Substrate depth

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:15 pm

Crab care sheet here says 2-3inches (I happen to agree, generally speaking), but there is conflicting advice out there and I wondered what depth most people had the substrate at.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:19 pm

I said 1 inch deeper than my largest crab.... and I know this sounds weird, but that isn't technically true. explantion:

I have teenies to small, and then some large crabs, no meduims. it is easier for me to see a molt coming with the biggies, so I have time to iso them in deep sand (twice as deep as them)

so the regualr sand, which is about 1 inch deeper than my biggies, is never used by a biggie. I let the little guys do their own thing in the main tank, so they are the only ones using that sand for molting. and it is probably about 4 times as deep as them.

get it?? lol

OIF_VET · Post by **OIF_VET** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:25 pm

I like to have Deep Substrate...Personal Choice...The Lil Ones can dig down as far as they want to...and the Larger ones Caqn dig Down as well and Feel Secure...Right now my Substrate Depths Vary from 4 inches to about 6.
I offer Half The Tat with Eco Earth...Other Half is Play Sand...And have a Couple Moss Pits as well.
Sometimes my Crabs will Molt and Sleep in the Moss. The Key, for me anyways...is to try and offer the Crabs the best environment that I can...If I need to have more Substrate to similate a Beach...then So be it...On the Other Hand..By offering a Moss pit...it might similate Leaf litter.

I like to try and Pay attention to my Species...Where they are found(in the World) and try to Similate it.

Like Indos, if my memory serves me right, Mokulele has mentioned that the Indos tend to like Caves...Soo I have Caves...PPs are, I believe also Called Tree Crabs...This might pertain to the E's...Dont remember..BUT! I do have a Couple of Tree like Limbs.

Every Now and then I will Gently Mist the Tat with Salt water and Blow a Fan in the tat to Similate an Ocean Breeze...U want to See some Activcity???
WOW...Try it

Thank you Crabber for generating this Thread...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 6:58 pm

Mine is pretty darn deep. The crabs love it! I hardly see them.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:10 pm

I try to go twice as deep as my biggest crab... but I have tunnelers

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 9:56 pm

I have mine at about 3.5 inches, which is much deeper then one inch larger. I use a mixture of two brands of calcisand, T-Rex, and some other cheaper brand. The T-Rex is two course, but the other brand is too fine and gets the crabs dusty. So I mixed to two together and it's just like regular sand. I mixed coco fiber in with the first 1/2 inch, and have some just sitting on the surface. Inside of my cocohut, the ground is completely cocofiber, so they have a soft place to lay and rest.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:42 pm

My substrate is 4-5 inches deep. My largest crab is a fairly good sized medium. His shell is about an inch & 1/2 around.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 1:29 am

I have about 4-5" of substrate, with a 3" gravel drainage layer under that. This is so that I can water the plant, and also prevent any accidental flooding. Plus it prevents the substrate from becomming too deep.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:39 am

This was a hard one to answer. Two of my tanks have slopes so the substrate is extra deep on one end. I answered the poll based on the deepest part of my substrate.

My substrate is 3-4 inches at the shallowest and 9-10 inches at the deepest.

MacandHunter · Post by **MacandHunter** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 7:04 am

I would say more then 1 inch. Some of them really seem to like it that way, and love to go way down there!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 12:16 pm

Thanks everyone!

Just one question, this pertains mostly to those who allow main tank molts (which I usually do since I don't usually catch the molting sighs):

Does anyone fear the teeniest, or small crabs burying to molt way down deep and not having the strength to get back up?

I can get paranoid, I know.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 12:29 pm

This is not a fear of mine at all, they give themselves ample time to recouperate before they dig back up. It is my belief that they dig down a lot deeper, than what people keep their substrate at, in the wild. I have found that my crabs have dug down to the screen that seperates the substrate from the gravel layer, and pushed some of the rocks to the surface... So im not worried about a crab not being able to dig up through about 5 or 6 inches of soft dirt.

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Substrate depth

How deep is your substrate?

Substrate depth