accidental backwards substrate ratio please help

[mylittlecrabs]

im not sure if this is an actual emergency but to me it is and im very scared.

i have mixed play sand with coco fiber with a roughly 5:1 ratio. but i got it backwards and used more fiber than play sand and im really scared that its harming my crabs. i just got them and they have been with this substrate for about 4 days. i have 2 crabs, one of them immediately burrowed down, im sure hes anxious. took his shell with him. hoping for the best. and the other one stays above the substrate, sleeping all day and comes out to roam at night.

im scared that this ratio is going to be harmful. also i dont want to bother the burrowed one.

sorry if this isnt supposed to be posted here.

[mylittlecrabs]

didnt mean to post this twice! my bad haha im a bit shaken up
also, im very new here and am not quite sure how everything works

[hermitcrablover2]

I think it should be fine, it is good to have some sand though, it gives the hermies protection when they're molting. After the burrowed crab surfaces you can always add some more sand.

[Jlmills525]

the ratio is a general guideline.. I've heard of crabbers that use almost exclusively eco earth. As long as the consistency is 'wet' enough to hold its shape and they can dig and tunnel it's fine. You might just have to watch for floods more since the eco earth may stay a bit wetter

[wodesorel]

There is no ratio that you *must* have, it's old info that came from a crab seller who wanted to have a reason to blame when the crabs he sold died. Crabbers have been using straight cocofiber, straight sand, and any mix of the two, for decades with success.

[mylittlecrabs]

thank you guys so much