75 gallon Upgrade! How do I start?

[VenturaHermit]

Hi guys,

I’m so excited! Just got a 75 gallon tank to upgrade from 40 gallon. I’ve wiped it down with vinegar.
Where do I begin? Any input is appreciated. I followed many builds here when I did the 40 gallon, but the 75 gallon is intimidating.

I want to have the shell shop across the second story of the tank, since there never seemed to be enough room in the 40 gallon. I have rescued 9 hermits of varying sizes, so I need the space for tons of shells.

I’m doing a back wall with egg crate diffuser, like I did in my 40 gallon. I had diffuser on one side as well, and attached a second level across the back and side. I had a climbing section of diffuser coming down from the second story, all the way to the floor of the tank too. But I don’t want to use that support system so it doesn’t interfere with digging.

How do you recommend I anchor the shelf? Will zip ties be enough to secure it to the back wall of diffuser?

Very excited to get going on this new project!

[Motörcrab]

Zip ties are strong enough. I would use the six or eight inch ones that are a lot stronger than the small ones.

After experimenting a lot with egg crate in 5 tanks, a 20, 29, 55, 65, and 75. I found it's a lot easier to do a background in two pieces. I like adding shelves, wheels, cholla, and other stuff directly to the background first. While building I take the background in and out of the tank about a dozen times making sure it still fits easily after adding something.

[VenturaHermit]

Oh that’s interesting. Do you mean instead of having one piece of egg crate spanning the entire length of the tank, you have two separate sections on the back and then attach them together?

[Motörcrab]

Yes, exactly. It really helps trying to wiggle one long piece in with the center brace of the tank in the way! If you make each piece about 23 inches you should fit them in place a lot easier!

[CrabbyLover77]

I have a center brace in my 55 gal. I also had to cut 2 separate egg crate pieces and slide them in. It works great tho!

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[VenturaHermit]

Oh cheers, you guys! I would not have thought of that.
That’s such a great tip!

[mool]

Humor an old' newbie! May I ask what the egg crate is used for? Pictures would be awesome!!

[Motörcrab]

Egg crate is such a weird name. It's also called lighting diffuser. It's found in ceiling tile section at Lowes. For a 24"x48" sheet it is between $15-$20. It is basically a heavy duty crafting mesh made of a stiff plastic. You cut it with heavy duty wire cutters.

You can do a lot with it using zip ties. Make 2nd levels, ramps and ledges for pools and other stuff! I like attaching wheels to it. In two years they still haven't knocked the sheep over! Although they do shove shells under it to stop it from spinning! The crabs can easily climb the egg crate so you can really use a lot more of the tanks space that wouldn't be useable.



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[mool]

Oh ok, I know what it is. I'm still trying to wrap my head around plastic in tanks. It was such a huge Cardinal sin when I first learned to keep crabs. Back then the only safe plastic was wedding cake columns.

You use it to create structures. The edges of cut egg crate aren't sharp?

Other people use it along the walls to create a climbing wall? Two questions: does it affect the ability of the heater to heat the tank? and two doesn't it make it easier for the crabs to escape?

@Motorcrab Thanks for the explanation and picture!

[Motörcrab]

You use it to create structures. The edges of cut egg crate aren't sharp?

Other people use it along the walls to create a climbing wall? Two questions: does it affect the ability of the heater to heat the tank? and two doesn't it make it easier for the crabs to escape?

@Motorcrab Thanks for the explanation and picture!

We use heavy duty, good quality side cut pliers. They are expensive but make clean cuts. The pair I use I used hard for about 10 years of construction work. They still cut great!
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0000302W8/ ... UTF8&psc=1

We never had issues with heat with just egg crate or putting crafting mesh over it. We covered the egg crate with a coconut fiber mat and that tank we had some heat issues.

It will allow your crabs to get high in the tank. Escape is possible, but you should always make sure you have a secured lid. I have seen some of our tiny crabs climb the silicone that holds the tank together. I've also seen the climb air lines for bubblers too!

[mool]

Thanks. I hope I'm not hijacking the OP's thread. I put those pliers into my Amazon cart.

My biggest crab is baseball sized and very strong! She can lift the heavy glass lid on my 40B tank. I don't remember the brand, but it's much thicker and heavier gauge glass than the Aqueon glass bi-fold lids. She can also remove the plastic strip along the back of the lid, but luckily she is too big to fit through that hole even if the strip falls completely off. I had to glue that plastic piece to the lid.

Another bit of luck is that she seems to stay more terrestrial the older and bigger she gets. A couple of years ago she climbed out and fell onto a concrete floor (maybe 4.5') and cracked her shell. She hasn't climbed much since.

[VickieG]

If you are concerned about the residual edges from cutting the egg crate, you can sand them. I actually experimented at some length on my recent remodel with different ways to cut and sand egg crate.

A band saw works quickly and leaves few edges but it takes some maneuvering and can gouge the flat edges if you're not careful enough. If you have a lot of cutting to do it saves time although obviously not everyone will have one. I've used traditional sandpaper by hand and several different power methods..sanding drums, grinding wheels, power sanders. They're all messy but effective. Make sure to USE EYE AND HAND PROTECTION with any power tools. The plastic gets very hot and flies everywhere.

You can use cutting wheels with a rotary tool like Dremel but it doesn't really save any time and is difficult to do well.

Flush cutters work great but it's tiring for big projects and you'll get flares no matter how careful or how good your tool. The sharp edges bother me more than the crabs any day.

I also found that my crabs, even the smaller ones, had better luck hanging onto the egg crate vs the plastic craft mesh. One time I put both in the tank, using the mesh as a loose bridge between 2 areas and one poor unsuspecting crab ended up going for a wild ride instead of a leisurely walk! She slid down and launched into the air. I promptly removed it as soon as I stopped laughing.. And then I felt terrible for laughing but I could only imagine what they were thinking!
I still use craft mesh but it's more for keeping them safe from accessing something that could be harmful like fan blades.

I also now use cord keepers in my tank to keep my wires safe from claws plus it just looks better. You can also use airline tubing to cover thin wires by cutting it lengthwise.

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[VickieG]

Mool...you can get clips to hold down your lid for next to nothing. 2 large clips in a pack for under $3 at any pet store or Amazon. So long as you have an aquarium that has a lip on the outside it should work.

Mine stopped looking for ways out when I finally got things right and got glass lids!! I try to leave a bit of room between the doors/lids and their climbing features to make it less tempting. And then I use the clips just to be sure they aren't lulling me into a false sense of security!!

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[mool]

Thanks for the responses and to the OP for opening this conversation!

[VenturaHermit]

No problem! I’m loving the deep dive into crabitats! I’ve got my 75 gallon all assembled and I have 4 crabs absolutely loving it. They’re more active than they’ve ever been. Now I’m running two tanks while I wait for the others to come up so they can join all the fun. But so far, they’re staying put!