HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Okay some of the natural foods I have been feeding my crabbies have seeds in them. My question is if those seeds get knocked out and unseen in the substrate and start to go is that okay to let me grow or do I need to get them out??


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Totally fine. I often feed stuff with seeds and if they grow the crabs just eat or trample them

I wouldn't want anything to grow that roots aggressively in the substrate. Crabbies could get tangled up or trapped and it reduces the usable digging area for them.

JTKermie wrote:I wouldn't want anything to grow that roots aggressively in the substrate. Crabbies could get tangled up or trapped and it reduces the usable digging area for them.

That’s what I was afraid of they could get tangled while digging. I pulled them up and cleaned the substrate well. Thank you for confirming my thoughts. At least I know I did the right thing removing them.


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reighleyscrew wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 13, 2021 7:57 pm

That’s what I was afraid of they could get tangled while digging. I pulled them up and cleaned the substrate well. Thank you for confirming my thoughts. At least I know I did the right thing removing them.


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JT is incorrect. The plants that grow in a tank will not have roots that will be a problem for crabs. In the wild, they come across huge roots like tree roots while underground, and can just dig around them. Any roots in a tank are small enough that they can munch right through them.
There are many plants that can be grown in a tank - check out the care sheet by AussieJJ for full details. And any seeds that sprout in the tank will be totally safe as well!

If I had a dime for every time I was incorrect.

That is Interesting though. I figured given our crabs are not in the wild and have limited substrate space as is given they are essentially glassed in, anything that chokes the available substrate space wouldn't be a good thing.

I do get it that what we can grow effectively in the average crabitat wouldn't have massive roots anyway. I just kind of associate it with aquaria. I've grown amazon sword plants in tanks as little as 10gal, where the root system completely blankets to the bottom of the tank and quickly.

Even then, the roots of a sword would pose not much issue for a crab except the smallest of micros. Even then, a determined little guy really could work their way through a rather fine 'mat' of Amazon swords if they were determined enough. But seeds, such as Chia or millet, this concern is literally not a problem.

In fact, keepers that do keep plants and allow the crabs to burrow in the plants find the crabs prefer these spots as the root system is likely to provide stability as in the wild, and also somewhat protect the crab.