Missing Blue Leg Hermit

[Idaknow15]

Hi there,

I have had a blue leg hermit for about 3 months in which time he vanished, moulted and reappeared. This morning I have discovered that his shell is empty and he does not seem to be occupying any of the other shells that I had put in the tank for him to be able to move into. He is quite large compared to a lot I have seen in LFS and I am worried as have read that they only tend to live for a couple of years.

Do hermits leave their shell to moult? What worries me is that his shell was "abandoned" right at the front of the tank where as last time he moulted he hid within a crevice in the live rock.
Should I assume that he has died or could he be hiding in the live rock maybe? He is one of my favourite tank mates and I would be sad to think he has gone without a trace!
I have put his shell back to as close to where I found it as possible just in case and will run some tests on my water but all other tank mates including corals seem happy as normal. I will also do a water change just in case he has died as do not want a potential issue if he has died.

Other tank mates are:
2 x Clown fish
1 x Bi-colour blenny
1 x Yellow Coral Goby
2 x Nas snails
2 x Turbo snails

 

[Isopod80]

Chances are the hermit is dead. Between the fish and the snails I wouldn't worry about contamination from a single blue leg. Of course if you see a carcass you should remove it. It could have grown to the point where it felt it had to abandon the shell. Healthy hermits don't abandon shells unless there is an alternative shell present. That's why it's important to have similar empty shells of slightly larger sizes in the tank when you have hermits.

 

[RedReefer]

Keep your eye out though he could show up in a different shell. And yes I would definitely not worry about one crab polluting you’re tank enough to do any water quality damage.

 

[MaxTremors]

Are all your snails accounted for?

 

[Idaknow15]

Chances are the hermit is dead. Between the fish and the snails I wouldn't worry about contamination from a single blue leg. Of course if you see a carcass you should remove it. It could have grown to the point where it felt it had to abandon the shell. Healthy hermits don't abandon shells unless there is an alternative shell present. That's why it's important to have similar empty shells of slightly larger sizes in the tank when you have hermits.

Thank you, there are 4 shells of different graduating sizes in the tank for him to move into but they all appear empty from what I can see too

 

[Idaknow15]

Are all your snails accounted for?

Yep I can see the two nas feelers? in the sand and my turbos are on the glass

 

[Isopod80]

Thank you, there are 4 shells of different graduating sizes in the tank for him to move into but they all appear empty from what I can see too

As someone else mentioned, it could still turn up in another shell soon but I wouldn't count on it. At least you have other shells. It's quite possible it simply died.