though… Should i try to rinse out some of the shells? Any thoughts?

Background we just moved the tank 3 weeks ago, 2 molted, then my nem bombed the tank by tangling with the powerhead (hasn’t done this in the last year w/ me so took me a while to figure out). Changed airstone, changed out the carbon, WC today.. tank and everything seemed back to normal days ago - except my littlest guy here

I can’t tell if he’s exhausted from lack of food or what at this point… have been trying to get some his way but won’t leave the shells..

1.0262
Temp just below 78

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I thought something might be in the shells since he was climbing in head first, i’ve seen him start getting his butt in and then go in head first again.

That sounds like it might just be trying out the various shells and seeing if it likes any of them/if any will work for it at the moment.

You may want to offer different types or sizes of shells from the ones available to it.

For what it's worth, blue leg hermits like Cerith shells:

Cerithium spp. shells - so Cerith shells are their preferred shells.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

That sounds like it might just be trying out the various shells and seeing if it likes any of them/if any will work for it at the moment.

You may want to offer different types or sizes of shells from the ones available to it.

For what it's worth, blue leg hermits like Cerith shells:

Thank you so much for your reply. I think he has four of those lined up hahaha seems to be zeroed in on 2 of them but we’re on day 4 and i’ve only seen him get into one (and looked like all he did was sleep all morning) 2 days ago for 1/2 a day… maybe he’s “getting dressed” at night again & I’m missing it lol but i’ve just never seen them chill all day without a shell on… seems to duck a little when the clown-demons pass over- but wouldn’t he get in the shell instinctively to stay safe?

It is my first tank, had it just over a year now, so just want to make sure i’m not dismissing something in case i can help the little streaker out lol

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Thank you so much for your reply. I think he has four of those lined up hahaha seems to be zeroed in on 2 of them but we’re on day 4 and i’ve only seen him get into one (and looked like all he did was sleep all morning) 2 days ago for 1/2 a day… maybe he’s “getting dressed” at night again & I’m missing it lol but i’ve just never seen them chill all day without a shell on… seems to duck a little when the clown-demons pass over- but wouldn’t he get in the shell instinctively to stay safe?

It is my first tank, had it just over a year now, so just want to make sure i’m not dismissing something in case i can help the little streaker out lol

Yeah, as long as the shells are passably decent in its opinion, it should be getting in one - staying out for multiple days is odd if it has decent selection of shells available.

I know with land hermit crabs, that's a sign of something being wrong, so I'd assume similar here - my first thought was the shells (size or kind, as mentioned), but given the circumstances mentioned, I'd assume this was triggered by the incident with the anemone causing a water quality issue that the smaller hermit was more sensitive to. That said, it could be something else.

At this point, I'd say to pull it with the two shells it seems to like into a little breeder box or something, clean out the insides of the shells to be sure, and see if you can get the crab eating.

To check other possibilities here, though, what have you been feeding the hermits? How much and how often?

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Yeah, as long as the shells are passably decent in its opinion, it should be getting in one - staying out for multiple days is odd if it has decent selection of shells available.

I know with land hermit crabs, that's a sign of something being wrong, so I'd assume similar here - my first thought was the shells (size or kind, as mentioned), but given the circumstances mentioned, I'd assume this was triggered by the incident with the anemone causing a water quality issue that the smaller hermit was more sensitive to. That said, it could be something else.

At this point, I'd say to pull it with the two shells it seems to like into a little breeder box or something, clean out the insides of the shells to be sure, and see if you can get the crab eating.

To check other possibilities here, though, what have you been feeding the hermits? How much and how often?

Okay thank you so much! I thought it was strange behavior. I feed frozen spirulina mysis daily, and a sprinkle of either NLS, the red refrigerated pellets (lol my brain is not working ..), or PE omega loaded mysis for breakfast. They also have the hikari sinking wafers that i break into smaller pieces to prevent fighting lol the crabs LOVE those!! … but i don’t think he’s had enough - i’ll get him separated. Thank you

Edit: blue light is on, white lights are off, & he’s chilling under the big mushroom, on top of the shell he’s been working on… so i will pull him in the morning so he doesn’t feel threatened & make a run for it.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Keep us updated on how it does!

