Killing anaerobic bacteria

[Links]

If this has been discussed before I’m sorry as I looked and didn’t see it anywhere and maybe because there’s only one solution in a crabitat.

But I was thinking there might be a way to kill bacteria without harming crabs. I started thinking about hydrogen peroxide to get oxygen to kill the bacteria.

So I found by googling that applying hydrogen peroxide and baking soda will kill anaerobic bacteria in your mouth.

So I’m the event of an emergency could one perform this task possibly by using airline and pump air to the bottom of the sub and pour some of the cocktail into the line?

Or is it just a dumb idea altogether? I’m sure that eventually the problem would just keep reoccurring so probably not even worth the effort. Just thought maybe in a pinch it might be considered. But I don’t want to experiment with my crabs.


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[wodesorel]

There's a few problems with dealing with it in situ.

Anaerobic bacteria creates acid and toxic gases as waste products. It really needs to be removed and the area aired out when it forms. Any molters in the area can be severely harmed by being left in or near to the growth - even once the bacteria has been killed off.

However, the bacteria can be killed off with exposure to oxygen and light.

The method you're thinking of could be dangerous. Hydrogen peroxide plus baking soda actually creates some really nasty chemicals. The bubbling is carbon dioxide, which is used to euthanize animals in enclosed spaces. Once it stops bubbling, it turns into caustic lye. These anounts are so small they don't harm us, but it could be really bad for small critters!

[Links]

Darn it!


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[Crabby7Crabber]

How exactly do you know if you have some sort of bacteria or not in your crabitat? I've never had trouble with it (at least, I don't think so...), and every once in a while I move the substrate around and feel the bottom of the tank to make sure water isn't pooling.

[JoeHermits]

How exactly do you know if you have some sort of bacteria or not in your crabitat? I've never had trouble with it (at least, I don't think so...), and every once in a while I move the substrate around and feel the bottom of the tank to make sure water isn't pooling.

You’ll often see gray or black coloration in your substrate. A sulfuric odor (rotten eggs-like) may also be present if you dig into it.


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[Crabby7Crabber]

You’ll often see gray or black coloration in your substrate. A sulfuric odor (rotten eggs-like) may also be present if you dig into it.


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Oh, so there's no white mold? My substrate is brown/white, so I was worried about not seeing it and all that.

[Links]

Just make sure it doesn’t get too wet. I’d be willing to bet most crabitat floods that lead to bacterial blooms are from splash out from the pools.


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[Crabby7Crabber]

Just make sure it doesn’t get too wet. I’d be willing to bet most crabitat floods that lead to bacterial blooms are from splash out from the pools.


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Yep, my tiniest baby loves to get under the bowl and spill it all over. Hopefully when I can get some tupperware containers they won't be able to flip the water over and out then! I also plan to order from Etsy and Amazon soon. Not to mention take a trip to Lowes for sand (redoing it at end of Feb) and the dollar store. I hope I can get some ropes and sand and such to add to make more room!

[hermitsrus1966]

Yep, my tiniest baby loves to get under the bowl and spill it all over. Hopefully when I can get some tupperware containers they won't be able to flip the water over and out then! I also plan to order from Etsy and Amazon soon. Not to mention take a trip to Lowes for sand (redoing it at end of Feb) and the dollar store. I hope I can get some ropes and sand and such to add to make more room!

Honestly, I got some clear plastic containers and thought "just try and splash the water out now crabs!" Did not stop them! They still somehow either go under the water dish and spill water out, or dig right next to the water dishes and get a ton of sub in the water dishes. Darn crabs! *sigh

[Motörcrab]

How exactly do you know if you have some sort of bacteria or not in your crabitat? I've never had trouble with it (at least, I don't think so...), and every once in a while I move the substrate around and feel the bottom of the tank to make sure water isn't pooling.

In a perfect world or crabitat you should churn the substrate every few months. That will help get oxygen back into the substrate and help mix wet and dry substrate for an even consistency. It is a lot easier when you have 2 or 3 crabs and they are all up. With more crabs it's nearly impossible because it is rare all crabs are up at the same time.

The only way to really detect a water build up is to run a butter knife or something similar down along the glass. Then wiggle the probe and pull it out. If you have any water it will collect in the bottom of the hole. From there you need to get the water out. that pretty much means a complete rebuild and digging up molters. That is also when you will discover if you have a bacterial bloom.

Like JoeHermits mentioned the bloom will smell funky. Rotten eggs, mothballs, musty basement, it all depends on the type of bacteria. The color is a give away too. It will have a gray color compared to the light tan and brown of normal substrate. We should really work on a Flood and Bacterial Bloom Caresheet. The problem is most people are in a hurry to get it fixed and don't take many pictures for documentation. I have a few pictures from last year when we had a bloom but not many.

