HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I decided to build pools for my crabs and got the whisper 10i filter which creates a lovely waterfall. I wanted to make it look more decorative so I built this little waterfall by using silicone sealant, rocks and fake plants. I got the idea from Karbon who put up wonderful pics of his crabitat. The cost of the rocks including shipping was about $20 (purchased on ebay from Aquarium Stone Supply, quick shipping, gorgeous stones that are NOT chemically treated)
http://img43.imageshack.us/g/p1010576w.jpg/

Not bad, I wish I had a huge tank so I could make something like this. That looks really cool. Have the crabs checked it out yet?

not quite yet, I want to be sure my temp/hum is stable first so I'm letting things run for a week before i put my babies in their new home. I was lucky enough to have an old 90 gal fish tank sitting around that was just taking up closet space. However, I only have 6 little crabbies so it'll be fun trying to find them in the new tat

Looks great! I love the little plants you stuck in amongst the rocks.

looks awesome, almost like mine before the pools started leaking. I hope to tear out the old pools and try something else..like one I can remove from the tank to clean =)

Wow, I'm impressed my hermit crabs are nowhere near as small as they were when I got them five years ago, and the ten gallon tank is nearly too small- I really want a super awesome water feature like this when I get a new tank
I do have a question though, is it possible that the hermit crabs will drown? I bathe mine but not for more than five minutes at a time, and such a deep pool would scare me a bit. Thank you

You don't really need to bathe your crabs. Hermit crabs dip their shells into the fresh and salt water until they arrive at the perfect mix for them. By bathing your crabs you mess up the balance of their shell water.

Under normal circumstances, crabs won't drown even in deep pools. You just need to make sure they have easy entrance and exit points.

Sara, as long as they have a good way out they are fine. There's some posts around the forum from people with crabs that will submerge for 30-60 minutes! Remember, even though they're adapted to breathe air they do still have gills. they're better off in the water than we are by a long shot!

Since I've put in the pools I've noticed my Es go in for 30-40 mins at a time. I don't bathe my crabs since they seem to bathe themselves now, but submerging for long periods of time doesn't seem to bother them. I put in a ramp and glued gravel to it to help them get in and out. I figure the crabs know best.

when i get a larger tank i cant wait to try something like this- mine love to just sit in their water dish sometimes so something bitter would be pretty neat:)

That is gorgeous! What a great place for crabs to live! Does the water stay warm, or do you have some kind of water heater in the pool?

I don't heat the water, but I do have a 60w sunglow bulb over the pools. I will catch them sitting on top of the waterfall basking after a dunk in the pool. It's actually pretty cute. Of course being crabs, they've pulled out and clipped off some of the decorative plants, I'm always amused by what I find when I'm cleaning the filter. And thanks everyone for the kind comments, I really would've never thought of doing this if it wasn't for the ridiculously creative people on this forum