HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I remodeled my hermit crab terrarium a bit.

A few things about it:
The waterdishes (which are currently big enough for my rugosus to submerge) will be replaced by bigger and deeper dishes soon.

The sandy "beach part" is currently 4 inches deep, but I will fill it up to it's maximum (about 5 or 5.5 inch) soon.

The two higher "forest parts" are filled with a coco substrate mix.
higher part is about 12 inches high, lower part about 8.5 inches.

Does anyone have any tips on how to improve it? (more "climbables",...)

I would be happy to get some feedback!


Sorry for the blurry pic, but I downsized it a bit and it seems like it messed up the quality

Well I don't recommend it.. but shhhhh... I tend to take some rocks from the hospital parking lots and boil them and make piles for them to climb or get more fake wood or real wood. If you have issues with real wood molding on bottom from.touching damp substrate set it on slate rock.. get some sturdy fake greenery at your dollar tree store.

nice idea! You can add some fake plants from the dollar store, adding some fish net for them to climb on- you can purchase at Michael's, JoAnn's places like that. Maybe some Cholla wood? A moss pit would look nice too and will help with humidity.

It looks fantastic and so natural (which I really like) but I'm concerned 5.5 inches of substrate will not be enough for strawberries past small size, which I believe you said are hard to find there in that size. I know that reptile tank makes it difficult to make substrate a deeper, but I'd say you'd want at least 8 inches with medium straws so those Rug diggers (mine always enjoyed digging) don't disturb the straws. Especially that first molt! I wonder if you can modify that tank in some way to add more substrate.

Wow, amazing tank!
The things I'd like to know is if there are cave access under the forest parts, or do the forest parts go all the way down?

Personally I think adding some plants could help, whether it's live or artificial! Vine like plants (such as pothos... Epipremnum aureum) would be a great choice with a few more wood ornaments or rock structures. Climbing along the left side and the back would give the crabs hiding/climbing spaces and help fill in the negative space in the tank! Remember crabs love to climb, so utilising the "open air" in the tank with climbing structures would help!
I imagine another piece of that variety of wood (or similar size) on the right hand side would provide a "jungle gym" full of sticks for the crabs to climb on. If needed - if your into crabscaping... like aquascaping - a smaller wood piece on the left side reaching up to the top level of the forest would help provide balance and flow in the tank.
If possible, increasing the "levels" in the tank might produce places where they can chill out and hide in. Plus it also helps and gives them a bit more space to run around on!

How many gallons is the tank?


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Thank you all for the great suggestions!

I'll see what I can get for them to climb on. They absolutely love the cork bark on the back of the tank. They often sleep in the upper corners of the tank.
I will at least add some plants and a moss pit to the enclosure.

@landlubber: I tried to build a small wall in the front of the tank to get the sand to be filled higher, but it didn't really work.
Also, do straws prefer to molt in the sand? Because my ruggies build burrows in the sand, but only very shallow ones, mostly they bury just about an inch down to rest and come up a few hours later. To molt, they always seemed to prefer the "earthy part" of the tank, that's why I built the two high segments in the back. I guess I have to find a way to get the sand to be higher at least in some parts.

@aussieJJDude: These are some great ideas! Thank you.
I never heard of crabscaping, but I love to aquascape! I mostly do Iwagumis and "mountain ranges", so I'm more used to using rocks than wood.
I'll see if I can get more if that type of wood.

regarding the forest parts: they go all the way down to the bottom.
At first, I tried to partially remove the wall between the two forest parts, but it always was too unstable to be filled with so much substrate. After that, I had an Idea on how to connect the two underground, but while building the "final form" I forgot to do it...
So they are now two seperate parts.

@Krusty Krab:
It should be a bit more than 66 gallons if I'm not converting it wrong.

They might have a slight propensity for sand, but even when I've had one side sand and the other side EE I'd still get the occasional straw molt on the EE side-so I think it's more about the right spot. I hate to harp on the substrate thing, but I would really recommend trying to figure out something that will get it higher. Out of curiousity, does the tank have a removable top?

Well, depends on what you exactly mean by "removable top".
The whole tank is made out of wood, so I'm able to "unscrew" and remove parts of the tank.
But it is not really meant to be a removable top.

Yea, I'm trying to find a way to be able to get the sand to be higher. But I currently have no idea how to do it. Maybe I could add another wall in the front of the tank..

Adding another "wall" in front is what I was wondering about. When I was considering a tank build from a display case that was what I figured I would do.....I also wondered if you could just access the tank from the top rather than the front then you wouldn't have to open the front and could pile substrate up in front of it-but it sounds like that is not a practical solution. I know someone on here modified a front opening tank by building some kind of half wall high enough to hold substantial substrate that way-but I'm sorry I have no recollection of who it was. I'll see if I can find that post.....

WHERE DID YOU GET THOSE WOOD WALLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I WANT SOME! btw the tank looks great!

landlubber wrote:I know someone on here modified a front opening tank by building some kind of half wall high enough to hold substantial substrate that way-but I'm sorry I have no recollection of who it was. I'll see if I can find that post.....

Maybe this one? viewtopic.php?f=39&t=103204&hilit=exo+terra+18x24

I never heard of crabscaping, but I love to aquascape!

haha, I bet you haven't. It was just a little term that I made up on the spot, thought that someone might like it.

I mostly do Iwagumis and "mountain ranges", so I'm more used to using rocks than wood.
I'll see if I can get more if that type of wood.

Hmm, so I guess this could be an important step into expanding your knowledge! Or you could do a similar step here, but I don't think the crabs would like a iwagumi type theme for multiple reasons.
If you need some inspiration on how wood can be used successfully, I suggest googling "blackwater tank". True these are fish tanks, but blackwater tanks often use nothing but wood, and it can look rather effective - and challenging. Might get some ideas on how you can piece it together. (Or a good excuse to setup a biotope of the amazon basin or SE Asia.)

It's a massive bummer of the forest parts, for some reason I thought their might be little caves and tunnels near the sand bottom that the crabs could hide in. I guess it was the angle of the lights.

As for increasing the substrate depth, maybe this will help?
Scroll down a little to Wodesoral post towards the end or this or my build
Hopefully that will help.

Thanks for the links! That are some great Ideas.

@Ilovehermies74:
The walls are just normal cork bark, I just cut the bark size I needed


@aussieJJDude:
haha, that might be why I never heard of it!
Exactly, an iwagumi would not work for Hermit crabs, they would bury under the rocks and either get crushed or shift the rocks around in the tank. Also, there would be few to no spaces to hide and a carpet of plants wouldn´t last long in there either.
I love Blackwater tanks too, a friend of mine "has a few setups for his Parosphromenus and Bettas.

Now I know what you meant with tunnels in the forest part. Crap! That would have been awesome. Maybe when I do a deep clean some time, I might add caves in there.


I added some plants and a few different kinds of moss now, but I haven´t found another suitable piece of wood yet. Still keeping my eyes open for some decorative pieces. I will also add more hides.