Water Cabanas!

[Motörcrab]

Thanks for all the positive responses!

My test cabana in the tank seems to be working well to contain the mist inside the cabana. I wish my progress has been faster with getting them all done. Taking care of our Eddie takes up most of my free time after work. Add in the time taking care of my other crabs and my dinner doesn't leave much time for crabby crafting.

For my current revisions I am planning to add both pools to one tray to free up some ground real estate in the tank. Currently both tray take up about 1/4 of ground space. Once you add wheels, food dishes, shells, hides other crabby stuff there isn't much room left. I'm going to silicone the containers to the tray so the pools can be nested. That will save from having to remove the every time I need to change out the water. I'm also going to add stones to the outside of the glued containers so try and keep the stone look everywhere. At the moment I am thinking the ramps ramps going in to the pools will be stoned as well. The trays will also get crab mesh around the outside to make it a little easier to access.

At the rate I am progressing this will probably take me a few weeks to complete. I think when it is done i'm hoping it will function as good as it looks..

[Motörcrab]

Well after three week of on and off work I finally finished the cabanas. I could have added more stones to the lower outer pools but did not want this to stretch out any longer getting them done. I put them in the tank late last night but did not see any crabs in the cabanas just yet. I did see one on the tray though.

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[RiNiKy506]

They turned out great! I really like how their purpose and needing them but you still made them look amazing! They’ll figure them out, crabbies are so smart.

[Overmountain1]

Those turned out super cool! I bet they’ll be a huge hit as they get more used to them- very functional and yet still really cute! Awesome idea.


Dave the Wondercrab~Patpat the Scaredy Cat~MaggieMoo~Billy~Lil Monster~Ten~and Thing2?

[Overmountain1]

Ps- these are super cool, and if you could build them for some sort of universal size or item they would fit on, I’d totally be one of the first in line to get one! Just had to say that.


Dave the Wondercrab~Patpat the Scaredy Cat~MaggieMoo~Billy~Pop~Corn~Ten~Sam~Tim~Gene My PP clan

[RiNiKy506]

I’m going to attempt this soon, I hope mine turns out as good as yours. Would it be ok to do just a saltwater one, or do the straws need movement in both of their waters? I’m soo nervous to attempt the bubblers but with Lester being a straw, I want to try and give her everything she needs. (Lester is Lest-her)

[Motörcrab]

I’m going to attempt this soon, I hope mine turns out as good as yours. Would it be ok to do just a saltwater one, or do the straws need movement in both of their waters? I’m soo nervous to attempt the bubblers but with Lester being a straw, I want to try and give her everything she needs. (Lester is Lest-her)

For the straw I would probably do both just to be safe. I only really saw my straws swim in saltwater but every crab is different. If you get the containers in packs you may be able to get one with 6 containers. Just be careful how hard you press when cutting the holes. It's easy to get excited and crack the plastic if you try to cut too fast.

[RiNiKy506]

For the straw I would probably do both just to be safe. I only really saw my straws swim in saltwater but every crab is different. If you get the containers in packs you may be able to get one with 6 containers. Just be careful how hard you press when cutting the holes. It's easy to get excited and crack the plastic if you try to cut too fast.

She hasn’t had bubblers for 5 years so I’m really happy to be doing this for her. I hope the violas will be ok with that too. Thank you for your help.

[Oliviet#1]

Great job! They look pretty natural!

[Motörcrab]

Sorry for the dark picture but I just caught both cabanas in use. I accidentally scared one of them and he did a cannonball into the water!

So far these both appear to be working great. So far my main complaint is taking the tops off to clean them. It probably takes 20 minutes to scrub the insides with a toothbrush then rezip tie them together and put them back in the tank.



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[Oliviet#1]

Nice! But not the cleaning though lol. Does having a bubbler make it so you don’t have to change the water as often? If not how does it help?

[Motörcrab]

Having bubblers helps raise the humidity inside the tank. I never had an issue with humidity in this tank.

They do help somewhat with the need for changing the waters as frequently. You may get an extra day or two between changes. Usuallyng water will get a film on the top. The bubbles help circulate the water in the pools. You still need to change the water out when the crabs poop and drag sand into it.

The only reason I have bubblers is because my Strawberries with only bathe in moving water. I tried pools without bubblers and they weren't taking baths. GotButterflies suggested I add them and within a day or two they were having pool parties.

I know if anyone adds bubblers they should check the moisture content of the substrate every week. Unfortunately we learned the hard way dealing with flooding and bacterial blooms in 75 and 30 gallon tanks. That's a lot of up and down with buckets of sand. That's also how we believe we lost Eddie and one rescue we got almost a year before.

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[Oliviet#1]

Having bubblers helps raise the humidity inside the tank. I never had an issue with humidity in this tank.

They do help somewhat with the need for changing the waters as frequently. You may get an extra day or two between changes. Usuallyng water will get a film on the top. The bubbles help circulate the water in the pools. You still need to change the water out when the crabs poop and drag sand into it.

The only reason I have bubblers is because my Strawberries with only bathe in moving water. I tried pools without bubblers and they weren't taking baths. GotButterflies suggested I add them and within a day or two they were having pool parties.

I know if anyone adds bubblers they should check the moisture content of the substrate every week. Unfortunately we learned the hard way dealing with flooding and bacterial blooms in 75 and 30 gallon tanks. That's a lot of up and down with buckets of sand. That's also how we believe we lost Eddie and one rescue we got almost a year before.

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Thank you for the info! Do you know anything I can do so I can do less frequent water changes?

[Motörcrab]

I managed to get about 5-7 days out of 8 cup water pools with 8-9 large crabs using them. Their shell openings are about 1-1/8". The 6 strawberries always swim and drag sand into the water. Their water needs to be changed a lot.

I have 2 medium and one small purple in another tank. They have pint sized pools. I never see them swim. They only climb to the edge and drink. Their water pools stay a lot cleaner so I may let them go 7-10 days at most between changes.

I found it's easier to change the foods one day then do the waters the next. I change out their food every 2-3 days so after every 2-3 feedings I will change the water. Unless it gets really funky.

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[Hermit199013]

Those are awesome! The things that can be done in the tanks amaze me! I will have to try something like this