HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello everyone! My name is Steve and i have been a reader for atleast 1 year now.

This thread is going to be about my two month old crabitat.

I've been crabbing for a year and two months now and i started off with two crabs and a 20L tank.
I then upgraded to a 150L tank 3 months after and purchased two more crabs.

When i moved into my new house i had quite a lot of room to fill. I'm always looking for tanks that are for sale for cheap.

I came accross this one that is 120cm wide 90cm high and 60cm deep! It is 10mm thick glass and comes with a sturdy frame! It took 200kg of sand to barely half fill the tank.

I do not have any pictures from me building the habitat but i have ones that i have just taken now.

I made this tank and had my four crabs in the tank for about a week. Then something happened, My friend who is a manager at a pet store was told to clear out their crab tank since they do not want to sell them anymore. They had 20 small crabs in there and the conditions were very lackluster.

I thought, i have a huge tank with heaps of room and plenty of space for more crabs.

So this is my 650L tank with 24 crabs!

The tank has 17 smalls and 3 micros 2 mediums and 2 larges.





my first tank. the 20L now used as a saltwater bath.



crabs are always sitting above/near/inside the pool. So humid.



my biggest crab, Red, and the only one with the biggest color difference. Always takes his position ontop of the boat at the top of the pool.


The other side of the tank. The Shell Shop!
All of the shells that are similar and and small cost me $9 from a craft shop. The other 6 big ones that are similar are also from craft shop for $6. Other shells are ones that previously belonged to my small crabs. there is only two small crabs out of 20 that havent changed shells yet.





Underneath the shell shop is a bridge that holds the second one up. this is the spot during the day where i'll usually find 5+ crabs sleeping.



The second big thing in my tank. The lighthouse!



crabs enjoying the plants behind the saltwater pool


Now my tank is fairly bland. i need more stuff to put it in, can anyone give me some good suggestions? this is my first post on HCA. thankyou!

This is one amazing beast of a tank! Awesome! You saved all those crabs from certain demise so a huge THANK YOU! for taking them in.


Crabbing for 2 years-still obsessed! 6 total crustacean kids. Gave up trying to tell them apart but I love them all.

Nice!

So that's like 170 U.S. gallons? Sorry, I have to convert it to understand the size.

I love your tank. You have done a great job. It looks terrific! I'm glad the pet store crabs have a great home. Thank you.

CallaLily wrote:Nice!

So that's like 170 U.S. gallons? Sorry, I have to convert it to understand the size.

166 gallons is the correct measurement.

r34 steve wrote: 166 gallons is the correct measurement.

Thanks!

Wow amazing tank pretty too!! I would suggest adding natural logs and maybe coco hut( crabs love coco huts)

Animallover20041 wrote:Wow amazing tank pretty too!! I would suggest adding natural logs and maybe coco hut( crabs love coco huts)

i have one cocohut and i just bought a mega sized one today a long with another lonesome crab from a petstore. you can see the hut in pics 1 and 3, i will post pictures of the crab and other hut soon

Wow, that looks awesome! I am loving all that space to dig and not to mention that climbing space. It is a-ma-zing.
I look forward to seeing this monster filled up with awesome crabbie goodies.

aussieJJDude wrote:Wow, that looks awesome! I am loving all that space to dig and not to mention that climbing space. It is a-ma-zing.
I look forward to seeing this monster filled up with awesome crabbie goodies.

i need your help to fill it up with whatever it needs, i just don't know!

also another question. how many more crabs could i put in the tank? im thinking of adopting some more crabs but im just not sure. thanks

For the adopting question, I'd say your at your max - or over it. Remember that small crabs will grow fast and will require more space sooner than later! I just hope you have a plan for when it happens, 20 odd crabs will not do well in their IMO.

As for filling it up, I suggest getting/making some more second levels and climbing structures to fill some of that empty space, maybe look into more foliage so they can hide in?

aussieJJDude wrote:For the adopting question, I'd say your at your max - or over it. Remember that small crabs will grow fast and will require more space sooner than later! I just hope you have a plan for when it happens, 20 odd crabs will not do well in their IMO.

As for filling it up, I suggest getting/making some more second levels and climbing structures to fill some of that empty space, maybe look into more foliage so they can hide in?

I feel like i should place a huge second level that goes around this side of the tank

Maybe i can buy another box the same type of the ones my shells are in and have sort of 4 bases to hold it up from the ground and from there i can just put in climbing toys or some coco huts or some fake plants ontop of it

Hmm in my imagination I could see it would look good with a second level kind of thing with vines, leaves and one of those climbing backgrounds all hung up by suction cups if you know what I'm saying if not then right now you just think I'm weird. (;

Maybe make a support thingy for the levels by using 1/2 inch PVC pipes so its like a tower, allowing more substrate to be filled with goodies - like plants - or a good place to run around in! The best part is that the PVC can be taken apart - allowing easy cleaning - and is customisable, allowing you to make it as high or low as you need it to.