Dual plastic tote crabitat set up
Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 5:38 pm
I decided to start a thread to keep updated as I work on modifying & setting up the plastic totes that I'm going to make into a crabitat! I hope this is okay. I thought it might help show people that the plastic tote thing can work well too, and how I modify them (and what I learn from trial & error, or from the advice of others on here). I know there's the tote how-to in the DIY forum, but couldn't find much else about tote crabitats on here.
So this is just the intro post, I haven't begun modifying the totes yet. But these are the ones I have.
They are 32 1/8" long, 19 1/8" wide, and 13 1/4" tall. I have four of them because I plan on cutting the top rim off two, then cutting the bottoms off the other two, and attaching them to make the overall set up taller, so I can add more substrate & still have room for climbing things & second levels. I also plan on attaching them with 4" wide PVC pipe so the crabs can go from one side to the other. I decided on this set up partly because it'll give the crabs a little more space than with my 45-gal tank, and partly because it'll be much easier for me to move once it's broken down & sub is removed. Since I plan on moving at least once in the next year (and probably more than that), this will be very helpful!
I do have water pools so far, but I'm currently undecided on which to use & whether to keep the plastic tubs if I don't use them right now for pools.
I would use the stone-like bowls in a heartbeat, except for one concern.
That's a rubber plug, to allow for draining if necessary, I believe. The bowls are meant to be used as planters or something. I haven't tested yet to see how watertight the plug is, but I'm guessing even if it seems to hold, I should take some extra precautions to avoid having water leak out & flood the bottom of the crabitat. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to seal that better? Or will it be too difficult to do so & still open to leaking? I would rather use these bowls for my pools, but if it'll be a potential hazard, I can easily use them for shell shops/moss pits/hides instead.
I hope to be able to start modifying the totes sometime next week as I have a lot of free time! So I'll try to update this thread as I go.
So this is just the intro post, I haven't begun modifying the totes yet. But these are the ones I have.
They are 32 1/8" long, 19 1/8" wide, and 13 1/4" tall. I have four of them because I plan on cutting the top rim off two, then cutting the bottoms off the other two, and attaching them to make the overall set up taller, so I can add more substrate & still have room for climbing things & second levels. I also plan on attaching them with 4" wide PVC pipe so the crabs can go from one side to the other. I decided on this set up partly because it'll give the crabs a little more space than with my 45-gal tank, and partly because it'll be much easier for me to move once it's broken down & sub is removed. Since I plan on moving at least once in the next year (and probably more than that), this will be very helpful!
I do have water pools so far, but I'm currently undecided on which to use & whether to keep the plastic tubs if I don't use them right now for pools.
I would use the stone-like bowls in a heartbeat, except for one concern.
That's a rubber plug, to allow for draining if necessary, I believe. The bowls are meant to be used as planters or something. I haven't tested yet to see how watertight the plug is, but I'm guessing even if it seems to hold, I should take some extra precautions to avoid having water leak out & flood the bottom of the crabitat. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to seal that better? Or will it be too difficult to do so & still open to leaking? I would rather use these bowls for my pools, but if it'll be a potential hazard, I can easily use them for shell shops/moss pits/hides instead.
I hope to be able to start modifying the totes sometime next week as I have a lot of free time! So I'll try to update this thread as I go.