HCA: Hermit Crab Association

the bottle says: "makes tap water safe for fish, instantly neutralizes chlorine in tap water, aids in restoring a fishes natural slime coat"

i also have a more expensive product called "Nutrafin Aqua plus, which does the same thing, is used for salt and fresh water fish, neutralizes heavy metals, AND is apparently stress reducing.

i just wanna make sure these products are safe for my crab before i use them!

They’re safe. Most water conditioners used for fish are also safe for hermit crabs.


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JoeHermits wrote:They’re safe. Most water conditioners used for fish are also safe for hermit crabs.


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thanks for the quick response!!

Keep in mind it has to also say it neutralizes ammonia and removes chloramine too.

Hermiesguardian wrote:Keep in mind it has to also say it neutralizes ammonia and removes chloramine too.

i know for sure it removes chloramine, ill have to look into the neutralizing ammonia part though! thank you!

rufeelinitnowmrkrabs wrote:

Hermiesguardian wrote:Keep in mind it has to also say it neutralizes ammonia and removes chloramine too.

i know for sure it removes chloramine, ill have to look into the neutralizing ammonia part though! thank you!

You're welcome. Chloramine is different than chlorine. It has to remove both.

There’s a product by Seachem called Prime that everyone recommends that covers all.



♡ Rod ♡ Salty ♡ Bob ♡ Squirt ♡ Crabina ♡
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers »-♡->

Just keep in mind, though, that Prime only binds to ammonia for a few days. If there are large amounts of ammonia or chloramine in your water, you may need a separate product if you’re storing treated water.


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JoeHermits wrote:Just keep in mind, though, that Prime only binds to ammonia for a few days. If there are large amounts of ammonia or chloramine in your water, you may need a separate product if you’re storing treated water.


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I did not know that, thank you so much.


♡ Rod ♡ Salty ♡ Bob ♡ Squirt ♡ Crabina ♡
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers »-♡->

So I should use Prime with distilled water as well?


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jstein wrote:So I should use Prime with distilled water as well?


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No, distilled water is pure H2O.

Depending on your situation, it may be cheaper to treat tap water than to buy it distilled.


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I’m confused - for drinking water for crabs - is it a or b or either - ) rap water treated with Prime b) distilled water - I just lost a fella today and in the emergency response items suggested that distilled water wasn’t good enough for drinking water


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Thanks for the info and help everyone !


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jstein wrote:I’m confused - for drinking water for crabs - is it a or b or either - ) rap water treated with Prime b) distilled water - I just lost a fella today and in the emergency response items suggested that distilled water wasn’t good enough for drinking water


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Distilled water lacks trace elements, and so is usually not recommended for that reason.

It’s not necessarily harmful, it’s just one less source of nutrients.


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Animals that are used to drinking surface water have adapted to get needed minerals that way. Distilled has no minerals. There have been cases of reptiles ending up with severe health effects from being given nothing but distilled, so the same would likely be true for our crabs.

However, if using a proper salt mix like Instant Ocean, then the minerals might be able to be obtained that way.