HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Very happy with this. I think I did pretty good (not pictured--salt water pool, food dish, other two coconut huts) haven't got that far yet the funky pieces of wood are from outside.. not sure what it's called.the moss is called "frog moss" from amazon. The cork round is from amazon as well as the shower caddy. Still waiting to get more shells. I love doing this. It's obsessive







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That looks awesome!!

Love that they have a little lawn. One thing about frog moss: you have to be really diligent about keeping it moist or it will yellow.

I totally know what you mean about the obsessive nature of crabitat design.

Nice!!

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Cute!! I too am obsessed with habitat design! It's made me build my own tank.


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That looks like so much fun! You should have some happy crabbies!

Looks GREAT!!
What's the size of your tat and what did you use as a net?

I agree it looks great


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Looks great!!! I love all the green!!


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That looks great!! Just make sure that those funky pieces of wood are on the safe wood list


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Nice! Some oak leaves would go great with that moss pit? Are your pools deep enough for your biggest crab to fully submerge?

Heya, I really like your tat, like I posted earlier. However I just realized-the metal mesh/ladder looks like galvanized steel. Galvanization puts a protective zinc coating on iron or steel to prevent it from rusting. Zinc is toxic for crabs. If this is the type of metal mesh you have, I'd recommend removing it from your crabitat. Maybe use branches, craft mesh, coco fiber mat, or fish net for them to climb instead.

Hermitmomma wrote:Very happy with this. I think I did pretty good (not pictured--salt water pool, food dish, other two coconut huts) haven't got that far yet the funky pieces of wood are from outside.. not sure what it's called.the moss is called "frog moss" from amazon. The cork round is from amazon as well as the shower caddy. Still waiting to get more shells. I love doing this. It's obsessive







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Hermias_mom wrote: ...the metal mesh/ladder looks like galvanized steel. Galvanization puts a protective zinc coating on iron or steel to prevent it from rusting. Zinc is toxic for crabs. If this is the type of metal mesh you have, I'd recommend removing it from your crabitat...

Hey, I didn't know that! Well I know zinc is toxic for crabs but I didn't put two and two together.... I use galvanized steel hardware cloth stuff for my screen tops. I've been using it since I got started back in 2010. I'm not saying I don't believe you but, I haven't noticed any problems with my crabs. I still have the 6 I started with. I've made this screen lid for my 10G, the 55G (no longer have), and my 90G. My 125G+40B topper came with glass tops and the 120G (bamboo tank) has an added wood topper instead of screen or glass... I can provide links for all my tats and my DIY screen lids.

If you purchase a "reptile" tank, doesn't most of them come with a galvanized screen lid? Many crabbers use these after modifications such as press n seal or seran wrap.



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The main concern that jumped out at me from the posted picture was that the mesh is buried in the sub. If saltwater is used to moisten the sub, then zinc chloride is being formed where the metal mesh and saltwater meet. I'm a metallurgist, not a biologist, and I'm just learning about the biology of crabs, but from what I've read so far, zinc chloride evolution in the substrate can't be good. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on "galvanic corrosion ":

"Although galvanizing will inhibit attack of the underlying steel, rusting will be inevitable after some decades of exposure to weather, especially if exposed to acidic conditions. For example, corrugated iron sheet roofing will start to degrade within a few years despite the protective action of the zinc coating. Marine and salty environments also lower the lifetime of galvanized iron because the high electrical conductivity of sea water increases the rate of corrosion, primarily through converting the solid zinc to soluble zinc chloride which simply washes away. Galvanized car frames exemplify this; they corrode much faster in cold environments due to road salt, though they will last longer than unprotected steel."

As far as lids go, most reptile lids I've seen tend to have a powder coat (spray-on epoxy) black finish on them. If they are galvanized steel, but are not in direct contact with saltwater, but are rather in a moist environment, they shouldn't corrode as quickly, and the corrosion products may be different, but will still contain zinc. If the mesh is in a damp environment there's probably going to be some type of corrosion, but probably a lot less quickly. Basically, galvanized steel is manufactured by coating steel in zinc metal mostly using a wet process, where the steel is dipped in molten zinc. The zinc acts as a sacrificial anode by reacting with moisture instead of letting the steel react with the moisture, so the zinc corrodes before the steel does in order to protect the steel.

If your crabs are not directly crawling across the lid, an d are not coming in direct contact with it, and no powdery corrosion products are falling off the lid, as long as you don't touch the mesh and then go touch your crabs, that minimizes the exposure. Personally I'd recommend using powder coated lids when possible or plastic lids when you can. You can do some research yourself if you like and see how comfortable you are with your current configuration, but anecdotally the zinc kinda gets on my hands, and I'd have to do more research to see how easy it is to completely remove it from my hands and such. I'm not sure yet how effective soap and water are for this. Maybe just fine, but I don't know.


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Very interesting! Good to know! Thanks hermias_mom! I use glass tops, but it is great info to know!


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Hermias_mom wrote:The main concern that jumped out at me from the posted picture was that the mesh is buried in the sub. If saltwater is used to moisten the sub, then zinc chloride is being formed where the metal mesh and saltwater meet. I'm a metallurgist, not a biologist, and I'm just learning about the biology of crabs, but from what I've read so far, zinc chloride evolution in the substrate can't be good. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on "galvanic corrosion ":

"Although galvanizing will inhibit attack of the underlying steel, rusting will be inevitable after some decades of exposure to weather, especially if exposed to acidic conditions. For example, corrugated iron sheet roofing will start to degrade within a few years despite the protective action of the zinc coating. Marine and salty environments also lower the lifetime of galvanized iron because the high electrical conductivity of sea water increases the rate of corrosion, primarily through converting the solid zinc to soluble zinc chloride which simply washes away. Galvanized car frames exemplify this; they corrode much faster in cold environments due to road salt, though they will last longer than unprotected steel."

As far as lids go, most reptile lids I've seen tend to have a powder coat (spray-on epoxy) black finish on them. If they are galvanized steel, but are not in direct contact with saltwater, but are rather in a moist environment, they shouldn't corrode as quickly, and the corrosion products may be different, but will still contain zinc. If the mesh is in a damp environment there's probably going to be some type of corrosion, but probably a lot less quickly. Basically, galvanized steel is manufactured by coating steel in zinc metal mostly using a wet process, where the steel is dipped in molten zinc. The zinc acts as a sacrificial anode by reacting with moisture instead of letting the steel react with the moisture, so the zinc corrodes before the steel does in order to protect the steel.

If your crabs are not directly crawling across the lid, an d are not coming in direct contact with it, and no powdery corrosion products are falling off the lid, as long as you don't touch the mesh and then go touch your crabs, that minimizes the exposure. Personally I'd recommend using powder coated lids when possible or plastic lids when you can. You can do some research yourself if you like and see how comfortable you are with your current configuration, but anecdotally the zinc kinda gets on my hands, and I'd have to do more research to see how easy it is to completely remove it from my hands and such. I'm not sure yet how effective soap and water are for this. Maybe just fine, but I don't know.


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Wow this is good to know.
I in general have avoided any kinds of metals in my tank, just playing safe! But still learning so much!


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