Will all hermit crabs kill all snails?

[SquidySpecs]

There is such a wide variety of both hermit crabs and snails, are some more or less compatible with eachother than others? Would a smaller hermit crab like a scarlet still kill a snail like a large trochus who's shell wouldn't even be suitable for such a crab? I would like to hear peoples' opinions and if anyone has experience with certain species of crab being compatible or not with different snails. I personally used to have some halloween hermits which would eat astrea snails though I'm not sure if they killed them or if the snails had died previously.

 

[Lionfish hunter]

Ive never had an issue. Some will I’m sure.

 

[SquidySpecs]

Ive never had an issue. Some will I’m sure.

What kinds of snails or hermit crabs have you kept? Did you ever provide extra shells for your crabs?

 

[slingfox]

I started with only snails when I set up my tank. When I added hermit crabs I also added in a bunch of extra shells to help reduce potential for aggression. Unfortunately I overdosed hydrogen peroxide plus dino poisoning completely wiped out my snail population within a week period. Half a dozen hermits survived the Armageddon (both Halloween hermits and a handful of blue leg)..

I recently added 6 Astrea snails and some small conch snails to rebuild the population and I don't see any hermit aggression yet. I saw a few hermits checking out the empty shells yesterday so I added a few more empty shells. One of the hermits completely a shell swap within a few hours of me adding some more empty shells. .

 

[Alexraptor]

Not quite sure what kind of hermits they are, but I have a variety with red legs, one enormous black claw with white tips, and they seem to have zero interest in trochus snails or even trochus snail shells.

 

[ggNoRe]

I've never seen an issue with hermits killing my snails. I keep small hermits with trochus, top crowns, fighting conch, astreas, nassarius, ceriths, bumble bees, ninja stars, and turbos. I don't keep extra shells.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would say its actually rare that a hermit kills a snail.

I think that, more often than not, the snail dies on its own and the hermit is then blamed for "cleaning up", as they usually are. I'm not saying that hermits won't kill snails, I just think it happens much less frequently than folks think.

 

[kevgib67]

I keep dwarf red and blue legged hermits with turbos, trochus, ceriths and nassarius with zero problems. The hermits seem to prefer cerith shells but I still have all my cerith snails that were added well over a year ago. I did throw in a bunch of empty shells.

 

[carpediem1978]

There is such a wide variety of both hermit crabs and snails, are some more or less compatible with eachother than others? Would a smaller hermit crab like a scarlet still kill a snail like a large trochus who's shell wouldn't even be suitable for such a crab? I would like to hear peoples' opinions and if anyone has experience with certain species of crab being compatible or not with different snails. I personally used to have some halloween hermits which would eat astrea snails though I'm not sure if they killed them or if the snails had died previously.

My blue tip hermits became man eaters. Yes they had food. Yes they had empty shells.
The larger two picked the others off one by one after dark.
Eventually I had only 3 left ..
One morning I found my two gorgeous large cleaner shrimp wedged in the rocks. The crabs killed them too!..
We are talking a load of money. Oh they went after snails too.
What an idiot I was...
So know I purchased one cleaner shrimp 2" for $42 1 snail and a bundle of red tip Hermits only 1" for $65 .
I kept online til the salesperson succumbed and waved the $40 ship fee and $14 handling fee. I paid $7 extra to guarantee 10:30 delivery.

So I want to know is there a snail dip like for corals?
If I try quarantine they would no doubt die.
Is there such a thing?
I have a beautiful pair of mated clown fish. A firefish and 2 sandsifter starfish for cleaning. Oh a sandsifter gobie that hasn't sifted a single grain. The previos one never stopped cleaning...and some sort of fish I don't know what it is..it's so cute. It hides in a large empty snail shell with its head poking out. It has a long snout with 3 dots on top of its head...
So I need these cleaners desperately. They come tomorrow.
After acclimation can I just dump them in..
Oh I have terrible hair algae. I had a beautiful tank but had to go out of town. I had a sitter. I swear I don't know how a single fish survived. Ever since that algae is horrible...

So next huge problem...my filter. The rod that goes thru the impeller has broken in 2 proably four or 5 times.
U can't buy the rod or even the impeller and rod separately . U must get a replacement pump for $35. So I have collected 3 pumps and have one working. All the others have no rod!
So last nite I woke up to a grinding sound and clody aquarium water
..yep another broken rod.
My 2 clown fish at top ofvtank . I guess they are gasping. I had a airstone I usually hadn't used cuz it stirs up the sand . But I put it on a good spot .
Now I am a widow and have no car. So I can't get out to hunt down any new stuff. And I have to buy online. ...oh take UBER ..HA!
ANYWHERE u can expect about $40 round trip. Fearing for ur life and worrying if u will get a ride back
..
.but anyway
Online the rods I did find are all metal. Gee coralife. Wise up!
O call it my other life. I used to live in harrisburg pa
In nearby lancaster was a huge warehouse with everything imaginable and a 14 day saltwater fish guarantee and amazing prices. Being a warehouse.
And they employed marine biologists. No high-school kids.
They also shipped. I thought I was golden. I moved to another town. They no longer shop! No exceptions!

