Wana rear hermit crab

[bloodymiko]

hi

i wanna rear some hermit crabs, i read quite alot about land types.... wanna find out whether land or sea types is easier to maintain for a start for a newbie like me....

anyone can help??? so glad i found this forum as other forums i found didnt have much ppl talking about hermit crabs in their forum.... or maybe i went to the wrong ones liao......

also wanna find out where i can get them too..... and also the prices.....

[Qxnviolet]

That really depends....i have not much experience on hermits. Had a few in my tanks before...in my opinion, they are very hardy. In general the land based hermts are much laregr than those which are sea based. Some of the easily found sea based hermits are the electric blue, red, dwarf and not fogetting those common hermits. Ah Bengs had some electric blues last week, ML carries them very often....market rate is around $5 for the blue, and around 7 or 8 for the red. Not really sure to give you an exact amt though. The land type and sea types are both pretty managable even by newbies. For the sea type you'll just have to make sure your water quality is ok. Don't have to add anything like trace elements else even. Occassional feeding will be more than enough.

[cannon_eer15]

Where can we get land hermit crabs now?

[Qxnviolet]

Erm, saw some at Irwana some time ago....not really sure if they still have it now though. Few shops carry them as they are not really in demand i guess...

[jervismun]

It's quite rare for ppl to just keep hermits... for most of us, hermits are part of the cleaning crew, that's why they are in our tank... but having said that, some are very beautiful... I have an electric blue, click my link below... u can find it at the first page.

Good luck... wanna consider adding more exciting stuff into your tank once it stabilizes? Starfish can be quite nice too... creating a very shallow beach environment.

[FuEl]

Land hermits definitely require alot of experience as they are much harder compared to fully aquatic species. Best to try the latter before you even try land hermits, then again success is not always guaranteed. To keep land hermits it is best to join a dedicated land hermit forum before you even attempt to keep the animal (I learnt the hard way). And nothing upsets me more than to see land hermits drowning in a tub full of ammonia laden seawater, with less than 5cmx5cm of land area (if it can be even considered one). They may be cheap animals to obtain at wholesale prices, but no reason to neglect them when they are being placed for sale.

A good site for land hermits is http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com

You will find that moulting is one of the major problems in keeping land hermits.

[bloodymiko]

That really depends....i have not much experience on hermits. Had a few in my tanks before...in my opinion, they are very hardy. In general the land based hermts are much laregr than those which are sea based. Some of the easily found sea based hermits are the electric blue, red, dwarf and not fogetting those common hermits. Ah Bengs had some electric blues last week, ML carries them very often....market rate is around $5 for the blue, and around 7 or 8 for the red. Not really sure to give you an exact amt though. The land type and sea types are both pretty managable even by newbies. For the sea type you'll just have to make sure your water quality is ok. Don't have to add anything like trace elements else even. Occassional feeding will be more than enough. 

ah bengs is located at where?? ML is at hong leong garden? near clementi? anyone knows where can get land and how much?

sea hermit crab dont moult??? seems like molting land hermit attracts alot of ants??? wat kind type of sea water is good for hermit? sea or fresh water?

[bloodymiko]

It's quite rare for ppl to just keep hermits... for most of us, hermits are part of the cleaning crew, that's why they are in our tank... but having said that, some are very beautiful... I have an electric blue, click my link below... u can find it at the first page.

Good luck... wanna consider adding more exciting stuff into your tank once it stabilizes? Starfish can be quite nice too... creating a very shallow beach environment.

starfish dont moves often rite.... then they need to be in water all the time too??

[jervismun]

Yeah sea stars must stay in water but they always stay close to the surface. A great way to add colours to your tank. Must do some research first, ok? I am just throwing out ideas without any real life experience in this area.

[bloodymiko]

Yeah sea stars must stay in water but they always stay close to the surface. A great way to add colours to your tank. Must do some research first, ok? I am just throwing out ideas without any real life experience in this area.

yup.... can i know if i were to get sea water based hermit, then how often do i need to change the water??

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, i guess if you are just keeping hermits, you won't have to change water very often...maybe just once a fortnight? Thats provided if you don't overfeed. A good measure of when to change water is to measure your nitrate level....

[bloodymiko]

Hrmz, i guess if you are just keeping hermits, you won't have to change water very often...maybe just once a fortnight? Thats provided if you don't overfeed. A good measure of when to change water is to measure your nitrate level....

hw to measure nitrate? got to get those measuring stuff???

[Qxnviolet]

Yup...measuring the amt of nitrate is one of the basic tests reefers do. But im not sure if a hermit only tank would require that....you could very well just get away with regular weekly water changes, hermit do not poo alot...

[bloodymiko]

Yup...measuring the amt of nitrate is one of the basic tests reefers do. But im not sure if a hermit only tank would require that....you could very well just get away with regular weekly water changes, hermit do not poo alot...

heehee.... yah, coz i''m nt good with rearing fishes.... they need more attention than hermit.... i suppose.... then don wanna risk their little lives till i am confident of giving them a good environment b4 i decide to rear fishes.... hehe....

will change water weekly... shd be safe that way ba.... then hermit crabs got differentiate into fresh or sea based???

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, thats somethin i seriously do not know. But how big is your tank going to be? Planning to put LRs in it?

[jervismun]

Rearing hermit crab lesser maintenance than fish? Not necessarily... keeping fishes are not too hard actually... so what is your intention really... coz I can foresee they require very different set up (i.e. tank shape and size, equipments, etc.) Bearing in mind that u might need to offer the hermits some live food too. The sea ones are definitely more diverse and colourful.

Here's my electric blue hermit

[bloodymiko]

Hrmz, thats somethin i seriously do not know. But how big is your tank going to be? Planning to put LRs in it?

wat is LR???

i got 3 2feet tanks and 1 1feet tank........ used to rear hammies in them..... then also some fishes... then stop.....

[monki]

LR is Live Rock. Seems like you are lost with all the short forms.

Maybe you can check out the below link to learn all abt short forms.

Its post by our Mod, AT.

Link here

[jervismun]

wat is LR???

i got 3 2feet tanks and 1 1feet tank........ used to rear hammies in them..... then also some fishes... then stop.....

Oh those acrylic tanks? Em... not very suitable if you wanna go full scale marine fishkeeping coz you may find a lot of restrictions later... perhaps you wanna start a small 1ft saltwater hermit tank for a start... buy some nice Live Rocks... cycle for a week or two... then you can throw in 1 or 2 hermits... I've seen at least 3 diff colour hermits around Red one quite nice too! You can also keep extra hardy corals such as Zoos and Mushies... maybe some snails too. Sounds like an interesting setup...

[bloodymiko]

LR is Live Rock. Seems like you are lost with all the short forms.

Maybe you can check out the below link to learn all abt short forms.

Its post by our Mod, AT.

Link here

thks for the link......

[bloodymiko]

Oh those acrylic tanks? Em... not very suitable if you wanna go full scale marine fishkeeping coz you may find a lot of restrictions later... perhaps you wanna start a small 1ft saltwater hermit tank for a start... buy some nice Live Rocks... cycle for a week or two... then you can throw in 1 or 2 hermits... I've seen at least 3 diff colour hermits around Red one quite nice too! You can also keep extra hardy corals such as Zoos and Mushies... maybe some snails too. Sounds like an interesting setup...

thks for your advice.... will try to set up something like that..........

[jervismun]

Ur welcome... do keep us all update ok? Pix Pix Pix