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Little Shop of Coral

Dwarf Zebra/Orange & Black Hermit Crab (Calcinus laevimanus)

Dwarf Zebra/Orange & Black Hermit Crab (Calcinus laevimanus)

$15.00 CAD
$15.00 CAD
Sale Sold out
Size

The Calcinus laevimanus hermit crab is an active, hardy cleanup-crew member that helps keep your aquarium tidy by scavenging leftover food and grazing on film algae. It spends the day cruising the rockwork and sandbed, picking at detritus and algae in places snails may miss. Like all hermit crabs, it will upgrade shells as it grows, so providing extra empty shells is key for long-term success and helps reduce snail harassment.

Why we love it

  • Great scavenger that helps clean up uneaten food

  • Constantly active and fun to watch

  • Grazes film algae and detritus across rockwork and sand

  • Easy to keep in most reef systems with stable parameters

Care and Compatibility

Care Level: Easy
Temperament: Peaceful to Semi-aggressive (typical hermit behavior)
Reef Safe: Yes, with caution
Diet: Omnivore (scavenger and algae grazer)
Adult Size: Small to medium
Minimum Tank Size: 10 gallons recommended

Ideal Parameters

  • Temperature: 24 to 26 C (75 to 79 F)

  • Salinity: 1.024 to 1.026

  • Stable alkalinity and calcium support healthy molting and shell growth

Feeding

Hermits are opportunistic and benefit from occasional targeted feeding.

  • Leftover fish food and frozen food scraps

  • Sinking pellets for inverts

  • Dried seaweed (nori) or algae wafers

  • Occasional meaty foods like mysis or chopped seafood
    Feeding helps reduce the chance it goes after snails for food or shells.

Tank and Setup Notes

  • Provide several extra empty shells in different sizes right away

  • Keep salinity stable, inverts do not tolerate rapid swings

  • Ensure rockwork is stable since hermits climb and can knock loose pieces

  • Regular water changes typically provide enough trace elements for most systems

Compatibility Tips

  • Generally safe with corals, but it may knock over loose frags while climbing

  • Can harass snails if it wants a shell or if it is underfed

  • Avoid housing with predators like triggers, large wrasses, puffers, and hawkfish

  • Works best as part of a mixed cleanup crew with snails and other detritivores

Acclimation and Health

Drip acclimation is recommended for best results. Hermits are hardy once established, but sudden salinity changes can cause stress. Provide extra shells and monitor for bullying if you already have other hermits in the tank.

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LIGHT

LOW: Place coral at the bottom of the tank. Depending on the type, coral may need to be placed off sand and therefore mounted on a ceramic disc of piece of rock.

MEDIUM: Place coral at mid-range of the tank. Best placed/glued on top of a rock scape at mid-range height. 

HIGH: Place coral from mid range to just below water level. SPS coral are shallow growing so they require and are able to tolerate intense light.

FLOW

LOW: Most soft coral do well with a small, gentle pulse. There are certain corals that can even be placed in areas of indirect flow, meaning places aside a rock structure or set into a entrance to a cave style space.

MEDIUM: Many LPS types of coral prefer medium pulse current. Most Euphyllia or corals that have more tissue structure connected to their skeleton, don’t like to be in a high flow area like the direct flow of the wave pump.

HIGH: Similar to high light, SPS enjoy being in some heavy current. Most LPS and SPS that branch encrust or plate prefer high flow that simulates the top water waves.

SKILL

ENTRY: While some may say beginner level, "Entry" is a good term to be used when starting out in the world of corals and marine life. Prior to adding livestock, you want to ensure that your reef has the proper parameters including zero levels of ammonia and nitrite. Seeing traces of nitrate in your waters is a good sign - just keep them at a lower level of 2ppm to 10ppm. Maintaining correct temperature and salinity are a huge factor to stable parameters. Starting to monitor your PH, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium is a great habit to get into to keep a successful reef.

While some soft coral don’t require too much light, having a proper reef light that puts out the proper pars is very important. You'll also want to have a good amount of flow and protected rock areas, as placing corals in their happy spot is ideal for success.

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