HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello crab community, thanks to the quick responses I found 2 tanks from the let go app.
My question is what do crabs like more climbing up and down or walking further along the substrate? The tanks I'm looking at are both above 90 gallon range and 1 is 6 ft long and the other is 4 ft long but much higher around 30 inches I believe.
My current tank is only 45 gallons and it's not very tall. But I want to make a choice that my crabs will like more.
So what do y'all think from experience?

Height I find useful if you got large crabs or you enjoy deep substrate but more climbing space. In saying thay, they certainly appreciate a wider tank, and more room to scape and for them to rin around in. Good for smaller crabs IMO, and i personally believe a larger surface area can support more crabs.
(If you have large/jumbo crabs, id go with the 4ft.)

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Have you double checked the measurements to make sure that they are the gallonage advertised?

As long as you can get enough substrate in the tank, I like length over height. They do climb, but they wander more.

One thing to think about is how much space will be between the top of the substrate and the top of the tank. Too much and you'll have to climb in to change their food and water! I can do 21 inches with a struggle, that's armpit to fingertip for me, and even then I have to do it one handed unless I want to hang into the tank with both.

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I would go with more length and width... You can always add a topper for more height.

I have a 125G with a 40B topper, a 120G Bamboo tank with 60-75G extra topper space, and a 90G. Honestly I prefer the other two over the 90G because they're both two ft longer.

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I don't understand how to add a topper to the new tank. This is my current tank. So you're saying I should use this and put it upside down on the new tank I'm going to buy to increase height?

Yes.
So first of all, substrate is extremely important for hermits. The substrate is needed for chilling out (relaxing, cooling off, de-stressing), molting, and exploring. Substrate should be a minimum of 6" or three times the height of your largest crab for the entire tank, then you can do difference in substrate on top of that.
To add topper, you would take another tank, and either a) bust out the bottom so that you have just the sides of the tank and you can put a glass top (which is what I prefer) or a mesh top on top. or you can b) just flip the tank upside down. To attach the tank you would either duct tape it to the existing tank, or use velcro. Hope that helps

It also helps if your topper is as wide as your base tank. For instance Daws used a 40 gallon breeder tank (40B) on top of her 125 gallon, and they're the same width. Makes sense to me - that way the tank on the bottom supports the weight of the top tank on three sides of the top tank, you just have to prevent sideways movement of the topper (velcro or tape like GotButterflies said).

Then you make a lid for the area of the bottom tank not covered by the topper, and this is where you put food in and change water. Or so I should think.

Exactly what they said lol... I busted out the bottom of my 40B then added a glass top and duct taped it to the base. My food/water is on non-topper side for ease of access.

Here's some pics to give you an idea... There's more in the topic: http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 1#p1034651







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