HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello Crabbers!

I'm new to the crabbing community, I've only had my crabs for about 2 weeks! I have my crabitat all set up, but I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Any help would be greatly appreciated

I have a 10 gallon, set up with 6 inches of substrate. Mine is eco earth mixed with CaribSea super naturals aquarium sand (no calcisand!). I have a UTH heater attached to the back, and it stays about 75 - 80 degrees in there. My humidity is between 80 - 100%. I have salt and freshwater available, and I change the sponges every day or every other day to prevent bacteria growth. I have a whole bunch of food coming from Hermie's Kitchen on Etsy, but until then I'm feeding them fresh fruits and veggies and some dried shrimp/bugs. Right now they have organic peanut butter, dried seaweed, and dried mealworms. Yesterday they had hardboiled eggs, kale, and carrots. I have a glass lid on right now, but I also have a screen lid. In the summer it gets pretty hot/humid in my area, so I will probably use the screen then. I also have an LED strip from marineland that has a day time and nighttime setting.

I have two small PP's in there, one has molted with me already, and one dug down and has been down for about a week. Hopefully, he comes up alive!

My crabitat is cramped, but here are some pictures for you to see my setup:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/141949344 ... res/9g030J

Hello and Welcome!

I'm not sure about the composition of the sand you purchased, so I can't comment on that. Most of us just use play sand from the hardware store. It's about $4.00 for 50#.

Overall, the tat looks great! I would caution you to ditch the sponges. They aren't necessary and potentially problematic. Most people opt to use them dry in the tanks as decor if they use them at all.

^^ agree on the sponges. Crabs love to eat them dry in the 'tat, but in water they are nothing but trouble. If you need something that they can hold onto while in the water, aquarium gravel siliconed to a ramp is probably the best choice.

I can't see your pictures but welcome none the less. I agree with everyone else, sponges aren't necessary. You can hold humidity in different ways, and rocks and gravel are just as well for crabs climbing in and out of dishes.
Ive heard of people putting marine salt into the substrate, I dont want to try it out of fear of hurting them. Good old play sand has been a good option for me with both my fish tank and my crabs tank ^•^ plus its cheap! Which is always good for a penny pincher like myself!

Oh no! Here are the images in case you wanted to take a peek






The sand I used in my substrate is a really fine and clean aquarium sand with neutral pH and no calcium. It probably would have been cheaper to buy playsand, but Petco was having a sale! lol. And thank you everyone for your advice about the sponges. I thought they would be okay if I switched them out every day/every other day and sanitized them in between (microwaved them...) is that not the case? I'll take them out and add some rocks or shells. Thanks!

I like it. That sand has beautiful color! And I think you utilized the space really well. What did you use for your second level? I'm working on one myself to try and free up space in my ten gallon until i can put together my thirty gallon. But mine is just hemp chord braided together.

Thanks! I used a small acrylic tray meant for bathroom organization and used aquarium silicone to attach some acrylic legs, which are actually cake pop sticks lol. Everything came from amazon

Hey DarthCrabber! I'm new to crabbing as u probably already knew! I'm always posting tons of questions and the HCA members have been so wonderful I really love what you did with your tank! You've utilized the space well and looks like ur crabbies will love all the climbing space! Really enjoy seeing all the DIY's crabbers r doing for their tats! I'm not a creative person so looking at what others have done is inspiring!
Are the cake pop sticks u used to hold the second level acrylic as well? I like how you spread all the shells out across the bottom. Looks like your hermies have some great roaming space as well! Only thing I would bring up is if the water dishes r deep enough for your biggest crab to dunk in? Really great job on the hermies tat!!!

Kermie16 wrote:Hey DarthCrabber! I'm new to crabbing as u probably already knew! I'm always posting tons of questions and the HCA members have been so wonderful I really love what you did with your tank! You've utilized the space well and looks like ur crabbies will love all the climbing space! Really enjoy seeing all the DIY's crabbers r doing for their tats! I'm not a creative person so looking at what others have done is inspiring!
Are the cake pop sticks u used to hold the second level acrylic as well? I like how you spread all the shells out across the bottom. Looks like your hermies have some great roaming space as well! Only thing I would bring up is if the water dishes r deep enough for your biggest crab to dunk in? Really great job on the hermies tat!!!

Thank you so much, Kermie16! The cake pop sticks I used are also acrylic. They're right from amazon lol. I have little tiny crabbies, so they can actually submerge all the way in the water dishes if they want to. After a few molts, though, I'm definitely going to be due for an upgrade. My crabbies definitely enjoy the climbing space, but I constantly find the littlest one (Hermoine!) somehow stuck between the net on the side of the tank and the actual tank, silly crab lol Good luck with your crabs!