HCA: Hermit Crab Association

.I don't think the template can really work well for this situation, but here's the gist of it and I need advice; I feel really bad about the last few weeks, I have a 20 gal aquarium, and have 3 PP's ( one large, 2 med, though one could be considered a small maybe. ) I've been having them since roughly mid august, but as of late I've been dealing with a really bad bacterial bloom, and my largest crab, Odin, has been molting- since at the moment I didn't have any money to go buy eco-earth (i'm 17, i know i'm a youngester here lol and money is awfully tight) so I did the next best thing I thought I could, and to possible save Odin, I dug around the entire enclourse over an extended period of time and eventally when I got to Odin, I carefully dug around the bacteria-filled substrate and wringed it out, making sure I didn't disturb him as much as possible.

( at this moment he hadn't shedded any limbs, or any of the signs, so he was still in the preparation stages ) Even though I did dug around him to get rid as much of the bacteria as possible, he purposely moved as from the looks of it, was ok at the moment- he went to go get some food and saltwater, and quickly went back down after the entire tank was back to normal- also, I've been dealing with an issue related to tiny worms popping in and out of my water dishes, the substrate has been getting a white sheen with some specs within, the 2 smaller crabs haven't really been eating, or drinking as of late- and I tend to stay up really late.

This time however, there's still some bloom and since I finally got the money to order a massive bag of EE ( yes, I know the preferred mixture is a mix of EE and playsand ) and now that it just got here, I'm finally about to do a full sub change, and have already pre-boiled my tank ornaments; this time since I had to purposely, but gently scoop him up from where he was molting, and into the best ISO tanHk I could for Odin, which the issue is I really didn't got one, and he was definitionally in the process of molting due to a few fallen limbs ( big pincher, 2 legs )- He already regrew his big P! However this ISO tank is in the largest tubaware I can find, which isn't super big, or deep- but gave enough room for me to put roughly 2-3 inches of substrate, and place down a dish with dc water and food, with some walking room to spare; with towels on the top to help keep heat and humidity in;

I know this certainly isn't the right way to do an ISO tank but It's the best I can manage; but that makes me feel really guilty.

What should I do? I really don't got many options.

A 50lb bag of playsand at a hardware store is under $5. I know with being young it’s probably hard to come up with money but I wasn’t sure if you knew how much it was.


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

What should I do about the molter though? Already changed the sub earlier, should I place a bottle top ontop of him to iso him from the rest of the crabs in the tank?

If he has not shed his exoskeleton yet, I think he will be ok and find another place to dig. As long as he is not soft and pink or pale I think he’s ok to keep in with the others.


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

He's shedded a few parts of it, 2 legs, 1 big pincher- however, he has grown back the big pincher, not sure about the legs

to exo does look a little dusty, and in the tiny iso i put him in he's hardly moved

Also as he's been buried, the other 2 haven't tried to digged him up during this time

I would leave him in the iso bowl with his exo and sit the bowl down in your main tank. It is important to let him eat his exo!! Let him finish molting before putting back with the other crabs. I just had a big flood in my tank and I also have a molting crab in a bowl.

Oh, I thought you said he hadn’t shed it yet. If he is only shedding parts that is not good, they need to shed the whole exoskeleton at once. Maybe @wodesorel or @soilentgringa can help you better. Or are they just pieces of exo and he is almost finished and hasn’t come up yet? Hopefully that is the case.


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

As I said, he regrew the big pincher back; also the big pincher that was shedded was completely hollow, so I'm not sure if that means he was eating it as it's decreased in size tremendously; I had to carefully dig him up for the sub change and put him in a the best ISO I can right now and it's not good

@hyelah1990

Thank you but it wouldn't fit, I don't got a 20 gal long

Aso quick update, I checked on his iso and I believe he has all of his limbs! I can't confirm 100% at this moment but I believe it may be right that he was just finishing up eating his exo. He's pale

I have my molter in a 20 gal tall right now too, they dont need a ton of room while molting. He will probably just dig down, eat his exo, an stay in one spot until he is hard enough to get out and about again.

I already moved his exo parts in his iso, he's already ate roughly 1/2 of his big claw, so i think i moved him right when he was about to wrap up molting

Yup, the big claw is almost gone, ate one of the legs, and the other one is halfway also; depending on how fast he eats, which is surprisngly quick, I might be able to place him back in the main tank tonight.