hermits murdering snails

[buddy08]

and stealing shells... what should i do about this?

 

[BL1]

You can try adding larger empty shells into the tank but, IMO the only way to totally stop it is to remove the hermits all together.

 

[buddy08]

is there such a place where i can buy bigger shells that are safe to put in my aquarium?

 

[Mr.Diggler]

Your LFS should sell them.

 

[BL1]

Yep sure is
ReefCleaners.org | Clean Up Crews and Macro Algae - Empty Hermit Shells
Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Empty Fancy Hermit Crab Shells

I'm sure your LFS probably has them too.

 

[buddy08]

i have one that has 2 zoanthid polyps on it.. its in the sand, i hope a hermit finds it and wears it! thatd be awesome! lol I'll check with my LFS tomorrow

 

[Smitty]

+1 Brian...you can buy shells from pretty much any large lfs like petco or petsmart.

 

[Salty B]

I had 5 hermits and 24 empty shells of various sizes for them. They still hunted down the snails and killed them. I think they did it for fun. They would move in after killing,not like it,move back and go on to the next snail. Dont know if it's like that with all hermits but mine were blue legged and thats just how they were.

 

[Jmck]

I got rid of all my hermits for this reason, I hate them lol

 

[Mandarin66]

I only had 1 hermit when I moved the rest died and the hermit doesn't eat any of my snail it blue hermit

 

[sen5241b]

Hermits "murdering" snails? Smitty! 911! Arrest those crabs! We might have to put them in a little electric chair. Seriously, hermits are reef safe as long they are small. If they are big enough to kill something they generally will.