HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I am so sorry that you are going through this. Hopefully you caught it in time to not lose any crabs. Try not to overwhelm yourself!

wodesorel wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 5:38 am

Oh wow yeah, that is a massive bloom. I can see how far the black is coming up the sides. When you get down beneath the water level, you may want to air the room out to prevent a buildup of gasses. I've made myself pretty sick a few times cleaning it out of smaller tanks. In something that size with that much affected sand it may get kinda bad.

I am so sorry. It is a huge undertaking. The crabs will be okay waiting though, so take it slow! You don't have to hurt yourself rushing through it.

Thank you Wode. That helps alot. One question. The molter I found and put in iso in the iso, lol, is walking around. When I feel he's ready to join the others, will he be ok. I know if a molter comes up they already smell like the tank and usually there's no problem. But they're all in a new place. Will they accept him?

Xenocrab wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 7:10 am

We took everything out of the tanks, scrubbed them with vinegar, rinsed with water, scrubbed and rinsed, over and over! Then we set the tanks up all over again. We unfortunately lost 2 crabs due to the bacterial blooms. They were a lot of work, but there's a lot to learn from the experience as well.

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Even the stuff on the top that didn't touch the bloom?

GotButterflies wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 10:22 am

I am so sorry that you are going through this. Hopefully you caught it in time to not lose any crabs. Try not to overwhelm yourself!

Thank you. Since I've never seen all 8 up at once, the 8th could have died before the bloom. I did find an empty shell in the barnicle. I know a couple of them really liked sleeping in there. If he got stuck he could have died. Or came out naked and was eaten before I saw him. Or...some sneaky weird crab just stuck an empty shell in there to see my reaction.

Hermiesguardian wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 4:13 pm

Even the stuff on the top that didn't touch the bloom?

And all the sand? The sand on the top 2,3 inches just smells like damp sand.

I would say yes, all the sand needs replaced. It's bacteria. It grows and spreads. We scrubbed the tanks clean and scrubbed everything in them. Boiled, threw away, whatever we had to do. We treated it like an infectious disease. We didn't want to take any chances at all. Especially after losing 2 crabs in 2 tanks. But that's just what we did. You pics look bad. I wish I could be there to help you!

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Xenocrab wrote: ↑

Wed May 20, 2020 5:45 pm

I would say yes, all the sand needs replaced. It's bacteria. It grows and spreads. We scrubbed the tanks clean and scrubbed everything in them. Boiled, threw away, whatever we had to do. We treated it like an infectious disease. We didn't want to take any chances at all. Especially after losing 2 crabs in 2 tanks. But that's just what we did. You pics look bad. I wish I could be there to help you!

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That's so sweet. I wish you were here too. Lol

Xeno and I didn't want to chance missing and bacteria or having to clean and bake the substrate. We figured spending $50 on sand and Eco Earth was worth the peace of mind knowing everything is 100% safe.

We found it easiest to mix substrate using three buckets. In one bucket Add 1/4 bucket of sand, a little water, Eco Earth to get the 5:1 ratio, 1/4 bucket of sand, a little water.
Then dump the sand between the two buckets several times to mix. By doing half buckets it's less weight and easy to add more sand or water to get the sub to the right consistency.
The third bucket so you can mix another batch and make a full bucket. It's a little bit of work but I think it helps to keep the consistency even.
Once you get going you get a feel and can just dump and go without measuring. Once I'm in the mixing zone I can probably do a 5 gallon bucket every 5-7 minutes. I think we did 300 pounds of sand for our 65 in about an hour.

You are lucky and have a 75 to use as a temporary tank. We had to keep our crabs in a 10 gallon while cleaning. Even with shallow substrate in your 75 they should have enough space to be ok for a few days. I just say this so you can take some time and plan out your tank. Don't rush it, do a little planning on design, then build. You will be more satisfied with the outcome.

After the flood in the 75 we slung the tank together. We didn't get to do it up like we normally do. I haven't been happy with it and wish I could have done more

I found a pocket of anaerobic bacteria a few years ago while I was churning the substrate. It was small and right in the middle so if I hadn’t been digging I wouldn’t have noticed until it was too late.

I threw the infected substrate in the trash and baked the rest. With the sand exposed to oxygen and heat together I didn’t feel the need to replace everything. Nothing has popped up since.


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I'd give the molter several days to see if he wants to rebury. I've had crabs killed by assuming they were ready, and then they surface moulted in the main tank. I would also do a quick dunk just to make sure he doesn't smell yummy when the time comes. When they don't scrub that smell off by tunnelling it becomes a risk.


