HCA: Hermit Crab Association

i am adding additional heating and uvb lamps, but have no clue where to place the heat. 3 lamps will sit on the screen about 16" above the substrate -

I have bubble pools on the left side and food bowl on the far right - tank is 36" wide has room for 4 lights 7" wide but will only use 3 so the far right spot above the food will not have anything

I was thinking that the day heat would sit mid right with uvb to the left of that then the night heat to the left of that...
So night heat, then uvb, then day heat, then no light just sealed up screen

So far when messing with placement and such... Humidity seems to drop when I put the heat lamp directly over the pools, is this normal? So uvb and night heat would be over bubble pools and heat would be over the more open part of the tank

I am also going to try the tropic aire humidifier, but not sure best placement of this... High or low side or back? I think it has a long clear tube that has holes in it to humidify.

Any suggestions would be helpful.
btw with no lights at all I get a solid 77 degrees and 85 humidity, but trying to get everything in the 80+ mark for exotics we want to add later
As soon as I turn on a light in any position my humidity drops to 75 and temp up to 80+

Here is a photo of what I was planning
the day heat lamp is the one turned on

Do you have any heat pads? I didn't see any on your tank, but if you dont, they help with temp and humidity. You can buy ones for reptiles and hermit crabs. i suggest that if you want your tank warm,(considering you have 3 lamps) get a reptile one because they heat faster. When you get them, put it on the SIDE of the tank to heat the walls and partially sand, under the tank just heats the sand and not enough in the air. If you do have one, get a red heat lamp. They are also meant for reptiles but do better than a normal lamp. Hope this helped! have fun with your hermies!

I do have an ultratherm that covers pretty much the whole back of the tank and then one in the left side behind the cork wall.

I thought that red heat lamps were not suggested for crabs. Are red lamps safe?


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It is normal for humidity to drop once heat and/or daytime lamps come on. You'll want to keep a close eye on the surface of your substrate as it'll dry out pretty quickly too. It's tough finding that balance and the answer is different for everyone, depending on their home and crabitat. The humidifier will be a huge help. How's your night time temp and humidity? Where are your gauges located?

Red heat bulbs are safe. I personally prefer the moon glo ones though. Good luck!

I have it fairly well figured after days of trial and error. I currently only use one lamp now... The uvb

During the day uvb stays on and tank will range 82-84 degrees at 88 humidity
Night time with no uvb is 81.2 ish with 90-92 humidity
I will occasionally use the night glow for a few hours if the kids want to watch them - otherwise I just turn on a light in the kitchen to see what all the ruckus is about


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Location of 2 different gauges- one is hanging in middle off the tree about 1-2 inches off sub

The other is in the moss pit on 2nd level that stays a constant 88/92 so needless to say most of them stay there the longest


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Awesome!

Was reading this and seen the question about the location of thermometer, I am fairly new to this myself what is the ideal location to keep it?

I like to keep at least two, one on the warmer side of the crabitat and the other on the cooler side. I place them a couple inches above the substrate. I also have the AcuRite digital thermometer/hygrometer that I move around to different places in the tank to get a better idea on temp and humidity throughout.

the location of mine, if you look at the photo above... hangong from the left side of the tree limb are 2 small shiny things, those are the sensors.

For quite a while I have been able to maintain constant 80+ temp& humidity, however the last few days it has dropped to the high 70's... everything else seems to be the same, any ideas?

so keep the themometer down close to the sub? cause i got mine velcro'ed right by the top of the tank