HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So today I noticed that in my fresh water pool on the air pump this weird orange film was starting to collect on the tube. I haven't noticed it elsewhere in the pool or tank but it seemed a bit odd. Wiped off just fine but I'm not sure if that's cause for concern. First thought was maybe algae? The tank isn't in direct sunlight though so I'm not sure how likely that is.

Anyone else ever experience a film like that occurring on items in a fresh water pool? Ever figure out what it was? Is it bad or harmful?

Sounds like you have iron in your water... We have well water and it does the same to our sinks/tubs around the drain. The color ranges from a pink to orange tint. I don't have this problem in my tat tho so I may be telling you wrong. Hopefully a more experienced crabber will chime in. Do you treat your water with a dechlorinator such as prime?

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daws409 wrote:Sounds like you have iron in your water... We have well water and it does the same to our sinks/tubs around the drain. The color ranges from a pink to orange tint. I don't have this problem in my tat tho so I may be telling you wrong. Hopefully a more experienced crabber will chime in. Do you treat your water with a dechlorinator such as prime?

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Definitely sounds like Iron. We have heavy iron in our water and even with a water softener and dechlor I get that orange film. It's harmless if you use a good water conditioner

I dechlorinate with Stress Coat, is that an okay one to use? Had read a lot about it being used when I first set up my tank.

I've heard of others using Stress Coat. That used to be recommended. I think you can use it until it is done, and then I would switch to Prime.

We have a lot in common lol. I've used stress coat my whole crabby adventure (3 years) and never had any problems. Just try to stay around 0.5 - 1 ml per gallon of water. Try not to go over 1 ml.

I don't have a good way to measure (the cap is barely visible) how much goes in but I only add a few drops, I'll check out the Prime stuff as well!

kfinnz wrote:I don't have a good way to measure (the cap is barely visible) how much goes in but I only add a few drops, I'll check out the Prime stuff as well!

5-8 drops is perfect in my experience

It happens on mine too- I live in a very small town, and part of it is well water. My crabs seem fine. I used to wonder what it was too. lol