HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My hermit crab red is drinking her salt water and not her fresh water! Fresh is filtered water with no chlorine so I don't understand.

As long as both the waters you're providing are clean and dechlorinated, don't worry. They know best what they want/need

They are both free of chlorine.

The salt water is called "salt water solution for hermit crabs." Says it turns tap to salt water. I did a ph test to make sure it was safe it was 7.1 so it's neutral. Free of any chlorine. So it works!

The salt water stuff sold specifically for hermit crabs isn't actually good for them, unfortunately. It doesn't have all of the different things it's supposed to to make it like ocean water. This thread discusses what you can get instead that is correct, I know a lot of people like & use Instant Ocean (which is what I got). viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92553

Your crabs need dishes of both fresh and salt water, treated to be free of chlorine/ammonia and any other chemicals/metals that are harmful to crabs. The dishes need to be deep enough for the crabs to fully submerge in and they need both fresh and marine grade salt, such as Instant Ocean. It provides around 70 necessary elements that the crabs need in order to thrive.

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They have dechlorinated salt and fresh water as I already said! I've read that the hermit crab salt water conditioner is iffy and depends upon the brand. I do not use zoomed crab salt water conditioner! As I know it contains dye that is chemically processed and harmful to crabs. I use all things living salt water conditioner that contains natural sea salt and dechlorinater.

It's not they don't have access to both and they are both deep enough for them to get in and bathe.

I'm not being offensive in any way but I completely changed their setup over the past few days from a 5 gallon critter keeper to a 10 gallon aquarium and got dechlpronater, 10 pounds of play sand, cocoa fiber, salt water conditioner, fresh and salt water dishes and climbing equipments shells, ORGANIC crab food, temp and humidity gauges, and a coconut hut. This was all 75 dollars and if my current salt water kit does happen not to be nutritional, I will fix that as soon as I can I iust don't have the money right now.

It can be completely overwhelming when you first learn the pet store or beach shop advice is sooo out-dated. I've been there myself. *hugs*

You're doing great though! You were able to fix so much so quickly. As soon as you can pick up a marine-grade salt mix, do so. The fact that you're here and willing to learn is awesome! Deep breaths. It'll get easier.

Edit to add: it's completely normal for them to bathe in and drink both fresh and salt water. They know what they need so providing both at all times allows them to choose. If your little guy is spending a lot of time in the saltwater, he may be gearing up for a molt.

Callalily beat me to it, lol... You're off to a great start, don't give up! Everyone here is just trying to help, it just seems like a lot when it all comes at once!

I statred off with All Living Things saltwater conditioner too, as I got their Hermit Crab Starter Kit. Which, it turned out, had almost nothing in it good for crabs. I got a box of Instant Ocean as soon as I could. But, I did use up the rest of the A.L.T. conditioner, I just used the water that I made with it to rinse off and soak crab stuff, so I didn't feel so much like it went to waste. The A.L.T. water isn't *bad* for them, it's just not the *best* for them. The only thing to remember about using IO is that it does not dechlorinate, so you'll want to use a good dechorinator like Seachem Prime before adding the IO. Prime is good because it takes out chlorine and chloramine, plus a few other things, which not all water conditioners do.

Thank you guys so much. I got them at a wings in the obx in a wire cage. And I did my research, and the conditions they were in made me sick I changed everything right away. They're my babies and my pets now and all I want is to make them happy. I'm trying tooth and nail to get the best everything, and as long as this conditioner is not harming them I'm going to use it until i scrap up enough for a better one. I have a gallon of salt water on hold for them once that runs out I'll get instant ocean. The love and advice I've recieced is overwhelming. I do it all for the little guys!


Thanks so much. All of you.


Red and Grey and me!