HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello!

So today I adopted 3 large crabs from a teacher who had them as class pets. They came with their 55 gallon tank, as well as more accessories than I know what to do with.

My 6 small-mediums were in a 40g breeder, so I moved everyone to the 55 gallon. But I am having a heck of a time decorating because the 55 is only 12in deep and my 40 was 18in deep.

My shell shop doesn't fit anymore. It has suction cups, but the weight of the shells makes it so the shop doesn't stay up. Plus, I now have ginormous shells for the big guys.

Any suggestions for a shell shop? Or can I just have shells all over the substrate? That would be easier, lol.

Also, show me pics of your 55g set ups! I NEED INSPIRATION.

Thank you!

*H the CVT*

Hi, H!

I don't have a 55, but I'd love to share an idea I had when I *thought* I was going to get a 55 (I switched to a 65 literally at the last minute!).

Below is a picture of one short end of my 20g (same depth as the 55 I think, 12" or 13"):


The upper shell shop is a corner shower shelf, and the lower shop is a soap dish. When I was planning for a 55, I thought I'd have two or three of those corner shelves and alternate them: one in the top back corner, one a little lower in the front corner, and if there was room a third back to the back corner again. Because the tank isn't very wide, the shelves would overlap a little in the middle, so it would be like alternating steps or a cascade. Hope that makes sense! Then I would have used small pieces of cholla (like what's attached to the soap dish) and/or net, craft mesh, etc. to connect each level. My only regret about not getting a 55 is I didn't get to use this idea! The 65 has the same footprint as the 40 so the shelves would not overlap to make the cascade. So I just hung one shelf above the other (not nearly as cool).

I'm not sure what shape your old shop is, but one thing I noticed with the corner shelves/baskets is they have a tendency to lift up in the back corner when weight is applied to the front curve. In the 20g I hung the shelf using Command hooks, but had to put velcro on the back corner to keep it from lifting. In my 65 I'm test driving a combination of Command hooks and Command picture hanging strips, which are basically industrial velcro. It was tricky getting in, but so far, so good...

If your shells are too heavy to put up on levels, these corner shelves are pretty large so maybe you can move some hiding spots up to the higher levels, to leave room on the ground for shells?

Oh, and the greenery under the corner shelf is what my son calls the "wreath hut". He invented it by taking a greenery candle ring and snipping off a couple of stems to make a "door". The leaves overlap to form a "roof" over the ring. The crabs hide in it and surprisingly are able to walk on top of it... until they reach the center and fall in!

Read the whole story and then I know that I still have some things I still do not understand it.