Paranoid? I hope so. Why won't these hermits, well, come out of their shell?

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by brew0688, Mar 16, 2010.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. brew0688

    brew0688 Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Messages:
    313
    Location:
    Florida
    Hi everyone

    So.. first addition of something live to my tank happened today. The tank has been up for 5 weeks, and is through cycling. I have some nice algae blossoms everywhere, and after posting here, reading, and talking to my LFS, I decided it was time to start adding a clean up crew.

    I got 2 scarlet hermies from the LFS. They were out of turbo snails, so I'll get some of those next week. (Taking things... REALLL slow.)

    Everything is at zero (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia) Ph is around 8.3 and my Spec. Grav is right at 1.026, as per (Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com) these parameters from the chemistry threads.

    I acclimated the crabs by floating the bag for 15 minutes to get the temp the same, and then punctured a small hole in the bag to allow the water to start to interchange. About 10 mins later I just took them out of the bag, and placed them on the sandbed.

    That was HOURS ago... and they're still both exactly where I placed them. they both have their eyes bulging out, but aren't doing anything at all.

    Are they just frightened and calming down? Is it normal for them to be so lazy.... they have algae to clean up! :p
     
  2. Click Here!

  3. slocal

    slocal Doot!

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2009
    Messages:
    1,188
    Location:
    Central Coast, CA
    Have you tried prodding them a bit? Never hurts to see if they're still kicking. I've never heard of the punctured bag method. I wouldn't use it for the fact that you can't really control the flow of the water and you NEVER want someone else's water in your tank. No telling what is in there.
     
  4. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2008
    Messages:
    5,736
    Location:
    Wilmington, DE
    If you still see that they are in there, I would give it some more time. However, in all of my experiences my hermits have always started to move right away.
     
  5. brew0688

    brew0688 Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Messages:
    313
    Location:
    Florida

    Well that's no bueno. I guess I figured it'd be beneficial to get some new bacteria in here.. I kept reading about people taking a cup of sand from the LFS to get their cycle going, so I didn't think a cup of water would hurt. That'll be the last time I do that then.

    They're definitely still kicking... the have their little... twiching mouth things (I know the human anatomy like the back of my hand, but don't ask me what makes up a crabs dentition:)) going like crazy... I'll prod 'em see if it gets them kicking.
     
  6. brew0688

    brew0688 Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Messages:
    313
    Location:
    Florida
    That's what I had read; that they usually get to work right away.

    I placed them both kinda upside-down, so they would feel vulnerable. They're both moving about in their shells quite a bit now, so they're alive. Hopefully they'll get cracking. I think they're trying to flip over as I type.
     
  7. slocal

    slocal Doot!

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2009
    Messages:
    1,188
    Location:
    Central Coast, CA
    Most LFS's don't quarantine their livestock so you run the risk of letting ich and other harmful organisms in the water. The general rule for using sand to seed your sand bed is to use from a trusted source. There are very few LFS's I would trust.
     
    1 person likes this.
  8. Click Here!

  9. pgoodsell

    pgoodsell Horrid Stonefish

    Joined:
    Apr 6, 2009
    Messages:
    2,059
    Location:
    Sparks, Nv

    +1 and if you plan on going reef many LFS's run copper in the FO tanks. Now with the hermits thats not an issue, but when you add fish it can be. You don't want to add copper to a reef.
     
  10. brew0688

    brew0688 Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2010
    Messages:
    313
    Location:
    Florida
    Hermit crabs not moving.

    I hope this isn't a non emergent question. I posted this question in another more apt place earlier, but the situation hasn't resolved.

    I copied + pasted my question below. (to those of you who answered earlier - I appreciate you help, just need more info ;))

    Paste=

    So.. first addition of something live to my tank happened today. The tank has been up for 5 weeks, and is through cycling. I have some nice algae blossoms everywhere, and after posting here, reading, and talking to my LFS, I decided it was time to start adding a clean up crew.

    I got 2 scarlet hermies from the LFS. They were out of turbo snails, so I'll get some of those next week. (Taking things... REALLL slow.)

    Everything is at zero (nitrates, nitrites, ammonia) Ph is around 8.3 and my Spec. Grav is right at 1.026, as per (Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com) these parameters from the chemistry threads.

    I acclimated the crabs by floating the bag for 15 minutes to get the temp the same, and then punctured a small hole in the bag to allow the water to start to interchange. About 10 mins later I just took them out of the bag, and placed them on the sandbed.

    That was HOURS ago... and they're still both exactly where I placed them. they both have their eyes bulging out, but aren't doing anything at all.

    Are they just frightened and calming down? Is it normal for them to be so lazy.... they have algae to clean up! :p

    END OF PASTE

    So that was at 4:30 pm my time. It is now 9:45, and they're still not moving. They shrink back into their shell when I move them, or pick them up (which I've only done twice), but other than that, they just sit there. Doing nothing but cleaning their eyes. Lol.

    Is this typical of hermit crabs? Or does it mean something in my water is off?

    I just don't want the first two things I add to my tank to croak. :-/

    Thanks guys

    Brew
     
  11. divott

    divott Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2009
    Messages:
    3,658
    Location:
    holland landing, ontario ,canada
    if theyre stil lactive in their shells, i wouldnt worry to much .still alive, and probably still aclimating in a sense. my hermits arent always motoring around, even after over a year. good luck
     
    1 person likes this.
  12. slocal

    slocal Doot!

    Joined:
    Mar 8, 2009
    Messages:
    1,188
    Location:
    Central Coast, CA
    You should just reply to the thread you started. It keeps the forums from getting cluttered with the same posts. ;)

    No brainer question, are the crabs right-side up or upside down?
     
    1 person likes this.