I've also reused substrate. So long as it is the top layers that aren't discolored or smelling it won't do anything bad. The type of bacteria that grows is already present, it's the conditions that allow it to grow. You can't seed a bacterial bloom with old substrate. The waste products it puts off (smell and color) should be fully removed from the tank though.

wodesorel wrote: ↑

Thu May 21, 2020 3:46 am

I'd give the molter several days to see if he wants to rebury. I've had crabs killed by assuming they were ready, and then they surface moulted in the main tank. I would also do a quick dunk just to make sure he doesn't smell yummy when the time comes. When they don't scrub that smell off by tunnelling it becomes a risk.


I've also reused substrate. So long as it is the top layers that aren't discolored or smelling it won't do anything bad. The type of bacteria that grows is already present, it's the conditions that allow it to grow. You can't seed a bacterial bloom with old substrate. The waste products it puts off (smell and color) should be fully removed from the tank though.

The molter seems like he wants to bury in his little iso tank. I've been putting out alittle food and water for him. I know if he was buried he wouldn't be eating. The big iso tank only has small dishes for water. So he can't be submerged to desmell. I can maybe roll him around alittle. But for now he's in iso.

I’m so sorry Hermiesguardian! I’ve gone through this too, it’s soo awful. I wish I could come help! With all of us, we’d get it done in no time. Like someone else above said, just take your time, they’ll be ok while your doing it. I mix my sand a lot dryer now, it’s kinda weird to get used to. Some people mix it all dry, ee and all. Myself, I didn’t feel comfortable with that so I just wet the ee with a little less than a gallon of water and mixed the sand dry. The ee seems to wet the sand and it holds shape really good. I can just imagine what your going through, it’s soo much work. I only had my 29gallon that I had to redo, I couldn’t even imagine having to do a big tank. I’m sending you positive thoughts and praying for you. Keep your head up, you got this. Just think about when it’s done how nice and new everything will be, it’ll make it all worth it. Oh! About the substrate, I changed all of mine as well, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving any just incase. We can’t see the bacteria so having all new made me feel better.

RiNiKy506 wrote: ↑

Thu May 21, 2020 2:28 pm

I’m so sorry Hermiesguardian! I’ve gone through this too, it’s soo awful. I wish I could come help! With all of us, we’d get it done in no time. Like someone else above said, just take your time, they’ll be ok while your doing it. I mix my sand a lot dryer now, it’s kinda weird to get used to. Some people mix it all dry, ee and all. Myself, I didn’t feel comfortable with that so I just wet the ee with a little less than a gallon of water and mixed the sand dry. The ee seems to wet the sand and it holds shape really good. I can just imagine what your going through, it’s soo much work. I only had my 29gallon that I had to redo, I couldn’t even imagine having to do a big tank. I’m sending you positive thoughts and praying for you. Keep your head up, you got this. Just think about when it’s done how nice and new everything will be, it’ll make it all worth it. Oh! About the substrate, I changed all of mine as well, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving any just incase. We can’t see the bacteria so having all new made me feel better.

Thank you so much Riniky! At least my husband is coming home tomorrow and can help but he has so much more to do around here. Then he leaves again Tues.

I feel for you. I just don't have any energy these days. (I have Lupus and Fibromyalgia). My husband and son offered to help me transition one of my 75 gallon tanks with the a 50 gallon topper to the 150 gallon tank with a 100 gallon topper on Mother's day. We purchased everything for it...and they moved everything in the room to start the transition and I ran out of energy. I still haven't touched it...

It would be so nice if us crabbers could help each other out when we had issues - although most of us have OCD and like things done our own way!

Just do things in moderation! You've got this! You are a great crabby mom!

GotButterflies wrote: ↑

Fri May 22, 2020 2:58 pm

I feel for you. I just don't have any energy these days. (I have Lupus and Fibromyalgia). My husband and son offered to help me transition one of my 75 gallon tanks with the a 50 gallon topper to the 150 gallon tank with a 100 gallon topper on Mother's day. We purchased everything for it...and they moved everything in the room to start the transition and I ran out of energy. I still haven't touched it...

It would be so nice if us crabbers could help each other out when we had issues - although most of us have OCD and like things done our own way!

Just do things in moderation! You've got this! You are a great crabby mom!

I love you GB! I've never been an energy gal. My sister had lupus. I get checked every now and then.
It's like letting someone else fill the dishwasher. It has to be done right. Lol