Hermits In a 55.

[Fish_Kid99]

How many adult hermits can i have in a 55 gallon? I have 8 scarlett reef hermits and I am not sure if they are dwarfs or not (they are really small). I want to get a couple blue legged hermits but wasn't sure.Any suggestions?

[Fish_Kid99]

Anybody?

[daido]

I have some really bad experience with hermites so I have only two of them. I think the red ones are better than the blue. 8 is just fine for this size, just make sure they have shells to move into once they get bigger.

[Fish_Kid99]

Ok I wasn't sure because my LFS has a huge blue hermit that I was going to get, but I wanted to ask first.

[Adamw327]

I am no expert by far but from what i have gathered these last few days its a common misconception to think a tank needs so many Hermits. LFS have no problem getting them very cheap compared to what they sell them at, so its no wonder some places recommend crazy numbers like 1 per gallon. I have found a lot of personal stories involving multiple Hermits, years later resulting in just 1. I too have a 55 and picked 3 up last week and have been researching ever since (backwards, i know). At first i was excited to pick many more out seeing how entertaining they were to watch, but after what i have read, i will not be adding any more, and interested to see what happeneds between these three ( they are all different size and species)

[Calappidae]

If wanting large hermits and nothing else, only 1.... due to size, and aggressive, destructive behavior, and fighting for shells.
If wanting smaller hermits and nothing else, you could fit 55 small hermits, minus most of them because they will kill each other for shells.

If they are scarlet "reef" hermits then they are dwarfs as large hermits aren't even aquarium safe let alone reef safe.

Scarlet reef hermit (dwarf)
http://i44.*******.com/m8fbjp.jpg
Giant hermit
http://i44.*******.com/14llyqf.jpg
White spot hermit (another giant)
http://i39.*******.com/2mchmf.jpg