New and Confused :)

[Jemcas29]

Hi! Looking to be a new crab owner this weekend and setting up crabitat. A few newbie questions for anyone with perspective. 1) I am confused on the lighting. I ordered a dual lighting system to allow for 1 daytime bulb and 1 moon glow bulb. Do I just buy a 25 w incandescent for the daytime or something else? If it matters I also have a UTH mat on the back, on the side hooked up to a thermostat. 2) do I need to bake the toys and the substrate before using? I plan to go with a 5 to 1 ratio of playsand to eco earth. 3) so many debates on water! I plan to use tap water with API conditioner. Do I need to use distilled and condition it instead? Thanks in advance.

[Just Jay]

Hi! Looking to be a new crab owner this weekend and setting up crabitat. A few newbie questions for anyone with perspective.

1) I am confused on the lighting. I ordered a dual lighting system to allow for 1 daytime bulb and 1 moon glow bulb. Do I just buy a 25 w incandescent for the daytime or something else? If it matters I also have a UTH mat on the back, on the side hooked up to a thermostat.

J- lighting is not needed unless you are looking to up the heat or want to be able to view the crabs at night easier without disturbing the crabs. i use a 100w on a dimmer (that is rarely ever dimmed) along with a uth to keep my 20g long at 90d. as far as the thermostat you want to know your tanks temp not really what temp the mat is putting out.

2) do I need to bake the toys and the substrate before using? I plan to go with a 5 to 1 ratio of playsand to eco earth.

J-more ee will help retain humidity but the mix is up to you. every tank is different and what works for one may not work as well for another. i only bake/SW dip what can grow mold. everything else is just boiled in FW. if it cant be boiled or baked i dip/soak it in SW just to make sure its clean and safe. baking is mainly used to avoid mold. also i do a 2 to 1 sand to ee mix.

3) so many debates on water! I plan to use tap water with API conditioner. Do I need to use distilled and condition it instead? Thanks in advance.

J- i use tap water treated with Prime (love it because its so easy and you can not add too much). its what i do for both my FW and SW mix.

hope that helps! also welcome to the HCA!

[Jemcas29]

Thank you!

[Just Jay]

ANYTIME!!!



happy crabbing

[kieagcarm]

You didn't mention salt water, but it is vital for crabs to have both kinds of water at all times in order to survive

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[LadyJinglyJones]

You didn't mention salt water, but it is vital for crabs to have both kinds of water at all times in order to survive

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Yup - and in case you haven't got the salt yet, I'd add that you want a marine grade salt (for salt water aquariums) and not freshwater aquarium salt, or human consumption 'sea salt'. A lot of people buy Jungle or API brand freshwater fish salt, only to find it isn't the right stuff.
Instant Ocean & Kent are two popular brands that work well.

I'd also recommend that you get your temperature & humidity well stabilized at 80°& 80% respectively before getting the crabs... it can take a while to strike the right balance and have the heat stabilized. It can be stressful trying to do that if you know the crabs are living in sub optimal conditions. I found that heat & humidity could drop really rapidly till I had jerry-rigged the set up to meet my needs... and I was really unhappy to come home & discover my tank at 68° & 70% humidity after a long day at work.

[Just Jay]

You didn't mention salt water, but it is vital for crabs to have both kinds of water at all times in order to survive

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Nice catch! Also make sure your dishes/bowl are deep enough for your largest crab to fukly submerge and safe to get in and out of. With ladders or really whatever you like

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[Jemcas29]

Thanks everyone for the comments. I'm good on the salt water and water bowls that info was clear and consistent in most forums. Lighting options seem to vary a lot from some saying no lights needed to 25w to 100w. I'll start with my UTH and see if I can get it warm enough in my tank. It is 15 gallons. If it isn't warm enough I start adding lights. So can anyone share what brand they use? I assume it is a heat lamp like in the reptile section. I bought the Zilla dual lamp but seems I don't need a moon light at night so back to drawing board.

[Crabbyshack]

No need to bake your substrate. Just mix with saltwater to sandcastle consistency and your good to go. If you mist your tank use declorinated fw so you don't overload your substrate with salt since salt doesn't evaporate. Also make sure it's 3 times as deep as your biggest crab.[SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

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[daws409]

A warning with lights.... They tend to zap humidity. Lights aren't recommended if you have humidity problems.

If you decide they are needed, start with the lowest watt possible (I think a 15). If you use a 15 watt day, you will need a 25 watt night to put off same heat.... Hope that makes sense.

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[Just Jay]

A warning with lights.... They tend to zap humidity. Lights aren't recommended if you have humidity problems.

If you decide they are needed, start with the lowest watt possible (I think a 15). If you use a 15 watt day, you will need a 25 watt night to put off same heat.... Hope that makes sense.


I have a uth and when we got cold started with a 25w but saw no change in hest so i got a 100w and used a dimmer dome. You can also use a moon light to see them. some members and trying out moon lights to emulate a crabs natural environment near a sea. I personally use a red light so it puts out heat and i can see them. To help keep my humidity up i have my uth behind my salt water pool. [I use a small kritter keeper dug into my sub so it sits on the bottom of the tank but the sub comes up almost even with the top of the kritter keeper. I cab post photos if thats unclear. It does make the Sw pool evaporate faster but it doesn't matter since i change water about once a week or so. I have a regular zoomed ceramic dimmer dom. [Ceramic heats better and cools faster] then i got a 100w out door chicken white bulb there is no difference between that and a reptile bulb except price]
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