HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi, newish crabber. I have a 4'x2'x1' crabitat, which I think is around 55 gallons if my maths haven't totally failed me.

I have 6 PP's 1 medium/ large-ish, 3 mediums and 2 smalls.

I've been seeing a few active posts lately discussing the square inches of available space for crabs in addition too the volume of the tank, and it got me thinking, is the "floor" of my crabitat too crowded for the number of crabs I have and should I clear some of the stuff out?

Pix below, and in anticipation of this perennial comment , the substrate runs from 6.5" in the shallow area to 8.5" at the deeper end. Some layers are darker due to varying ratios of coco fiber to play sand.

Piper is in the white pointy shell, and he's the largest, Rainbow is in the colorful shell, and I think it's Nightlight in the green shell. The other 3 seem to be down for molt.















Most of the pix are trying to show the floor of the tank, some of them are just trying to get shots of the crabs doing crabby things.

Again the main question I have is whether the tank is too cluttered, or if they need more free floor space. But if you see something concerning in the pictures of the crabs please let me know. They seem fine, but what do I know?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

That looks awesome!

No, it's not too cluttered at all. When we talk about floor space, we aren't talking about the actual surface - we're talking about the amount of molting space per crab, so that would technically be under the surface? It gets a little confusing. Nothing you have in the tank (aside from the water dishes, which is normal) is blocking them from using the area underneath for molting- they'll tunnel through and can use every inch.

Thanks Wodesorel.

That makes sense.

I agree, it looks beautiful! Yeah, a more accurate way to describe what they need is molting space than floor space. My guys can get under anything they decide to get under.

Thanks landlubber.

I had pretty good luck following the care guides provided on the forum and looking at the pictures of other crabitats for inspiration.

Thanks again for the feed back guys!
Happy crabbing!

I think it looks amazing. We have a lot of the same stuff! Crabby heaven! Thumbs up


Crabbing for 4 years-still obsessed! 5 total crustacean kids. Gave up trying to tell them apart but I love them all.