HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey guys I was thinking, can I use a kitchen sponge instead of a sea sponge? I'll just place the sponge on place where it is out of reach. Please, I need your feedback on this...

I wouldn't, just because most come with scents already on them, and they are dyed weird colors, and trust me, crabs can get ANYWHERE in there tank. I've seen small ones scale the silicone in the corners! To add humidity, I would add a moss pit.

If it does not have weird scents and dyes and if its in the middle of the aquarium, will it be ok?

PinoyCrabber wrote:If it does not have weird scents and dyes and if its in the middle of the aquarium, will it be ok?

I wouldn't. They are often made with fungicides and other things. Stick with either a natural sponge (I know folks may disagree with that) or a moss pit. Foggers can also work well if controlled somehow.

Keith

Ugh... We don't have those kinds of things in my local pet shops... Tsk help please! And don't even mention try looking in the hardware stores, I have tried them already....

Or can I use fresh moss around the city? What should I do with them before placing them in the tat? And how much should I use? I'm in a tropical country so I bet I won't use much moss...

I don't use any sort of sponge. I just don't find them neccessary. If you have a really good and moist substrate and a properly fitting lid you should be able to keep the humidity at the right levels. It's always worked for me and I live in Wisconsin. <---Not Tropical at all....

Gathering items from outside, especially in a city, makes me a tad nervous unless you know a lot about their surroundings. Cities tend to be dirty--not like dirt dirty but like pollution from cars, pesticides, fertilizers, run-off from who knows where. I would really stick with a "sure thing"--something that you know doesnt have fertilizers or pesticides in/on them. I would stay away from the kitchen sponges too...too many of them, like KGBenson said, have fungicides or antibacterial stuff in them.

I dont live in a tropical area by any means either---In fact I think were considered sort of a desert area because we are so dry most of the year. Ive got bubblers in each pool and I use wet rags on the top of my screen lid (usually just during the winter) which also has plexiglass covering it to keep in humidity. (And let me tell ya....my crabs are drawn to the wet rags on the top of the lid...the rags are outside the tank but some of them find a way to get to the top and pull the rag thru the screen lid to shred the corners to drink the water.) But the bubblers and the rags (make sure they have been rinsed VERY well lots of times) make a big difference.

Perhaps you could find the makings for a bubbler at an aquatics store?

Otherwise, Maybe your humidity gage is not reading correctly?

Hey PinoyCrabber, you live in Davao, right? I don't really think you need a sponge or some sort of humidifier in your crab tank, seriously. If I'm not mistaken, the humidity there is good enough all year round that you don't really need a sponge or moss, save the occasional cold,dry wind occurrence from the north, like the one that happened to Luzon in winter '08, I think. You'd probably be best off just sprinkling or spraying of the tank occasionally to simulate some of the seasonal rains - and of course, providing the requisite water pools.

Just make sure your crab tank is not in the part of the house where there is air conditioning/cooling and the air is drier and cooler (ex. your bedroom). And I think that the crabs probably need them in the crab shops in the Megamalls because the air conditioning there is at full blast, but once you step outdoors, it's all nicely warm and humid, especially at night.

You can even setup your tank outdoors, as long as it is in well shaded and unpolluted areas - at least, that's what I'd envision a crab tank in, say Antipolo, if I'd set up one there. I think Mokulele Hawai'i (an HCA member in Indonesia) has an outdoor setup.

See, thats my problem, when the house will be constructed I will setup my tank in my bedroom, thats the safest place I can have them. My bedroom is always free from pesticides and pollution. And if I place them outdoors I may be able to forget about them. I will do have an air conditioner in my bedroom, so I will really need to have humidifiers.

I really don't think a sponge would help you, anyway. They did little to nothing for my humidity, and were just a pain to clean and take care of.

Ok, can you suggest any humidifiers that I can use?

Well Philippines is a tropical country like singapore and like you my tank is my room and i turn on the AC EVERY night. I do not have sponges in my tank and my crabs are doing well for 2 years now. Just keep a lid and have your bowls of water. mine is just 2 pools with coral in it for the crabs to climb in and out. NO sponge!!! so just forget about the sponge and dont worry. my crabs are doing great at night with the AC on.

Thanks. I thought my future crabs will do fine in my bedroom.

Yeap they will! So dont worry about the humidity at your place because tropical countries like ours have usually higher than normal humidities. singapore is practically 80-90% humid ALL the time. so turning on a little AC is fine.

good luck!