Substrate options - what do you use?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 11:20 am

I have always offered my crabs aquarium gravel in a gladware or other plastic type container placed in the tank over where the UTH is for a couple reasons; 1. I thought they might prefer a warm and dry spot to hang out in, and 2. I feel that it keeps them from digging in over the UTH and possibly burning themselves on the hot glass. They seem to definitely always hang out in the gravel and it did feel warm, but I removed it recently because it is a pain to clean. There was always a lot of poops in there and bits of food and sand and it would just get messy. Since I removed the gravel, all the crabs have been digging a lot more and most of them are staying under the sand/ee all day and only coming up at night. They always had sand to dig in before, I didn't change that part of the set-up, only removed the container of gravel. Has anyone else run into this situation? I went to the pet store yesterday and got some more gravel and some of those kidney shaped porcelain dishes and I am going to put the dishes of gravel in again as soon as my e finishes his exo and hardens up. I miss my crabs! Nothing about the temp or humidity or any other part of the set-up changed, so I guess they really did like the gravel to hang out in.What have you all used and played around with in terms of substrate? Which do you prefer? What do you think your crabs like the best?

Bubu · Post by **Bubu** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 12:57 pm

I use good ol' play sand! And I just recently (today actually) put the remainder of some calci-sand I had on half the tank. They seem to really like the play sand, seeing as how they play in it like they're supposed to lol. Plus its cheap, a lot cheaper then the calci-sand I originally used! 5 bucks a bag or more is a wee bit much for me, especially since the bags are really small.

Ren1216 · Post by **Ren1216** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 2:19 pm

Interesting about the gravel! When I first got my hermies I bought gravel because I didnt know any better. Of course the guy at the pet store said it didnt matter what I used. After finding this site, I changed to sand and EE... and my crabs dug in immediately. I know thats probably because they were in desperate need of a molt and were finally given the right environment to do so in... but the ones who are not molting do dig into the sand and stay there most of the day, just like yours.... then come out to play at night. I realize they are nocturnal so I dont think too much of it, but I sure would like to see them more! Maybe I will put some gravel back in just for the heck of it, if nothing else it will give them another option.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 1:14 am

I use EE in my tank, but I'm thinking of adding some play sand on the end with the water pools, especially when I filter the pools. The crabs dump EE into the pools all the time, I can't KEEP them clean, and having them on sand might make it easier.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 5:21 am

I use plain old playsand in my crabitat. My crabs dig and have successfully moulted in it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 8:03 am

I use some kind of reptile sand that works really well and have produced 2 successful molts so far.The package talks about identical round grains that are visible and not as fine as regular sand, but very nice,not pebble-like.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 9:30 am

I used to use playsand.....which worked great, the crabs loved it. But it got so wet that it became a breeding ground for mold. Yuck! I went to our local pet store, and picked up some bags of Estes Marine Sand (I didn't have time or the energy to bake a bunch of playsand) and bought 3 bags of 5 lb. sand for around $3 a bag. Not too bad. I'm not sure how much they like it yet, I only put it in Sunday. Anyone else use this?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 12:57 pm

I use half playsand and tonight when I clean them I am going to add half Eco Earth.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:39 pm

my iso is a san EE mix and my main tank is half play sand half coquina collected from the beach....i have had a lot of sucess with it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:53 pm

I use plain playsand, but it gets a musty catbox smell after a few weeks. I skim off the top, wet with salt water, mix it up and add some more. It freshens it for a while, but the stinky musty smell always returns.The crabs love it, but one drawback is the weight of wet sand. Any more than 2-3 inches, and I can't move the habitat. I'd like 4-6 inches, they are big crabs and all but 2 can only half bury.I'm going to try, as others here seem to like, a 50/50 mix of sand and EE. I think the EE absorbs and breaks down filth.I've heard EE is more attractive to bugs. I've yet to have a bug issue, and I keep my crabs outside, but for the fall and winter, I'll bring them inside and try the EE mix. With a permanent inside spot, the weight won't matter either.

jojo7 · Post by **jojo7** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 1:59 pm

I use gravel! And before anyone starts to boo and hiss at me, let me tell you about whats so great about the gravel (for me anyway)...first of all, its soooooo much easier to clean than sand!!...I have about 3 1/2-4 inches of small pebbles (smooth) and all my hermies have no problem digging...i have had one topside molt, and the rest (succesful ones too) were under the gravel...i've only had mold issues when certain foods that fall under the food dish, and that is almost never...i also have a decent size bowl of calci-sand in the tank...i have seen my hermies hanging out all over the tank and in the craziest place too, but i have never seen them in that calci-sand bowl...now i know they walk across it, because i see the long shell trail in the sand...lol...but they have never been in it as far as i know...I have said this in a couple of other posts on this topic, but if i knew my hermies weren't going to thrive with gravel, i would change it in a heartbeat...most of the hermies we have now, we've had for years...the two oldest are almost 7 years old now, so gravel can't be so bad...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 2:07 pm

I use an ee and calcisand mix. I haven't had any problems with bugs so far either. My hermies love to bury in this and I just had two successful molts with the third one down.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 4:07 am

I'm actually thinking of doing the opposite. I absolutely hate the sand because it's so messy and difficult to clean.The aquarium gravel I love. I shake it through my strainer and all the poop and food falls right into the trash. But I do understand it's not an ideal environment for them to molt. So I've been thinking of getting a Glad Ware container or similar and filling it with like calci-sand and putting it in, almost like a sandbox, and that way if they have the urge they can go there. What do you all think?

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 6:50 am

I wouldn't use calci-sand for molts. It's great for the crabbies to munch on. It gets really gross when wet, and hermies tend to like a moist substrate to molt in. I use EE (mixed with salt water) Yes, I've problems with fruit flies if I don't keep the food bowl in check, but that's only been this summer. I can be slightly less worried by the time fall snaps.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Wed Sep 14, 2005 3:32 pm

I use only playsand. I bought EE last year, mixed it up with playsand, and found that my molters wouldn't dig in it. So I went back to playsand. I do mix the sand with salt water to cut back on mold/smell problems.The drawbacks of the playsand (for me) are that it is extremely heavy and tends to pack down on the molters, which can and has trapped them. On the flip side of the coin, it also dries out fairly quickly which can prove to be problematic in long molts. I do love its use in the main tank, though.