So b4 becoming a widow I had my aquarium room. Over years I acquired two 75 gallons. A 50 gallon and a 35 gallon. I was forced to move and list everything. I couldn't even get the stuff removed. Let stone sell anything. It ws heartbreaking...
So in my tiny apt I am trying a small coralife nano tank. It's been more expensive than I imagined. The prices if fish are so high!
The local fish stores have no guarantees and always died.
.so back yo it. The snails.nlue tip hermus and one cleaner. Can I just put them in the tank?
Sorry for all the typos

 

[carpediem1978]

My blue tip hermits became man eaters. Yes they had food. Yes they had empty shells.
The larger two picked the others off one by one after dark.
Eventually I had only 3 left ..
One morning I found my two gorgeous large cleaner shrimp wedged in the rocks. The crabs killed them too!..
We are talking a load of money. Oh they went after snails too.
What an idiot I was...
So know I purchased one cleaner shrimp 2" for $42 1 snail and a bundle of red tip Hermits only 1" for $65 .
I kept online til the salesperson succumbed and waved the $40 ship fee and $14 handling fee. I paid $7 extra to guarantee 10:30 delivery.

So I want to know is there a snail dip like for corals?
If I try quarantine they would no doubt die.
Is there such a thing?
I have a beautiful pair of mated clown fish. A firefish and 2 sandsifter starfish for cleaning. Oh a sandsifter gobie that hasn't sifted a single grain. The previos one never stopped cleaning...and some sort of fish I don't know what it is..it's so cute. It hides in a large empty snail shell with its head poking out. It has a long snout with 3 dots on top of its head...
So I need these cleaners desperately. They come tomorrow.
After acclimation can I just dump them in..
Oh I have terrible hair algae. I had a beautiful tank but had to go out of town. I had a sitter. I swear I don't know how a single fish survived. Ever since that algae is horrible...

So next huge problem...my filter. The rod that goes thru the impeller has broken in 2 proably four or 5 times.
U can't buy the rod or even the impeller and rod separately . U must get a replacement pump for $35. So I have collected 3 pumps and have one working. All the others have no rod!
So last nite I woke up to a grinding sound and clody aquarium water
..yep another broken rod.
My 2 clown fish at top ofvtank . I guess they are gasping. I had a airstone I usually hadn't used cuz it stirs up the sand . But I put it on a good spot .
Now I am a widow and have no car. So I can't get out to hunt down any new stuff. And I have to buy online. ...oh take UBER ..HA!
ANYWHERE u can expect about $40 round trip. Fearing for ur life and worrying if u will get a ride back
..
.but anyway
Online the rods I did find are all metal. Gee coralife. Wise up!
O call it my other life. I used to live in harrisburg pa
In nearby lancaster was a huge warehouse with everything imaginable and a 14 day saltwater fish guarantee and amazing prices. Being a warehouse.
And they employed marine biologists. No high-school kids.
They also shipped. I thought I was golden. I moved to another town. They no longer shop! No exceptions!

So b4 becoming a widow I had my aquarium room. Over years I acquired two 75 gallons. A 50 gallon and a 35 gallon. I was forced to move and list everything. I couldn't even get the stuff removed. Let stone sell anything. It ws heartbreaking...
So in my tiny apt I am trying a small coralife nano tank. It's been more expensive than I imagined. The prices if fish are so high!
The local fish stores have no guarantees and always died.
.so back yo it. The snails.nlue tip hermus and one cleaner. Can I just put them in the tank?
Sorry for all the typos

Blue legs are man eaters.
Be careful and do your homeworker.
There are certain snails that are prey for vrabs..
Also if ur thinking gee I will get big snails. WRONG...LIKE a big turbo. They tend to flip over onto their back and can't get back. Leaving there softer inside expised. Yummy for crabs. So u spend hours turning snails back over.

 

[EricR]

My take only:
Hermits will kill snails for their shell even if many similar, empty options are available.
I never had any kill snails just for food (as far as I know) but I think it's reasonable to assume they might if the mood strikes.
*I don't personally keep hermit crabs anymore but they do have their uses

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I had blue legged, electric Blue, scarlet, dwarf, Halloween, haiwian.... All varieties for years, I had placed lodsa various size shells and they lived quite happy.
then I added... Green legged, only 3 as I thought they would be a great addition, different species.

These guys are cannibals, literally ate all my other crabs within months, even my haiwian which was about 1.5 inch big
Avoid the GREEN spikey legged demons