HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Alot of people are leary about doing deep cleans with molters down so I thought I would show you what I do....maybe it will help even one person since I learned so much here at HCA.

If you can see the crab and where it is cut around the crabs cave - I use a icing spreader and a paint brush to work around the spot-- checking the underneath as you work

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a296/ ... nge018.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a296/ ... nge017.jpg

I spray the mound the whole time I am cutting to avoid collapse--now its ready to be filled with new substrate and molter is undisturbed. This one was easy I only had one down but I have had road maps at times

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a296/ ... nge019.jpg

I also shave off the top as much as possible being very careful.

I hope this helps someone approach deep cleans with more confidence

Wow! That's really interesting. What do you do with the molter? Is this just for cleaning/new substrate purposes, or to isolate the molter from the group? I imagine trying to move that entire mound would be hard to move without severely disturbing the crab.

Also, question not related to molter, but: What is your ratio of substrate?!

melissa wrote:Wow! That's really interesting. What do you do with the molter? Is this just for cleaning/new substrate purposes, or to isolate the molter from the group? I imagine trying to move that entire mound would be hard to move without severely disturbing the crab.

Also, question not related to molter, but: What is your ratio of substrate?!

The whole point is not to disturb the molter......leave it- this is for deep cleans with a molter. Then you can refill the tank with new substrate. I like 3x the height of largest crab- the more substrate the better IMHO