Hermit Crab Sizes

[Love the hermits]

Hey guys, i recently acquired a 55 gallon aquarium from a friend and I'm still in the process of cleaning and sterilizing it so it'll be safe for my crabies! i was just mauling the idea over, I've got five medium purple pinchers but was wondering how they would do with a larger crab? I'm not thinking jumbo or anything but one of the larger ones, would they fight or anything? Please get back to me whenever

[emmac350]

I've found that differently-sized crabs tend to get along together pretty well because they don't really fight for the same shells. I've really only seen squabbling between my similarly sized crabs. My two PPs are close-ish in size and they never eat together but both will allow my much smaller E eat with them without any issue. It's pretty interesting to see really.

[Love the hermits]

Alright awesome! So I've got my five medium PPs and after i put them in a 55 gal you think it'll be safe to add in some pretty large PPs? just wanting to make sure!

[emmac350]

Are you sure you want bigger crabs? It's usually easier to find little crabs and then you get to watch them grow up! In the last 8 years I've watched Benny and Rack go from shell openings less than 1/4" to being a jumbo and a large. Pretty crazy.

Introducing new crabs is always a little dicey. I'd recommend isolating the newcomers for a while so they get a chance to eat good food, get the waters they need, and try on some shells. Then bathe everyone and introduce them in the new tank at the same time. It might help to move things around so the crabs who've been in the 55g feel like it's new too and everyone's new together.

[Love the hermits]

Iv been weighing it on the size, thinking that I've got five normal crabs now, they will grow to be too big to all be kept in a 55 gal from what I've heard, so if i get one or two more i was thinking i could get some larger ones to watch them finish growing and also have a mix of sizes for now.

I've had experience with introducing new crabs, got all five in three different groups so had to work with that

[aussieJJDude]

if you haven't got the newbies yet, remember crabs grow! Even though they are mediums now, in 6 months to a years time you could have 5 large borderline jumbos roaming around it in there! I'm the type of crabber that goes by total floor space, 5 large/jumbos aren't going to do well in a 55g long term IMO.

[Love the hermits]

Yep, for the record I've had them about a year now and their growth has been slow with very few molts. I've already thought about long term, so don't worry about that. I plan on getting another larger tank about the same size, maybe a 50 gal. then i plan on having three jumbos per tank, but only once they are that size.