HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Punga died this morning, and I was considering getting a new crab eventually, maybe even 2.
I have a 10 gallon tank with a medium sized crab in it currently. How many crabs would be too many for the tank?

Thanks,
Lilymouse385

Sorry for your loss! Do you maybe want to fill out the emergency template so we can try and figure out what happened? Personally I think that a 10 gal is too small for any crabs, but you can safety fit 2 small-medium crabs. So with your medium you will need to upgrade soonish and if you want to get more than one crab.


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Two is a good number for ten gallons. Even small crabs can grow pretty rapidly, and with more than two you may find the tank overcrowded after a few moults.

(Larger crabs will need more than ten gallons.)

Here's the space recommendation page:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92541

It's a good guideline, especially for beginning tanks - but I like to suggest people not think of these as the maximum sizes needed, because crabs always seem to like more space, rather than less.

Thank you!
I think Punga was attacked by Karkat or something, he was in the corner out of his shell and his shell was by Karkat.

Lilymouse385 wrote:Thank you!
I think Punga was attacked by Karkat or something, he was in the corner out of his shell and his shell was by Karkat.

I'm really sorry for your loss. Are you providing enough protein and or calcium? Do you have enough shell choices for them? Usually those are the top reasons for those occurrences to happen.

I personally like 5 gallons per crab for small/medium crabs. Larger and up require much more space than that. That is my personal opinion.

I say have 3-5 smallish crabs in a 10-gallon

^that is not an appropriate amount of crabs


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Hermiearth wrote:^that is not an appropriate amount of crabs


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No, its fine. However they may find in the next couple of months that they will run into problems. But for now, 3 small crabs are fine.

(In the past, many had 3-4 small PPs in a 10g and they did fine for a couple of months/years until they upgraded... even according to HCA official guide to stocking they are fine with a 10g)

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aussieJJDude wrote:

Hermiearth wrote:^that is not an appropriate amount of crabs


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No, its fine. However they may find in the next couple of months that they will run into problems. But for now, 3 small crabs are fine.

(In the past, many had 3-4 small PPs in a 10g and they did fine for a couple of months/years until they upgraded... even according to HCA official guide to stocking they are fine with a 10g)

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In my opinion 3 is pushing it for small crabs, and 5 is definitely over.


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Hermiearth wrote:In my opinion 3 is pushing it for small crabs, and 5 is definitely over.


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Understood. It might be worth next time to mention that its your own option since it differs from HCA guidelines - which they have stuck too - to avoid confusion.

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[quote="Hermiearth"]^that is not an appropriate amount of crabs

YES it is actually my crabs are doing fine in one. They love it!

I've kept 3 PP's (they are small) in my 10 gallon without an issue. The substrate is deep and everyone's happy and healthy. They are pretty small and I guess it depends the crab. As they molt and grow more I will definitely upgrade (and get more crabs!).

Lewisthecrab wrote:

Hermiearth wrote:^that is not an appropriate amount of crabs

YES it is actually my crabs are doing fine in one. They love it!

How many crabs do you have?


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I'd stick to the 5 gallon per crab just because there isn't much room by the time you add everything you need, I have a 29 gal with 5 crabs and sometimes I think it's overcrowded due to the water dishes, shell shops, moss pits, etc. I had a 10 gallon with 2 crabs for a couple weeks before I upgraded because I just couldn't fit everything I wanted in it. Ex. There's only 6" of surface room after sub is added, there wasn't much climbing room.