HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello I came home from work today and was about to replace the salt and fresh water for the crabs and was quite shocked to see this yellow fungus or mushroom thing growing...? Take a look?










Anyway it concerned me so I got a paper towel and pulled it out. I didn't see anything else like it anywhere else. Luckily it was stuck between water and glass and crabs couldn't touch it.

I figured I would come ask about it here though. I have been putting off a deep clean because I'm temporarily living on second floor of apartment. I am moving next week however and will have a yard again etc etc to be able to clean it and actually work on tank. I have some little gnats or mites in the tank that I can't wait to get rid of next week.

Should I be concerned about the crabbies health? I have about ten little guys roaming around my tank and have only had 1 death in 3 years and would hate to see one go .


Also if anyone could suggest to me how i should go about moving crabs back into tank after the clean so they defiantly don't bring any little bugs back in. I also have quite the isopod colony living in my tank. I put 10 of the guys in here 2 years ago and they have multiplied into the hundreds...lol ... If I try to keep some of them will they also bring the bugs with them??

You're fine! They're common yellow houseplant mushrooms. They come up every single year in my tanks. I've deep cleaned and started fresh so many times, and they still show up like clockwork as soon as spring rolls around. Just pull them out as you find them.

For introducing the hermit crabs back into the tank a quick dip in some saltwater should take care of any bugs, and for the isopod's a fast dip in freshwater should help (when I say quick for the isopod's I mean it less than a minute, and a minute or two for the hermits). I would guess that the mushroom is harmless as well.

Thanks for the quick replies guys

Makes me feel better

EmiLovesHermies wrote:For introducing the hermit crabs back into the tank a quick dip in some saltwater should take care of any bugs, and for the isopod's a fast dip in freshwater should help (when I say quick for the isopod's I mean it less than a minute, and a minute or two for the hermits). I would guess that the mushroom is harmless as well.

Don't hold them underwater for even one minute, 60 seconds would drown them!!


Mommy of 10 PP babies:
Poseidon (Sid), Toby, Matty, Junior, Aries, Kaylee, Turbo, Adrian, Pepper and Flower. RIP Octavius & Fred

I have done that before and it has never drown them, but they where only ever under the water for 1 or 2 minutes not a second more, and I let them walk around under the water, I didn't hold them under, but you may not want to do this and that is quite alright.

If we're talking about hermit crabs here, I've watched them stay completely submerged for well over half an hour and they were perfectly fine. I've read others have witnessed longer. Now, I wouldn't make them stay under that long. The ones I've watched had easy ways out of the water whenever they chose to.

If you meant the isopods, I apologize. I have no idea about them.

In any case, I don't think this situation requires a full tank clean. But that's just my opinion.

I was talking about the hermit crabs

I was thinking and talking about hermit crabs. Not the walking around on their own and choosing and enjoying underwater baths for 30+ minutes... More like remembering giving Toby his first bath and him clinging to the rim for dear life.


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Could you leave these in and let the crabs eat them? Or is there no way to tell if they're poisonous or not?

I've never had a crab or exotic cockroach eat them, so when I see them I pull them out. If you allow them to grow they'll produce even more spores that can spread around the house and will come up anywhere there is soil. (Which is why they're called yellow houseplant mushrooms.) They smell bad, too. Really musty/funky. I can tell now when they're going to start sprouting just by the way the tanks smell.

I have ramps and given the option to climb out at any time I had 2 of mine spend at least 6 hours hanging out under water in my 2.5 gal sw pool. This is before it was cycled or filtered and before the crushed coral went into the bottom. Silly hermits.