Another way to help with spilled water around the pools is to surround them with dry sphagnum moss. The moss will help collect the water and also assist with humidity. I try to rotate moss from around my pools with dried moss in the moss pits. The only real downside is the crabs drag the moss into the pools and wherever else they want.

[Crabby7Crabber]

In a perfect world or crabitat you should churn the substrate every few months. That will help get oxygen back into the substrate and help mix wet and dry substrate for an even consistency. It is a lot easier when you have 2 or 3 crabs and they are all up. With more crabs it's nearly impossible because it is rare all crabs are up at the same time.

The only way to really detect a water build up is to run a butter knife or something similar down along the glass. Then wiggle the probe and pull it out. If you have any water it will collect in the bottom of the hole. From there you need to get the water out. that pretty much means a complete rebuild and digging up molters. That is also when you will discover if you have a bacterial bloom.

Like JoeHermits mentioned the bloom will smell funky. Rotten eggs, mothballs, musty basement, it all depends on the type of bacteria. The color is a give away too. It will have a gray color compared to the light tan and brown of normal substrate. We should really work on a Flood and Bacterial Bloom Caresheet. The problem is most people are in a hurry to get it fixed and don't take many pictures for documentation. I have a few pictures from last year when we had a bloom but not many.

Another way to help with spilled water around the pools is to surround them with dry sphagnum moss. The moss will help collect the water and also assist with humidity. I try to rotate moss from around my pools with dried moss in the moss pits. The only real downside is the crabs drag the moss into the pools and wherever else they want.

Thank you! I will make sure to try the trick (I'm going to guess I'm fine). My crabitat doesn't really smell except for fish (I have a fish treat in there, plush some shrimp. It also wouldn't surprise me if it was coming from an exo because my tiniest hasn't been seen for about a month now. I think I found him the other day while scooping out some poop and moving the substrate (it was some sort of shell. But I carefully put a little bit of sub back over him, so hope I didn't disturb him. Again, I didn't know if it was him though, and it didn't seem like he had built a cave. Any thoughts?) That moss idea sounds genius! I think I'll try it! Thanks for the help, guys!

[wodesorel]

I found that wide bottom reptile dishes might be a bit shallower than what people would prefer, but it's impossible for the crabs to tip because they're so wide that a tunnel underneath it doesn't make much of a difference.

Another option is to create a second level and put the water dishes up there, so there's no way for them to tilt or get underneath.

[Kydra]

Thank you! I will make sure to try the trick (I'm going to guess I'm fine). My crabitat doesn't really smell except for fish (I have a fish treat in there, plush some shrimp. It also wouldn't surprise me if it was coming from an exo because my tiniest hasn't been seen for about a month now. I think I found him the other day while scooping out some poop and moving the substrate (it was some sort of shell. But I carefully put a little bit of sub back over him, so hope I didn't disturb him. Again, I didn't know if it was him though, and it didn't seem like he had built a cave. Any thoughts?) That moss idea sounds genius! I think I'll try it! Thanks for the help, guys!

Just wanted to make a quick comment on digging substrate and if find a crab buried please do NOT place substrate back on top of crab. If in the process of molting this will suffocate and kill the crab.

Wanted to just post that for others that read through these posts. If you were just spot cleaning and crab was hiding out, crab should be fine and able to just dig up or tunnel.

I've had bacterial blooms in a few tanks simultaneously as I had set them up initially as a new crabber and, while no pooling, the consistency was way too wet. If I grabbed a handful and squeezed it... water would drip out. It held its shape and did not pool as mentioned, but what caught my attention was actually a darker green line in the front of the tank. I posted a picture in that thread. There was no smell until really digging. When changing the entire room and into the hallway from that room smelled horrific. Without digging though, it smelled fine. The bacterial bloom was already present, I'm relatively positive, prior to me noticing the discolored 'line' in the substrate. The only way to really know would be to dig down in a spot with no crabs down and really smell the substrate as you get deeper down. I remember just an off smell when I did this; nothing drastic, but it was off. Once I started removing the sub it was, as mentioned, terribly malodorous.

[Crabby7Crabber]

Thank you! This weekend I am cleaning out the tank, so I will make sure to check. I did the squeezing thing. and I seem okay. I'm not going to move all the sub, because I still think the little one is down there. I'll try to leave him alone, and maybe, maybe move the sub where I think he is and get a sniff, then go from there. (:lol:)

[curlysister]

If you have a crab buried, be very careful moving any sub or re-arranging things. Once they bury, they often move, so where you think he is may not be! I don't move anything when I have a crab down.