HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Less than a month with our hermit crabs and I know this is going to be a long term hobby for my family and I (this all started as a first pet and birthday gift for my 7 year old) so we are upgrading our crabitat from a 10g to a 55g (found an AWESOME deal on Let Go) as I try to work out all of the new supplies we will need, I’m wondering how much play sand I should plan on buying if I want the substrate to be 6-10” deep. We have all eco earth right now but I plan to do a mixture. How much more eco earth will I need for the right sand to EE ratio? We have enough in our 10g to have 6”.

Also what kind of heater should I look for? We just have 2 small UTHs for our 10g and it keeps the tank at 78-80 degrees.


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kaykmerr wrote:Less than a month with our hermit crabs and I know this is going to be a long term hobby for my family and I (this all started as a first pet and birthday gift for my 7 year old) so we are upgrading our crabitat from a 10g to a 55g (found an AWESOME deal on Let Go) as I try to work out all of the new supplies we will need, I’m wondering how much play sand I should plan on buying if I want the substrate to be 6-10” deep. We have all eco earth right now but I plan to do a mixture. How much more eco earth will I need for the right sand to EE ratio? We have enough in our 10g to have 6”.

Also what kind of heater should I look for? We just have 2 small UTHs for our 10g and it keeps the tank at 78-80 degrees.


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I'm not sure about how much sand or ee. But the Ultratherm is one of the best heaters to get. You can find it on beanfarm.com or reptilebasics.com. Get one that covers the entire back (from top of substrate to top of tank) of the tank.

When we set up our 75 gallon we used about 250 lbs, 5 bags of playsand, 8 quarts of EE and about 6 gallons of salt water. That gave us about 7-9 inches of substrate mixed with EE before it settled. I would think 4 bags should be close to what you want. I always get an extra bag to save having to make a second run later. Plus you never know when you may need to set up an additional tank for rescues!

For the UTH heater I got an Ultratherm that covered the entire back of the tank. From the top of the glass down to the top of the substrate and all the way side to side. I believe it ended up being around $55 with shipping from The Bean Farm. I also used insulation over the heater to direct more heat into the tank. Not all heatets can be insulated. I also added a temperature regulator $15-$20 on Amazon. If your tank is getting too warm the regulator will control that. I would rather have the tank too warm and have to cool it down rather than struggle to maintain minimum heat.

I'm late to the party, but congratulations on the upgrade!

I personally like the UTHs from www.reptile basics.com best. I have one from bean farm too. Both are good because they can be insulated for the colder weather.

Can't wait to see pictures!

Thank you all for the help! We picked up our new (to us) tank + stand yesterday and they are FILTHY! I’ve got my work cut out for me any tips for cleaning tanks?

I anticipate that this will be a slow build as I will purchase things here and there - substrate first, then a heater (have my eye on one from reptile basics), then decor! I want to create a vertical coconut hut village but I’m not necessarily the craftiest so we will see how that goes...

My next question is what is the best way to go about substrate? I see some people with mostly sand but one area of eco earth, full sand eco earth mixtures, and some with layers of sand and eco earth stacked on top of each other... is it preference or is there an opinion on best practice?!

Here’s the tank... quite the before shot




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I would say that the most common substrate used is a 5:1 ratio of playsand to EE. I mixed them with water, a bucket at a time, and then poured into the tank. I agree that 4 bags of sand should be about right.

Use vinegar for cleaning. And a lot of elbow grease! LOL!

My 29 was pretty filthy too. I cleaned it best I could with a sponge and water(my sponge had a tiny bit of dish soap left on it from dishwashing), then dried it. It still had a white haze, I used a razor blade to scrape all of that off(dry). I did a salt water rinse after I had scraped it to get all the scrapings out. Make sure your razor blade is sharp. You can use one of those ones for cars that the razor blade goes into to make it easier on your hands. The experts might have some better ideas for you but that’s how I did mine and it looks great.


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