Why sand

[courtbri]

Is it ok to just have EE or is there a specific need to mix in play sand too?


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

[hermitcrabdc]

There's not a specific need for sand, many crabbers use straight up EE, and their crabs are fine. I don't really know any other pros of play sand other than it's cheaper than EE

[StarWarsHermitCrab]

Yep, play sand is cheap. I bought two 50lb bags of play sand for 4$.

[courtbri]

Thanks guys


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

[CallaLily]

You can use straight cocofiber if that's what works for you. Play sand is cheaper and I find that mixing it with some cocofiber makes for better tunneling than just one or the other alone. I also find that cocofiber alone is more difficult to keep the right consistency and if too moist, it gets nasty pretty quickly. But that's just my experience.

[CrabTasticSC]

Oolite sand is what I have been using in the 40 for a few months now and it seems to make them all levels of happy. The play sand experience was a fluke for us so it got canned and then we reverted to the Oolite. It mixed with the coco-fiber rather well after a few all night rampages of my jumbo all hyped up on mango & honey crisp apples.

[soilentgringa]

Have you had any issues with this? From my understanding is that it is calcium carbonate based and "live" reef sand. I am not familiar with it so unsure if it is like other forms of calcium sand, which tend to harden when wet and trap crabs.

[soilentgringa]

Play sand is silica based and cheap which is why it's recommended, as holds up to tunneling and cave making.

[CallaLily]

I'm not familiar with it either. The article on substrate touches a little on calcium based and live sands some. http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92542

Dry aragonite sand has been used successfully by some crabbers rather than using playsand. However, aragonite sand is calcium carbonate, which means it can possibly develop the same problems as calcium sand (see below) due to its porous nature and should be watched closely if used. It is larger grained than calcium sand and it will not clump or harden.

Kolorscape Playsand (Part aragonite, part silica)
Carib Sea Aragonite
Nature’s Ocean
Seachem Meridian

Under "What Substrates shouldn't be used" :

Hermit crab sands and reptile sands are actually a very fine calcium sand. While this may sound helpful, the sand used by itself is dangerous. This type of sand cannot be kept moist without a large risk of it developing bacterial growth, and as it starts to dry it can harden like a rock and trap or harm hermit crabs. Even when wet it clings to hermit crabs and causes them discomfort. Most of these sands have also been dyed, which can stain a hermit crab until the following molt. While this sand should never ever be used by itself, some crab keepers have reported success with using a bit mixed in with cocofiber or regular playsand.

Coral or crushed shell is too rough and too sharp to be used on its own. A small amount can however be mixed into cocofiber or sand as an easy calcium snack for both hermit crabs above ground and those that are molting.

"Live Sand" sold for marine fish tanks is aragonite sand that contains bacteria and micro orgasms, and is sold wet. Aside from being drastically overpriced for use in a hermit crab tank, the organisms in the wet sand will start to rot if not used in a cycled fishtank (in water), and therefore this type of sand should be avoided.

CrabTasticSC, I'm curious to hear about what trouble you ran into with play sand?

[wodesorel]

It would be comparable to aragonite, but not as porous. Usually the kind they sell for marine use is very silty and fine.
http://www.sandatlas.org/oolite/

[Makena95GT]

Oolite isnt exactly "live". Live sand is live sand.. Not all oolite will be live is that makes sense. I bought it dry for my reef tank. Very very fine grain. Like powered sugar.