HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi there!

I'm new to this site and I am super glad I found it. I'm going to be getting some crabs over the weekend and I just want to make sure I've gotten everything they need. I did a lot of research and I think I've gotten everything...

I have a 30 gallon tank and I was planning on getting 4 or 5 small crabs. I have a 55 gallon I can upgrade to when they're big enough.

The petstore sells two different kinds of crabs? Fancy and... I forget what the other one was called. I just remember the price difference. One was $12.99 each and one $6.99. I'm not really sure what the difference was...

I bought a uth (a bigger one, for a 50-60 gallon tank) and I am going to mount it on the side. I'm going to insulate it. I've been trying to find out how to do this. Do I just tape tinfoil over it??

I bought lots of play sand as well as some of the coconut fiber to put in. I bought a couple huts and some plastic plants, as well as some stuff for them to climb on. I'm going to make a second level but I haven't 100% decided how yet.

I have the temp and humidity gauges. To keep the humidity I'm going to saran wrap the top most of the way but leave a bit of space for fresh air. I have moss and natural sponges to help with humidity and 3 bowls (one for food, one for fresh water and one for salt water). I bought aquarium salt and the dechlorinator that does chlorine, metals and ammonia...

Questions:

Am I missing anything?

Do I just tape tinfoil over the heater to keep the heat in?

Do I need to moisten the sand at all or just put it in dry?

Do I need to mist the tank once a day? I'm unsure about that

If there's any advice, please feel free to share! And sorry, I'm sure these questions have been asked a million times!

I'm so glad your looking up what you need prior to buying crabs!! Welcome to the addiction- I mean the association
The uth heater I just stuck on my tank and taped tinfoil and the cardboard right over it. It holds in heat great.
When putting in your sand you want it to be damp- sand castle consistency. And you want a lot of sand/ Eco earth in there. They say you need about 3 times as much substrate as your larges crab is tall. I would make sure u have at least 6inches.

I end up misting my tank about 3 times a day to help keep moisture up to the correct levels.
I highly recommend looking through past posts and topics. You will learn so much by everyone's questions. Also I would suggest trying to get your tank set up before bringing any crabs home. That way you can start to get a feel for what you need for humidity and what not. The amount of misting will be in direct coral action of your own humidity. You will need to mist more if your tank isn't holding humidity as well.

Also the prices may not be for different crabs but for small vs large. But I would ask for sure. You will also need lots of shells for your crabs. Correct sizes for them to switch and grow in.
Have fun crabbing!

Hello and welcome to the addiction as ryry put it kudos to you for setting up before you bring your crabs home! I'm not sure how every store does it but I recently asked a guy at petsmart how they divided up hermit crabs from fancy hermit crabs. His answer? They divide them based on how pretty the shell is that the crab is wearing!! How silly is that?? The guy said he thought it was pretty dumb considering they usually change shells once they come to the store. Nice guy, one of the better crab keepers as far as the pet stores around here. I'm getting side tracked lol. If you wanted to build a false bottom to prevent flooding (which can occur if the sand has too much water sitting in it, causes bacteria blooms and can drown crabs. If you search this site for false bottom there are lots of threads on this subject) you could do that but it's not exactly a requirement. More of a preventative measure.

You can put foil over your heater or you can use styrofoam or cardboard. It will all depend on how well your heater warms up the tank. I suggest putting your sand and moss and everything in, turn your heater on and see what your gauges read (also you should calibrate your gauges before putting them in. There is a link in the care sheets on how to do this. I think under crabitat conditions) then after you know how warm your tank gets without the insulation you can move forward to either leave it be or insulate. Every tank and every house is different so it's something you'll have to tweek and mess with. You have to find the right balance for your set up

You absolutely need to moisturizer your sand. Crabs have to have wet sand to be able to tunnel and build caves for molting. You can do this with dechlorinated fresh or salt water. I did mine with salt water to deter mold growing but ALWAYS mist with FRESH dechlorinated water. Salt build ups can burn both you and your crabs if you must with salt water. (You can most molding branches or wood with salt water to help cut down mold but again not too much so that no one gets burned!).... Ok back to the point. I put my sand in a bucket, pour in some salt water and then mix. Then I take handfuls of cocofiber (already moistened according to packaging. You can also use salt water for this if you want) and mid that in. If you stick your finger in the mixture and it holds that shape you're ready to put it in the tank you don't want the sand to be dripping wet but it can't be dry either (picky crabs haha).

If you have any more questions feel free to ask welcome to HCA!!!


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Totally forgot to say in case you didn't know the UTH goes on the back side of your tank above the substrate line! Never on the bottom of the tank as they aren't meant to hear through that much sub and can become a fire hazard!!


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