HCA: Hermit Crab Association

HELP!

I recently found a pretty big crack in the side of my 65g. I have the replacement ready but will need to rebuild the habitat in the new tank. This includes moving the substrate, etc. We have 11 crabs, 4 are up, 1 other I know isn't molting. The others honestly no clue. I fear the crack is going to get larger and the whole side of the tank could collapse because of the placement of the crack, which IMO is far more dangerous than digging for molters and hiding crabs. Does anyone have experience with this, tips, or ideas of what/how to do?

I have the day tomorrow to work on this. So quick responses would be most helpful.

I do plan on placing any molters I find in ISO in a 10g I have. And Isolating them from each other.

You can do it, but it takes a while. I only use bare hands when molters are down. Start at one end of the tank where you're pretty sure none are and clear a trench to the very bottom so you have a clear area shaped like a perfect U. Then scrape away at the exposed edge of the sand - keeping as straight an edge as possible - and move slowly across the tank that way. With luck you'll feel the molting cave give way with your pinky and can extract the crab out sideways - less risk of collapsing the cave from the top or missing valuable exo that way. Move all crabs into the iso into a slight depression and cover with a cocohut or dish. Any crab found underground should be considered a molter, no matter what it looks like. The only time the crab should be moved back in with others is after it's been active and moving all around the ISO for at least one day, preferably two or three. I've had crabs killed by rushing it and moving them, only to have them surface molt in the main tank!

Just watch your hands around the crack. If the glass has slipped you could cut yourself.