HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey everybody, I have 8 crabs that I rarely see in my water dishes, but somehow, they’re always poop filled and dirty. They’re tubberware containers with a layer of rocks and I was wondering what’s the best way to change out the water with the pebbles and shells in it? (I use them to form a ramp) on a side note, could I place an aquatic plant or moss ball into my fresh water dish to help the crabs have something to grab/ snack on?

Pull them out, pour everything into a colander, rinse with hot water, put rocks/shells back into bowls. Dry off the outside of the bowls. Pour treated waters in them and replace.

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What Soilentgringa mentioned works!

Do you have double bowls? Check out this link - it will help: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=113691&p=1030806&h ... r#p1030806

Also - I have moss balls in two of my crabitats. I have only seen one crab munching on it - and that was only once. I do LOVE the way they look though Hope that helps! Aquatic plants are fine also - as long as they are on the safe list. I personally use plastic.

Edit: Also, have you thought about using craft mesh for them as a way to get in and out of the bowls? That is what I use. I zip tied it to the side of my bowls. I think it is also shown in the link I provided you with.

I don’t do the same as soilentgringa.
My bowls are made of glazed terra-cotta.

Do you mean live aquatic plants? I feel like most live plants would be short lived in a crab pool... I'm not sure there'd be enough nutrients for them in the long term... plastic aquarium plants are an easy solution.

I siliconed pebbles into glass bowls because I haaaated cleaning the loose stone pools after a while. Now I have a little bristly scrubby that I go over the container with before poping it back in the tank with fresh water.

LadyJinglyJones wrote:Do you mean live aquatic plants? I feel like most live plants would be short lived in a crab pool... I'm not sure there'd be enough nutrients for them in the long term... plastic aquarium plants are an easy solution.

With the amount of times that they actually use the pools, aquatic plants would probably do better than terrestrial ones! As long as your not using distilled, tap and well water will contain enough macro and micro nutrients to keep the plants happy and healthy in a low tech setup, as long as you have sufficient PAR for photosynthetic respiration, they will be happy.... Probably not fast growing or 100% healthy - like slight discoloration or pinholes - but it should stay alive!

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