Cleaning The Crabitat

[CrabbyCancerian]

Hello fellow crab owners,
I have a question. I have to do my crab’s crabitat and I need to get it nice and clean. I haven’t changed the substrate in a little bit. I want to eliminate the possibility of mold. I usually just rinse out the crabitat with water but I wanted to know if I could use dawn soap? The plain kind...no antibacterial or scents or anything like that. I also wanted to know if I could use it on the water/food dishes et cetera. If not, I guess I will have to boil these items.

Can someone please refer me to the care sheet section of the website? (Particularly the section on cleaning/hygiene)

[Motörcrab]

Hello!

Doing a thorough cleaning of crabitats is an old technique no one really does anymore. some of us never change the substrate unless we have a bacterial bloom or flood. We do not have a dedicated careguide for cleaning items.

There is always a possibility of mold inside of a crabitat due to the high humidity. It's best to spot clean the tank every few days removing carried off foods, poop, and other organic items. Rotten food it probably the biggest cause of mold.

I generally just rinse my items coming out of the crabitat in warm tap water and scrub them with an old tooth brush. Then I rinse everything with dechlorinated fresh water. I shake a majority of the water off then I dry with paper towels.

Dawn would be safe for cleaning items outside of the tank like dishes and water pools. Be sure to rinse everything several times thoroughly. I definitely would not use Dawn to clean inside of the crabitat with crabs inside.

Here is a link to the care guides.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... .php?f=120

[CrabbyCancerian]

Hello!

Doing a thorough cleaning of crabitats is an old technique no one really does anymore. some of us never change the substrate unless we have a bacterial bloom or flood. We do not have a dedicated careguide for cleaning items.

There is always a possibility of mold inside of a crabitat due to the high humidity. It's best to spot clean the tank every few days removing carried off foods, poop, and other organic items. Rotten food it probably the biggest cause of mold.

I generally just rinse my items coming out of the crabitat in warm tap water and scrub them with an old tooth brush. Then I rinse everything with dechlorinated fresh water. I shake a majority of the water off then I dry with paper towels.

Dawn would be safe for cleaning items outside of the tank like dishes and water pools. Be sure to rinse everything several times thoroughly. I definitely would not use Dawn to clean inside of the crabitat with crabs inside.

Here is a link to the care guides.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... .php?f=120

Thank you

[mool]

Clean? Who cleans? I have the same sub in my tank that I've had since 2009-2010! As I've upgraded, I've added more sub, but I've never cleaned any of my tats.

I do wipe down the interior glass once in a while so I can see them, but that is all I've ever done.