HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello all,

I have a 36" wide tank and need to regulate the temp for my crabs. Heating my whole house to 75 degrees in the dead of winter to keep my crabs even at 72 degrees (it's an old house with poor heat containment) isn't probably very economical or environmentally friendly. I ordered and received a 35" Ultratherm heater from The Bean Farm, but it says in the instructions, "Heat from one half to two thirds of the cage. Make sure the reptile can get away from the heat source." So my question is:

1) Do I need to send the heater back and order a shorter version that heats less of the cage?

2) Instead, should I wrap the heater around the corner so that it effectively heats less of my crabitat? This will be ugly if I try to cover up the heater and could overheat the tank silicone possibly?

I want to do the best by them. Is having the Ultratherm along the full length of the back of the tank bad for the crabs?

P.S. If my 35" is a problem, I'm going to contact The Bean Farm and others that sell the Ultratherm and recommend that they provide this instruction in the product description so that others don't run into this problem. Frustrating to discover this after getting it, and I did quite a bit of research before ordering.

Thank you,
Steve

The uth's are originally designed for reptiles, but we use them a bit differently. Hermies require warm temps throughout the tank, and not just a basking spot. You actually want it to cover the whole back of the tank above the sub! In fact, you'll likely want to apply it, and then add some sort of insulation such as reflectix/ foil and cardboard to direct the heat into the tankk.

Rawrgeous wrote:The uth's are originally designed for reptiles, but we use them a bit differently. Hermies require warm temps throughout the tank, and not just a basking spot. You actually want it to cover the whole back of the tank above the sub! In fact, you'll likely want to apply it, and then add some sort of insulation such as reflectix/ foil and cardboard to direct the heat into the tankk.

Stemming from this, the reptile people use UTH "underneath" the tank, hence why they must a zone. Unfortunately we crabbers can't, as we often need deep substrate levels (a) would not heat the tank the slightest, as the heat has to get through at least 6 inches of sand and b) sand is a great insulator, and a moulting crab will become cooked when the UTH is on) unlike the reptile people, which only need a shallow substrate. (In fact, if their UTH is too hot, reptile people commonly use more substrate so it doesn't heat the tank up too much. But this is all pointless in crabs.)

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In short, yes your fine and got the right one. Just cover the entire back - above the substrate like rawrgeous suggested - and you should be good to go, especially with insulating.

Hey thanks so much for the info! Knowing now that the Ultratherm was designed for reptiles and that the instructions were written for reptiles (which wasn't indicated in them) all makes perfect sense now, and I'm glad I ended up getting the right one after all.

One more question about using Ultratherm heaters or something similar. Is a thermostat needed to keep the temp from climbing too high? I keep the house at about 70 degrees F.

Your asking about a rheostat?? This acts as a dimmer so that you can keep and control a steady temp. Comes with low, medium, or high setting. I think these are better cause you can use less heat (low or off ) in summer and more in winter (high if needed)

Thermostat - from what I understand, will shut off when reaches certain temp (say 86°) then come back on when fall below a certain temp (say 79°)

Most recommend 80 minimum for temp. Some like a constant temp and others light fluctuation of temp for night cycle. I personally have my light setup 86 by day and 79-80 for night.... I also use lights as heat instead of UTH. However, be very careful using lights. They tend to dry out sub quicker than UTH. You have to find other ways to reinforce tanks humidity like bubblers or humidifier.

* If humidity is already a problem, lights aren't recommend as a heat source.

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Thanks! I was thinking of a thermostat that will turn it on/shut it off automatically when it reaches certain temps. Lights aren't an option because I already deal with humidity issues and would worry too much about leaving hot lights on when I'm gone. I'll hook it up and monitor the temps while I'm home off work for vacation and see if they get too high. If so, I'll invest in a thermostat.

Have others using the Ultratherm had to use a thermostat?

I use a thermostat but more for the fact that I'd rather not risk my tank getting too hot rather than I actually need one.

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Most of the time, most tanks will stay around 80 - 85; which the crabs seem to actively enjoy and is the reccomended range to keep them in. And naturally, your tank is going to have warmer and cooler area - the front will most likely be 70-75F - so they can seek out a cooler area if it gets too hot. (I wouldn't worry about it.)

Thanks everyone! I'll keep an eye on things and order a thermostat if it seems like the tank is overheating. I also bought everything today for nice-sized freshwater and saltwater swimming pools that they can easily get out of, with air stones that will hopefully keep the humidity up and regulated. Looking forward to them enjoying swimming around in them. The combo will hopefully solve the heating issue, as well as providing them water to roam around in and keeping the humidity level at 80% or so. It's been stressful because the temp has been hovering around 70 degrees F and have been having to mist the tank at least twice daily to keep the humidity at acceptable levels, and it's been dropping below 70% only because of not being able to constantly monitor it. Ugh. Hopefully the combo of the heater and pools will keep things basically constant. You have to work harder to create an artificial environment with Midwest winters, no doubt. Have one crab down and am worried but hopefully these environmental changes will make the molting go smoothly.

Ok I love all the info I just ordered my ultratherm for my 30" tank I got a 6"x 23" my tank is 19" tall I have had a hard time getting imput for the right size for me to buy. I don't know the size of hermits we will be getting but figure at least 6-9" substrate should i stop my order in the a.m. and get a larger mat? Like a 11"x23" or 11"x29" ??


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Moorespride wrote:Ok I love all the info I just ordered my ultratherm for my 30" tank I got a 6"x 23" my tank is 19" tall I have had a hard time getting imput for the right size for me to buy. I don't know the size of hermits we will be getting but figure at least 6-9" substrate should i stop my order in the a.m. and get a larger mat? Like a 11"x23" or 11"x29" ??


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You have more room for substrate - in case you want to increase depth - without worrying if your drying out the substrate. However, a slight overlap in substrate and UTH isn't the end all, and if you have a drafty house/our crabs are in a cooler room, then a larger size may be beneficial. So the 11 x 29 would be your best choice then, and I would also reccomend the 11 x 29 if I was to place it on my own tank of a similar size.