missing hermits

[damo666]

Hi all. I've been watching events unfold in my tank regarding my group of hermits, whilst also focusing on introducing my corals, making several posts regarding their care, placement etc. Sadly, I've come to the conclusion that my group of six has sadly diminished to one. Now, a couple of months ago I removed a large one that had become a little too aggressive for my liking, the guy in the shop I took it to said "wow, what a beauty, that's going straight in my display tank". All parties happy then.
Last week I noticed, for the first time in my experience, one of them out of it's shell nestling into a crevice. I contemplated moving it amongst shells, I have loads in the tank, but decided not to in case I damaged it. Anyway, next morning it was gone. What I'm wondering is it a common place to loose hermits when they seem to be doing well? Also, should I restock with the remaining one in, or incase that's the cause of the problem, remove it and start afresh? Any thoughts would be great, thanks.

 

[Phil077]

It can Happen Mate! sometimes the crab you saw out of the shell. is a cast! hermit shedding itself.
How big were they?

 

[damo666]

I would say that they were in the range of 2-2 and half inches. I had seen them swap shells quite regularly.

 

[Neil]

Always found that they dont last long unless you target feed them

 

[Realist]

Yeh I had loads in my tank and slowly they all decided to go on holiday and now I'm down to a few.

 

[Phil077]

Depends what type they are. imo
Algae hermits seem to last longer I Have 3 which I Added 3 years ago. still going strong
However meat eaters do better when given very small bits of food

 

[steve861uk]

Do they have spare bigger shells by way of an upgrade? Also I find that by feeding my fish pellets is of great benefit to my inverts as well (they get the pellets in the sand/gravel and any that fall onto my live rock) and are greedy little blighters :w00t:

 

[damo666]

I haven't been target feeding, no. To be honest, with them being described as cuc, didn't realise this was needed. I added 3 small ones an hour or so ago and the one I already had made a bee line straight for them, getting very aggressive with the first one it managed to grab! I'm hoping if I start target feeding now I can spare the new arrivals a painful death.

 

[damo666]

Fed the crabs with small chopped krill...to big for the fish to take. Biggest crab really filled it's boots. Quite a cocky little bugger!! When I separated it from the smallest one it was beating up, it set about trying to consume my fingertips. Now. I'll happily target feed, but if these other hermits meet there demise think I'll simply add more turbos. Enjoyed watching the crabs tbh, especially switching shells, but don't like the idea of cannibalism in my tank.