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Keep us updated on how it does!

Ugh and of course i saw him this morning but was going to pull him after i was caffeinated & have not been able to spot him again all afternoon. I’m going to put some frozen in since that gets everywhere. If i don’t see him I’m considering pulling the rock in front covered in mushrooms (he could be hidden by one of them) and see if i can find him.

Whatever i do i have to turn off all flow and be mindful of my ginormous condy - who i’m sure would swallow him right up if he falls onto it… definitely even more stressed now i hope the little guy shows up… i know his behavior was a bad sign..

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Okay upon further reflection, if there’s one thing this tank has taught me, it’s don’t over react & create bjgger issues since the original one will often work itself out … there are several shells he could be in right there, and if i start moving stuff around in search, there’s a good chance he could become anemone dinner… so i already added some super small pellets that mostly sink and got all the other crabs & shrooms going (forgot what they’re called) & then a dash of frozen a bit later… everyone else was running amok and the food got everywhere… so let’s hope one of these shells are moving around tomorrow … PS doesn’t help that they dilated my eyes at the dr this afternoon!!! Lol everything with a light edge looks like a little blurry hermit leg haha

 

[mdpitts]

Okay upon further reflection, if there’s one thing this tank has taught me, it’s don’t over react & create bjgger issues since the original one will often work itself out … there are several shells he could be in right there, and if i start moving stuff around in search, there’s a good chance he could become anemone dinner… so i already added some super small pellets that mostly sink and got all the other crabs & shrooms going (forgot what they’re called) & then a dash of frozen a bit later… everyone else was running amok and the food got everywhere… so let’s hope one of these shells are moving around tomorrow … PS doesn’t help that they dilated my eyes at the dr this afternoon!!! Lol everything with a light edge looks like a little blurry hermit leg haha

Hey, I ran across this thread and was wondering how it all turned out?

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Hey, I ran across this thread and was wondering how it all turned out?

, i found one of the shells he had been interested in, in a strange spot on the side of my tank, but was still hoping for the best… but last week I cleaned the powerhead intake and there were some light orange shells that could have been his remains… lines up with him dying where the shell was and floating to the powerhead intake…

he had just molted, and i think I realized too late that the mess in the tank was my anemone sticking a tentacle in the powerhead (it had never happened in the 1.5yrs i’ve had the tank). So it was just too late for the poor guy. I feel terrible.

I never saw him again after my eyes were dilated. I wish I had acted sooner- to isolate him, or done a bigger water change, i’m just so bummed. I’ve had two dreams about finding him again in the tank

 

[Tamberav]

Sorry you lost the little guy but it is awesome you cared so much to try.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Often when abondoning shells even if trying to move into another, its 50/50 on success before being attacked or desecration from exposure to elements. Evacuation from shell itself will cause stress to a hermit crab. Other reasons for leaving shell is high temps, bacteria within shell, mites within shell and molt

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Often when abondoning shells even if trying to move into another, its 50/50 on success before being attacked or desecration from exposure to elements. Evacuation from shell itself will cause stress to a hermit crab. Other reasons for leaving shell is high temps, bacteria within shell, mites within shell and molt

Thanks, maybe there was more going on as you mentioned; when he changed shells it looked like there was a bunch of gunk/ debris on his little body.

I thought it was normal since it was only the second time I’d seen a hermit change shells up close. But my larger hermit changed shells in front of me yesterday and it’s body looked clean/ debris free

There was definitely a lot happening in the tank in a short time… poor guy.

 

[TinyReefObsession]

Sorry you lost the little guy but it is awesome you cared so much to try.

Thanks- i really get attached to the little goobers- they have such different personalities they crack me up! Once I get a bigger tank I’m planning to add a little molting sand pit for them, since mine surface molt, and hopefully that will keep them all around/ healthy longer .. along with my experience this time around…