my crabitat build photo journal!!

aquav · Post by **aquav** » Sat May 15, 2010 6:04 am

It looks absolutely amazing!!! Awesome job, and I agree, it does not look bare at all. It will be so nice when everything is done!
And the work thing, look at it this way: that crabitat will be so relaxing to look at in the evening that you will completely forget about everything at work, lol...

Mama Crabs · Post by **Mama Crabs** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:25 am

Wow! I'm speechless, such an amazing project. Can't wait to see it done.

Jellybean! · Post by **Jellybean!** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:55 am

Oh my goodness! My crabs are soooo jealous! It looks amazing with all the live plants! Like an actual rainforest in your house! woot!

Disgruntled Crab · Post by **Disgruntled Crab** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:14 am

Wow, is all i can say and wow again... Been away for a long time and saw this thread. Awesome ~!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:22 am

That is amazing! I can't wait to see the finished pictures!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:34 pm

any updates on the tank???

tigermoon89 · Post by **tigermoon89** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 11:03 pm

I can't believe I'm just now stumbling across this thread! This project is absolutely amazing!!!

I can't wait to see pics of your crabs enjoying their new home!

tlivs · Post by **tlivs** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:06 pm

guys curious kitty hasn't been on the forums in a very long time
hopefully we'll see it, but i doubt it

wickedannabella · Post by **wickedannabella** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:45 pm

This is amazing! I hope she comes back so we can see it with Hermies in it!

*jealous*

Although I have one issue...it doesn't look like it will be fun to clean...

wendyj · Post by **wendyj** » Sun Oct 31, 2010 9:46 am

I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy (on floor kneeling with upper body bowing up and down with arms outstretched).

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:37 am

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is having a wonderful year 2011!! Its been crazy at work as we've expanded, and 2010 has been pretty hectic year of all- I am sorry I haven't been updating for awhile- We were actually doing a bit of kitchen updating(new appliances, etc etc) and doing baby room planning, and my new crabitat has been sort of on hold till a lot of things settle down- it's not quite settled in yet, but getting there. I wanted to update on the tank on my 1 year HCA anniversary(1/24/2011) because a lot of my crabs are down molting, and there aren't many hanging out on the surface. but I figure you guys would be curious on how it looks with sand filled in and hermies.... I wished I took a lot of pictures of my crabitat when they first moved in; it was quite a sight.

I just did initial 'mini clean' yesterday, and it was pretty simple. Now that I am using 95% sand(WHITE SAND, YAY!), I can see where I need to clean. Fresh live plants seems to keep the air fresh inside, and humidity is well maintained without heavy misting- I only use about 1L or less of water in misting in one week.

The substrate stopper is about 12 inches tall, and my sand is about 8 inches deep. I wanted it to be at 10", but my larger Es were able to stretch their pincher to the edge of the glass, so I lowered the front of the sand depth at 8, and left the sand deeper in the back, which is nicely 10inches. This piece of glass was custom cut(1/4" thick tampered) and , and took almost 3wks to get made and finally get picked up, along with front sliding doors. The front Cabinet door pieces(one on top and one on the bottom), also took forever to make, and finally arrive(then I had to sand, paint, and seal), also took awhile to finish up.

My misting system is working very very nicely(it makes really fine mists that just fogs up the tank, and then clearing up nicely after few minutes). I had to order more misting nozzles as I found that handful of the mist heads didn't reach all of my plants in weird corners.. I bought it from Canadian company so it also took awhile to arrive and be installed.
Misting system is currently on timer, which turns on for 10s three times a day(morning, afternoon, and early evening right before lights go out).

My 110Watt lighting system, and misting keeps my tank nicely at 78-80F, and at 75-80%+ humidity that vary slightly with temperature. then the timer on day light goes out at 7pm, and moonlight stays on for night viewing.

Taken this morning

Half asleep, I woke him up when I tried to take a pic of little PP- his name is Dingy II

Of all places that I imagined they'd hang out in...it wasn't the tree, nor the hideys that I built for them. This is the spot they ALL sleep in. Tree is popular with PPs, and violas.

As for plants, I got rid of 70% of the plants that I put in initially.. I thought it was too many variety of plants, that added too many colors into the tank and thought it looked messy. I am planning on putting in more of the one or two different type of plants this weekend and will post the results...

CindyB · Post by **CindyB** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:53 am

It's incredible! I'm so glad you finally posted an update. Congrats on finishing it (and on all the other stuff you've been doing... did I read correctly there's a new baby?!?)

It looks marvelous and your hard work is awe-inspiring. Thanks so much for sharing.

Rottenlullaby · Post by **Rottenlullaby** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:09 pm

looks awesome, and very inspiring!

sugarselections · Post by **sugarselections** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 4:13 pm

Looks wonderful. I'm glad to see you back. Don't be a stranger!

curious_kitty · Post by **curious_kitty** » Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:30 pm

thanks everyone~! Its finally good to be back, have the time to take photos of hermies and share!!! A lot of my hermies are either molting or still asleep and not up yet. as i think it's still early in the evening. I found handful hanging by the cliff, and off the bark dozing off. quick photos of my PPs and Indos, and violas. Rest are down for molting. Sheer size of the enclosure, and the plants, I usually have to scan through the walls, and cracks to find them. I might do another order from LHC for few Indos, and tiny Es.

My largest PP. he is a jumbo, and quite active. He came up from molting several months ago.
Next to it is what used to me the smallest PP Ive had with funny eye. He motled about 5 times, and his eye(was smaller than the other) is now closer to normal. another active one of mine.

Peek-A-Boo

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

my crabitat build photo journal!!

well,,,,,...............................