HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I will be upgrading to deeper watering holes for my salt and freshwater containers because my current ones aren't deep enough for my jumbo. I was planning on getting the paint holders that have the built in ramp but I dont know the best way to make it easier foe small crabs to get out. What are your suggestions? I'm a little wary of any glues and hemp ramps soak up too much water.

Hiya! Deep pools are the best! I use 2.5 gallon tanks. I braid "ropes" out of plastic packaging straps and just drape them over a side for crabs to climb in and out. The steep angle lets them grasp the rope to turn invert and clean their shells.
You can also use plastic plant garlands, found at a craft store, as a rope. You can also build ladders/ramps out of any platic toy parts, egg crate (light diffuser) pieces, plastic canvas, etc.


Crabbers unite!!!

ETA: pics of my tat with pools+ropes: viewtopic.php?t=102320

Here is the link to my tank build. There you will see how I made my ramps.
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=101262&hilit=500+tank&start=45

Wow your tanks are amazing! Waaaay bigger than I can afford right now. Does give me some ideas. Edis what are the grids your using??

They are egg crate/light diffuser. Then on that I have needle point canvas. For smaller pools you can just use needle point canvas.

Okay so I'm just going to ask some watering pool questions on here. I'm about to update to a 60 gallon (from a 20 gallon) and to a bigger watering pool. I was thinking of using a medium sized critter carrier for salt water. I've been reading about filters, and bubblers(?), but I don't think this critter carrier is big enough for filtering and I don't really understand bubblers. Also I've read having some special substrate at the bottom helps.

What can I do to make the water comfortable and cleaner for my crabs?

When it comes to larger sized pools, you are going to have to cycle the tank. That means that you get a healthy population of bacteria growing in the pools so they can handle any waste in the pools. It basically becomes a mini aquarium. I wouldn't recommend the KK as I have been told that they crack easy when full of water. I used two 5.5 gallon glass tanks for my pools. You could use some type of durable plastic storage container (Kritter Keeper plastic is hard and brittle, you need something that has a bit more give to it, like a plastic shoe box or food container) or you could use glass tanks or even make your own glass tanks that fit the dimensions that you like.

Oh thank you! That is good to know. I actually might have some better containers then. How do I go about getting the right bacteria? And then testing it?

To ensure that you have the right bacteria you can do this is two ways. "Seed the media" by placing the filter in an established fish tank, allowing it to run for a few weeks. Or if you don't have a healthy, balanced fish tank, you do a "fishless cycle". Basically you give a form of dry food - like hermit crab food or fish flakes - or bacteria bottle (that you can buy at pet stores) and allow the bacteria to grow. This can take a while - over 2 weeks - for the filter to get established; however once established you can begin the fun stuff - eg particle water changes. Just remember when cleaning the filter to wash it in dechlorinated water to ensure that you don't have another mini cycle.

To test it you can go to your local fish shop to see that the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite level are in the safe range (0ppm, 0ppm and < 25ppm respectively - these figures will "occur" when it is cycled) or buy your own test kit (recommended).

What he said lol ^^^^

Thanks everyone!! So many things to consider... Also some much needed research on aquariums, I think.

Is cycling acceptable to do for both freshwater and salt water?

Well seems like it is but separate tests are need to be done with different equipment.

Yes, you can cycle both fresh and salt water. Look at a pet store that sells fish supplies. Some liquid test kits work with both fresh and salt water, just be sure to follow the directions exactly. Good luck!

I love when people ask questions about built-in pools, because that means I get to show off mine!



This is one of my built ins. They're each 2.5 gallon aquariums and the ramps are bird toys that I found at petsmart for only a couple of bucks a piece. I then used zip ties to attach (ugh I always forget what its called) that plastic crafty holey stuff to the bird toys, which I just snapped into place on the edges of the aquariums. This is the perfect solution for me because it's easy to clean and will last pretty much forever and I don't think I'll ever use a different system. Good luck!