HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm upgrading from a ten gallon to a twenty gallon, and I know that I barely have enough stuff to fill my ten gal, let alone a twenty. I already know that I'm going to have to buy more substrate and more things, but as a girl saving for college in the super near future, I want to spend the least amount of money possible.
I know there's no limit to how much I could spend, which is why I'm starting this thread. What are some of the cheapest things you have in your tank for your crabs, and where did you get them? Also, any do-it-yourself products would be appreciated thanks!

Sand from the hardware store is like 3 or 4 dollars per 50 lb bag. The dollar stores generally have fake plants and such for pretty cheap. Terra cotta pots and such make decent hides and can be found some as cheap as 99 cents.

Shower caddys are $6 at walmart, the corner ones work great for a second level moss pit or shell shop.

Fake plants or vines from walmart are $2-6

You can use leggos to make hides and other climbing toys.

Tupperware works well for pools or a built in cave.

Using left over plastic containers from fruit work well for caves and climbing items

Using play sand from home depot is around $3 for a 50lb bag

Local dollar store has great statues and fake plants

Your own back yard has tons of sticks, branches, and pine cones. I know maple and oak are safe. The leaves and bark are good as food as well. Just be sure to clean them.

Buy shells from Michael's, Joanne Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, or Meijer, even the dollar store has them on occasion! The craft stores generally have cholla for around $3! I know michaels has large cholla.

If you have access to a hammer then a $2 coconut from Walmart makes two great hides for next to nothing, and if you have room in your dorm freezer it'll provide freshly frozen coconut for four crabs for around 6 months if you chunk it up small enough before freezing.

When I started out I used $1 plastic desk organizers as second levels, strung up with a few strips of fishing line run over the lid and around suction cups.

Interesting glass bowls for food and water can be found at dollar stores, and cheap needlepoint canvas makes a great way for the crabs to get in and out of the water dish.

I've found decent fake plants at dollar stores, though you can find really nice fake plants at craft stores for around $5 to $10 that look very realistic and are much bigger and fuller than the ones at pet stores. Just depends what you want to splurge on.

Thank you guys very much, I can't wait to start planning it:) I'll definitley put pictures up when I do get it set up, but I have a question. What playsand brands are safe, and is there any special cleaning to do to it before I put it in? I've always used all EE, though now I heard that it's bad.

I know Quickrete is a safe brand of Playsand. Just bake it in the oven for about 25min at 350F.

You can also boil it in salt water. (very messy- I don't recommend it).

EE isn't that bad. It's been proven to dull the exo of the crabs and shells.

If you mix it in with the sand (5cups sand, 1 cup EE) it works well for keeping the humidity up.

Some species of hermit crabs have a harder time molting in it. However, some members have had success with it with varying species.

I've always used Quikrete playsand right out of the bag without doing anything other than wetting it. There's 500 lbs of sand in the tanks in my house, so there was no way I was baking all of that! As long as the bag has been kept indoors and smells fresh it should be okay. (Places like Home Depot and Lowes will have it inside with the concrete.) It's already been washed and screened and since it's for children to play with it has to meet safety standards.

I switched from all EE to a quikrete playsand/EE mix recently, I was amazed how cheap that stuff is. $3.51 for a 50lb bag which says it's about half a cubic foot (looks like more than that). I noticed my PP's don't dig very much compared to when it was all EE, and the E's still dig in the crushed shells/gravel instead of the sand.

It's extremely dusty, do not pour it in your house! If you can rinse it in a giant rubbermaid container with a hose, definitely do so.

Hit the thrift shop for bowls and decorations! Good will stores too!

suebee wrote:Hit the thrift shop for bowls and decorations! Good will stores too!

I don't know how I didn't think of that! I live right by a goodwill and they always have tons of wedding centerpieces, I'm sure I could find some that look good:)
And thank you for the advice! I'm exited to see how they react to the sand, because they looooveee the Eco earth.

here is a thread about substrate and why some of us have switched from Eco earth to sand, its a good read.. you might want to read it http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... highlight=

and here is a thread about what eco earth can do to the exo of the crabs and the shells of the crabs..
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... ht=#704403

Thank you! I know with the new tank I'll do the mix- because EE is much too expensive to fill a twenty gallon with and because I've seen the dulling of the shells. I'm just worried about the reaction of the crabs, alot of people are saying that they're crabs hate it!

I wonder if its not so much the crabs hate it, but its just a rather quick and complete change for the crabs going from all Eco Earth to a mix of EE and sand. This might cause the crabs to appear to hate it at first but it might just be that they aren't used to it. My crabs are on a mixture and half of them spend so much time underground I barely get to see them.

I just set up a 55, and I am honestly surprised at how cheap it was!!
I hit dollar tree for vines & found some green leafy vines wrapped around a fake wood vine for $1 each, I got 2, and they are about 4 ft each!
I also bought a few leafy flower assortments to just stick in the sand behind the driftwood & huts...
I bought a pack of 6 plastic dishes that are meant to go under a flower pot for $1.

For Hidey houses, I use heavy plastic hamser houses that I had laying around, and I was lucky to already have drift wood..

I probably have $50 in the whole setup, and that's including the sand, EE (which I have extra) & giant bag of shells i got for $10 @ a craft store...

Thank you very much! At my local dollar store they sell huge bags of super small shells, I have plans on using those for something. I just picked up the tank yesterday, I can't wait to start decorating it:)

Cribs; hermit crab edition:)