HCA: Hermit Crab Association

For financial reasons we have to move our stuff (the tanks and crabs included) to a new house. I have no say in this, the house is getting sold. The other place is only a few blocks away from the old one. How can I safely move a 20 Long and 10 gallon to a new place a few blocks away, with crabs possibly dug down? I know it's dangerous to dig up molters, and I have no idea if any are molting or not, one just came up from molting about a week ago though. I'm really panicking, I was not expecting this to happen like this, let alone so fast.

I have a 15 gallon tank that I occasionally have to move from my apartment back to my parents house (and vice versa) about three times a year. I have a gigantic moving box that the 15 gallon fits in, and the crabs get transported in this way so that the heat will be better maintained and they will hopefully be prevented from too much jostling. It does not seem to affect molters at all, as I have had molters down during the process and have not seen any negative effects. Especially because you aren't going too far away, I don't think that you need to worry about much.

Thank you! My main concern was tunnels collapsing, even though we'd be driving slowly and carefully. I know it's going to take a couple of people to lift it, sand adds SO much weight to the tanks.

i've moved a 40B, 20L, and several 10g at a time to several new homes. i always try to minimize the amount of time they are in transit. if i'm moving i usually unplug the heaters and take them down last thing, and have them be the first things that go into the new house. i generally just gently carry them down (usually my dad and my fiance carry them) and put them in the back of an suv. i try to monitor the tanks' temperature during the drive...but moving a few blocks, that shouldn't be too big of a problem. i've never had any problems with collapsing tunnels...i think you'll be okay.

annopia

Thank you so much! That is a huge relief, I was really freaking out! Now what about moving them to an upstairs location? Would there be a risk of tunnels collapsing then? We thought about moving them upstairs because of space, plus it stays warm in the small room in the winter with the heater on, and in the summer, and it's also a quiet room. It's a small room but the only thing in it is a dresser, which the tanks could go on top of.

My husband has carried my 10 gallon ISO filled with sand upstairs twice so far. (Bless that man!!) The first time was when we created the invert room and I needed to move tanks around so he carried it upstairs with six molters in it - all were fine. The second time was when our gas was shut off and our furnace was replaced and we were using space heaters for three days in 15 degree weather - he carried it downstairs when it got cold and then back upstairs again when we had heat. All the molters were again fine. It's just a heck of a thing to lift and carry! There was probably 70 lbs of sand in it and he could barely do it.

Since it is glass there is a huge risk of it cracking because you are moving it with weight inside of it. (Anytime an aquarium is not placed on a level surface where the pressure can bear down evenly all along that bottom black edge risks cracking.) Please be careful. It would be best to put it on something solid and sturdy that won't bend like a very thick peace of wood and then move it that way, but it will be harder to hang onto if you do that.

Thank you so much Wodesorel. I was offered an upstairs room to put them in when we move everything (and one) into the new house when the old one gets sold. Honestly, if they are all up in either tank I'll probably take half the sand out and put it back in once it's set up. Thank fully I don't have any blueberries, straws, violas, etc. My only exotics are three small E's who have been doing very well so far, and I know they are the "hardier" of the exotics.

Would a 3/4" board under the tank be thick enough? Gah now I'm paranoid about the cracking. I wish all my dang crabs wouldn't dig down at different times, or at least if I could tell if they were molting or just tunneling. Hopefully I can find a time when no one is molting, but I'm not counting on it. Then I could just take the sand out completely, transport the crabbies in a temporary carrier that has wet sand in it.

I forgot about the time I adopted some crabs from a member down in West Virginia and we moved the 30 gallon from his mom's SUV into the backseat of our car (hour drive on back roads), and then from our car into our house via a furniture dolly. (Cause my hubby said it was too heavy. I had no trouble with my end!) And it was okay. But eco-earth is so much lighter and fluffier than sand. I couldn't imagine having done that if it was full of sand. So maybe I'm just being a worry-wort over nothing!

I appreciate the comments though. I hope, although I'm sure not counting on it, that they are dug up by the time we have to move them over. That way I could put them in a critter keeper with sand, then take some sand out of the larger tank to make it easier to move. I wish they all weren't so insistent on being up at different times.

I've never had a problem relocating molters. I know I am in the serious minority on that, but as long as you're careful they do great. Go slow when searching through the substrate and have a small container full of substrate with a hole dug and a solid lid of some sort (large clam shell, small dish) to make a false cave. You can move the container around as much as you need to then, and when they finish their molt they'll dig up on their own. If you really get trapped into not having another choice but to dig I wouldn't sweat it too much.

My biggest concern about digging up molters is that they will get dug up again in the main tank. Should I set up a small ISO (like a 5.5 gallon) instead? I know my folks don't want too many tanks setup, and one of them is a lot more understanding than the other. The person that owns the house, no matter how many times I try to tell them the truth, seems to think running tanks takes up a bunch of electricity. I want to tell them their running the television just about 24/7 (even when they sleep or leave the house, the TV is left on) racks up way more energy costs than running my aquariums. It's not like I'm running any saltwater tanks or anything over a single 20 Long in size.

Know anyone who has a electricity meter you can borrow? http://www.amazon.com/P3-International- ... B00009MDBU Got my mother to be quiet about "all the money you waste on your fish". (FYI, $1.20 a month for my largest tank! All my fish tanks together cost less than $10 a month, and that's in winter with the heaters.)

A 100W heating bulb left on 24 hours a day would cost about $7 a month, and that's only if you have a high electric rate of 10 cents per kilowatt hour. (National average, here it's only 6 cents.) I actually don't want to know what my hermit crab tanks are costing me. A UTH would be a LOT cheaper though!

You would have to keep the molters separate until they were done, but you can put them in a small container (I've used tupperware and old sour cream tubs) and put those in the main tank so that they are separate and not taking up any extra space.

I did not think about that, thanks for letting me know about those! I'd probably have to buy one since I don't think I know anyone I can borrow one from.

We moved with two dug under, but it doesn't look like any tunnels collapsed, even the fragile surface ones. The others I took out and placed in a 10 gallon with a tiny bit of sand until the tanks got moved upstairs.

Glad the move went well and everyone is safe!