HCA: Hermit Crab Association

i was wondering do you really need a iso tank for molting? Some people say you do. some use same tank.

I am currently using my iso to house a crab that likes to dig up molters because I have 2 down molting in the main tank.It was easier than constantly moving the digger away from the molters and getting up all night to check. I like to use the iso for when I do deep cleans or if another crab is has an issue.
I would never move a crab that is up or down molting.
IBlab crab

Some people would iso a crab if he's showing signs of molting, but if you have deep substrate and alot of room, then they can probably molt in the main tank. However, some people have crabs who bully molters, so they either iso the molter or the bully. An iso tank is used for alot of things, like if you find mites on someone or a crab gets injured badly and needs to be alone. Also for isolating new crabs until you're sure they're ok to go in the main tank you can just use a little 10 gallon or slightly smaller for isolating a crab, or you could use a KK if you put it in the main tank to keep the temperature/humidity the same. iso tanks can be pretty darn cheap, if money is the issue

I have an ISO just for emergencies. I adopted a crab that had a bum leg and put him in ISO when I got home because I wanted him to molt in peace. The other time I have had to use the ISO is with my new crab Jeffrey because she was being aggressive the night I put her in. So she was in ISO overnight and seemed to calm down.

i don't iso molters, i allow main tank molts. however, i do keep two iso tanks for when i take in injured rescues or there is so problem in one of my main tanks (such as a streaker or a bad molt).

annopia

Does anybody use the soda bottle method?

carterfish17 wrote:Does anybody use the soda bottle method?

i don't use it for regular, dug-down molters, but i would use it if i had no iso available and needed to help a surface molter.

annopia

I never use a iso tank fore my crabs when they go molting, and I never lost a crab.

I let my crabs molt in the main tank, normally. My iso is too small for more than two crabs, and I always have more than that molting at a time. It also would add unneeded stress to the molter if I moved them right before they molted. I keep my iso tank for emergencies. I've had to use it on more than one occasion where somebody got beat up and needed a safe place to recover and molt. I also used it for a surface molt once. I'm also going to use it for food trials this fall. They are very useful for a lot of things! Having an iso tank is necessary, but under normal circumstances, it's not needed for crabs who are going to molt.

I think it depends on who's in your tank! My medium PP just finished molting and I wasn't worried about him because his only tankmate is a small, non-digging E. If the E went down, though, I'd probably iso him or at least make some sort of barricade.