Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

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Alan'sHermitCrabs
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:44 am

Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by Alan'sHermitCrabs » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 pm

I also have a crabitat at home. I repurposed a 20 gallon fish tank for my sons birthday last year. He received two medium sized hermit crabs. Matthew named one crab and he allowed my daughter, Brooke, to name the other.

Matthew named his hermit crab "HERMIE":
Image

Brooke named her hermit crab "Princess America". However, shortly after coming home, she buried herself in the sand and six months later was making quite a smell. "She" was replaced with "Princess America (Deux)":
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Oh So Crabby,
Alan Smith

Cheshire & West Hartford, CT
https://sites.google.com/site/alanshermitcrabs/
6 PP's @ Work: Hemi, Demi, Semi, Quaver, Minim, Semi-Breve
5 PP's @ Home: Hermie, Princess America, Matthew, Brooke, Tooth Fairy
55 Gallon Tat, 49 Gallon Tat, 10 Gallon Iso, 5 Gallon Iso


Topic author
Alan'sHermitCrabs
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:44 am

Re: Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by Alan'sHermitCrabs » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:59 pm

As the school year began, I emptied my school fish tank so that it could be moved from home to my office. In the process of carrying it to my car, the glass cracked on the side. I had planned on throwing the tank away. Then I came up with the idea of joining the 20 gallon and 29 gallon tanks into one long tank.

The plan took quite a bit of research but came together quickly. I removed the silicone caulking on one end of each tank. Then I placed them on their side and shattered the glass with a hammer and screw driver. Once I had cut away all of the broken glass and silicone, I washed the tanks. Because the tanks are different sizes, I built a base for the 20 gallon tank which makes it level with the 29 gallon tank.

I bought an inexpensive piece of plexiglass from home depot and used a heat gun to bend it. This bridges the gap between the two tanks height. If I were to do it again, I would not have made it visible from the outside.
Image

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Lastly, I used one tube of clear aquarium silicone to bind it all together. Once the silicone had dried for 2 days, added the sand/coconut fiber substrate, decorations, water, food, and ceramic heat lamp. I am considering painting the back of the glass like my office tank. I also want to add some vegetation.

Here is the finished product (without the heat lamp):
Image
Oh So Crabby,
Alan Smith

Cheshire & West Hartford, CT
https://sites.google.com/site/alanshermitcrabs/
6 PP's @ Work: Hemi, Demi, Semi, Quaver, Minim, Semi-Breve
5 PP's @ Home: Hermie, Princess America, Matthew, Brooke, Tooth Fairy
55 Gallon Tat, 49 Gallon Tat, 10 Gallon Iso, 5 Gallon Iso


Topic author
Alan'sHermitCrabs
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:44 am

Re: Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by Alan'sHermitCrabs » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:07 pm

We added three new hermit crabs to the newly enlarged tank after keeping them in a separate tank for 2 weeks. Because two of the newbie's have the same color shell (with subtle differences), the kids decided to name each one after themselves.

This is "Matthew":
Image

This is "Brooke":
Image

Brooke lost her first tooth the day we named the new hermit crabs so our last new addition was named "Tooth Fairy":
Image
Oh So Crabby,
Alan Smith

Cheshire & West Hartford, CT
https://sites.google.com/site/alanshermitcrabs/
6 PP's @ Work: Hemi, Demi, Semi, Quaver, Minim, Semi-Breve
5 PP's @ Home: Hermie, Princess America, Matthew, Brooke, Tooth Fairy
55 Gallon Tat, 49 Gallon Tat, 10 Gallon Iso, 5 Gallon Iso


Topic author
Alan'sHermitCrabs
Posts: 24
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2014 9:44 am

Re: Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by Alan'sHermitCrabs » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:11 pm

Here is a photo of our new/sick hermie crabitat. It is a small 10 gallon tank from Walmart. I attach a heating pad to the wall by the rock, but it was not on for the photo.
Image
Oh So Crabby,
Alan Smith

Cheshire & West Hartford, CT
https://sites.google.com/site/alanshermitcrabs/
6 PP's @ Work: Hemi, Demi, Semi, Quaver, Minim, Semi-Breve
5 PP's @ Home: Hermie, Princess America, Matthew, Brooke, Tooth Fairy
55 Gallon Tat, 49 Gallon Tat, 10 Gallon Iso, 5 Gallon Iso

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moonshermies
Posts: 154
Joined: Thu Sep 25, 2014 8:14 am
Location: southern new jersey(Newfield)

Re: Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by moonshermies » Sun Oct 19, 2014 8:45 am

Lol, omg I was wondering if joining 2 tanks together was ever possible & if it would work for the hermit crabs..Amazing!!! btw I love your sons crabs & the shells!!

Sent from HTC EVO, using Tapatalk 2
Mom to 3 children,&2 adorable medium PPS..Not a new member..My old sn was deleted after a hiatus from the death of my pp 2 yrs ago..

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jarteta97
Posts: 184
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2013 5:53 pm
Location: Wake Forest, NC

Re: Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by jarteta97 » Sun Oct 19, 2014 11:26 am

Very interesting. Personally, I like it a lot. A couple of members have actually gotten tanks, knocked the glass out at the bottom, and stuck them on top of another tank. I know Kuza has one, and I remember seeing one post of a 100 gallon tank with a custom added topper to it. Your iso tank is very nice, too :)
When you've been crabbing for so long, you don't even know how many crabs you have now...

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CallaLily
Posts: 3831
Joined: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:05 pm

Re: Alan's Hermit Crabs At Home

Post by CallaLily » Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:02 pm

Neat! Cute crabs too. :D

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