HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi everyone,

I recently noticed the substrate in my tank is 2 different colors. I did the 5:1 sand to EE ratio when I set up the tank at the end of March. I was thinking about a bacterial bloom. So I got a straw and poked it all the way down the side. The water doesn't pool. I smelled the sand from the bottom that came up stuck in the straw and there was no smell. Thanks!

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I can’t say for sure that it’s a bloom but you definitely have some saturation down there.

For now I would try to limit misting (if possible) and continue doing substrate checks every few days to ensure there’s nothing going on down there.


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JoeHermits wrote:I can’t say for sure that it’s a bloom but you definitely have some saturation down there.

For now I would try to limit misting (if possible) and continue doing substrate checks every few days to ensure there’s nothing going on down there.


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Thanks JH! I did the straw test a few days ago so I'll do it again tonight. I made sure to squeeze all of my substrate while I was mixing it to make sure it wasn't dripping. But maybe it was still too wet. I don't mist at all. My humidity gauge says 99% at the moment, and does most of the time. Thanks again.

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Just redid the straw test. Still no water pooling and no smell. Fingers crossed.

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If you don't have crabs down then I would strongly suggest getting in there and mixing it up. If it all started off with the same sand and there wasn't a distinction between top and bottom, then something is going way wrong. Always better to deal with it sooner than later!

wodesorel wrote:If you don't have crabs down then I would strongly suggest getting in there and mixing it up. If it all started off with the same sand and there wasn't a distinction between top and bottom, then something is going way wrong. Always better to deal with it sooner than later!

I just had my one crab Beau come up, which I was excited about. So 2 of the 3 in that tank are up and recently molted. Only Petunia is under. With 1 crab under, should I still go ahead and try to mix it up? I have my 20 gal still going because there's a molter in there. I can move the 2 that are up there. Thank you!

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How long has she been down? The problem with bacterial blooms is they are only dangerous if the crabs get below that line. They won't always dig that far down. Digging them up can also be dangerous.

For sure I'd move the guys that are up so they don't get any ideas to go tunneling while you are waiting.

wodesorel wrote:How long has she been down? The problem with bacterial blooms is they are only dangerous if the crabs get below that line. They won't always dig that far down. Digging them up can also be dangerous.

For sure I'd move the guys that are up so they don't get any ideas to go tunneling while you are waiting.

She went down the last week of April. She's not very big though, so I'm not sure how long her molt will take. I'll go right now to grab the other 2 since I saw they were up a few minutes ago.
I do have a 2.5 and a 5 gal for another iso tank if I find Petunia molting, if you think I should dig.

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If it's just her in there now and she's been down that long, I would wait it out a few more weeks.

wodesorel wrote:If it's just her in there now and she's been down that long, I would wait it out a few more weeks.

Ok, should I still move my other guys? They both just molted within the past 2 weeks, so they won't be doing that soon. Thanks again.

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So long as you're sure they won't bury.

Beau just came up last night, and Kaulder came up the last week of April. So they shouldn't be molting for a bit again. I'll leave them in there and keep checking the substrate every couple days.

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I honestly can't remember if the substrate color was there when I mixed up my sand or not. I'm wondering, if I used different batches of sand, could that account for the different substrate color? The small bit of bottom layer sand I used came from bags I purchased a few months ago. The rest of the sand came from bags I purchased in March. There's still no smell or pooling.

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When you posted this I actually wondered it the bottom was mixed with a different sand because it looks like a totally different color of beige. I haven't ever had issues with flooding, and am not very knowledgable in that area. I'm sorry I don't have any input on this area.

GotButterflies wrote:When you posted this I actually wondered it the bottom was mixed with a different sand because it looks like a totally different color of beige. I haven't ever had issues with flooding, and am not very knowledgable in that area. I'm sorry I don't have any input on this area.

I think that may be the issue, that the sand is just different color. Wish I could remember the colors when I did the set up. But thanks so much for responding! I missed seeing you on here, I was worried about you. You helped me so much with my butterflies last year. I was able to raise and release 28 monarchs. I only lost 2 to the OE parasite.

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