HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Here are the final (well for now) pics of my tank upgrade. And I think the little guy on the wheel just discovered it? He's the one usually sleeping in the barnacle during the day.

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Edit: in the 2nd pic, it looks like there's another level with shells. That's part of the lid that doesn't come off. It's taped on. I just use it as extra space when I'm messin' inside the tank. And it becomes a mess too. Lol.

Looks great!

Just out of curiosity is your wheel too hard to move? It appears as though your craft mesh is more than double the length of the wheel. I would recommend cutting that back. Just my opinion. I know you have mentioned that you haven't had anyone use it. Also, I personally don't like the wheel that you purchased. I like the Kaytee Silent Spinners. Just a thought

GotButterflies wrote:Looks great!

Just out of curiosity is your wheel too hard to move? It appears as though your craft mesh is more than double the length of the wheel. I would recommend cutting that back. Just my opinion. I know you have mentioned that you haven't had anyone use it. Also, I personally don't like the wheel that you purchased. I like the Kaytee Silent Spinners. Just a thought

Thanks but it moves great. They get to the top, whether inside or out and wham! It spins them to the bottom. At least 3 crabs use it.

Okay! Well, at least you know it works!


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GotButterflies wrote:Okay! Well, at least you know it works!


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Yup!

Love the tank! It looks like a fun playground for the crabs to play and explore in, and I like the salt water and fresh water pools as well - they look really natural with the rocks at the bottom did you silicone the rocks to the bottom of the water containers? I’ve been wanting to add in container pools for my crabs, but Oreo is so small and I’m worried that he might drown - so I wanted to add rocks at the bottom but it gets annoying trying the replace the water and having to empty all the rocks and put them back in again.

Angel_crab wrote:Love the tank! It looks like a fun playground for the crabs to play and explore in, and I like the salt water and fresh water pools as well - they look really natural with the rocks at the bottom did you silicone the rocks to the bottom of the water containers? I’ve been wanting to add in container pools for my crabs, but Oreo is so small and I’m worried that he might drown - so I wanted to add rocks at the bottom but it gets annoying trying the replace the water and having to empty all the rocks and put them back in again.

Thanks! I didn't attach them. The size of the area is small enough they can grab onto the craft mesh attached to the ramp. AND....I'm so excited..I actually caught one on camera fully submerge.
I posted the video in my other post under crab behavior. He was under for about 2 minutes maybe? It seemed like a long time. I was about to go check to see if he had drowned and was still in there but then he emerged.

Hermiesguardian wrote:

Angel_crab wrote:Love the tank! It looks like a fun playground for the crabs to play and explore in, and I like the salt water and fresh water pools as well - they look really natural with the rocks at the bottom did you silicone the rocks to the bottom of the water containers? I’ve been wanting to add in container pools for my crabs, but Oreo is so small and I’m worried that he might drown - so I wanted to add rocks at the bottom but it gets annoying trying the replace the water and having to empty all the rocks and put them back in again.

Thanks! I didn't attach them. The size of the area is small enough they can grab onto the craft mesh attached to the ramp. AND....I'm so excited..I actually caught one on camera fully submerge.
I posted the video in my other post under crab behavior. He was under for about 2 minutes maybe? It seemed like a long time. I was about to go check to see if he had drowned and was still in there but then he emerged.

Wow! You lucky to have been able to catch that on video! The other reason why I wanted deeper salt water and fresh water pools is so that Venus has enough water to be able to properly soak in. I’ll stop by my local craft store this weekend and see if they have any craft mesh that I can attach to one of the ramps that I have in my tank.
Thank you


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Wow! You lucky to have been able to catch that on video! The other reason why I wanted deeper salt water and fresh water pools is so that Venus has enough water to be able to properly soak in. I’ll stop by my local craft store this weekend and see if they have any craft mesh that I can attach to one of the ramps that I have in my tank.
Thank you


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You're welcome!

Angel_crab wrote:Wow! You lucky to have been able to catch that on video! The other reason why I wanted deeper salt water and fresh water pools is so that Venus has enough water to be able to properly soak in. I’ll stop by my local craft store this weekend and see if they have any craft mesh that I can attach to one of the ramps that I have in my tank.
Thank you


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As long as the crabs have a way in or out, they unlikely to drown... In saying that, there has been a small amount of crabbers that have added small fish tanks - myself included - as a water source, and they haven't run into problems!

As for the substrate, I enjoyed using a small dedicated strainer to tip the stones into - the stones can just be normal 'large' aquarium gravel for example! - and wash that out under the tap... Rinse out the pool, and then add back in the stones... And then refill as usual!

As for craft mesh, you won't find it in craft stores in Aus... trust me, I have looked all Melbourne over... That and eggcrate, no-one stocks it for some reason...? I've tried going in store at Spotlight, and all the employee's I've come across have no idea what I am talking about:
https://www.spotlightstores.com/craft-h ... BP80128863

I would suggest either buy it offline, whether its ebay or craft related sites:
http://www.shamrockcraft.com.au/MES3015 ... %23/pd.php
https://www.ebay.com.au/b/Hand-Embroide ... bn_1869932

Angel_crab wrote:Love the tank! It looks like a fun playground for the crabs to play and explore in, and I like the salt water and fresh water pools as well - they look really natural with the rocks at the bottom did you silicone the rocks to the bottom of the water containers? I’ve been wanting to add in container pools for my crabs, but Oreo is so small and I’m worried that he might drown - so I wanted to add rocks at the bottom but it gets annoying trying the replace the water and having to empty all the rocks and put them back in again.

I forgot to mention how I clean the stones. I pour them into a small colender and rinse them off. Not difficult.

aussieJJDude wrote:

Angel_crab wrote:Wow! You lucky to have been able to catch that on video! The other reason why I wanted deeper salt water and fresh water pools is so that Venus has enough water to be able to properly soak in. I’ll stop by my local craft store this weekend and see if they have any craft mesh that I can attach to one of the ramps that I have in my tank.
Thank you


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As long as the crabs have a way in or out, they unlikely to drown... In saying that, there has been a small amount of crabbers that have added small fish tanks - myself included - as a water source, and they haven't run into problems!

As for the substrate, I enjoyed using a small dedicated strainer to tip the stones into - the stones can just be normal 'large' aquarium gravel for example! - and wash that out under the tap... Rinse out the pool, and then add back in the stones... And then refill as usual!

As for craft mesh, you won't find it in craft stores in Aus... trust me, I have looked all Melbourne over... That and eggcrate, no-one stocks it for some reason...? I've tried going in store at Spotlight, and all the employee's I've come across have no idea what I am talking about:
https://www.spotlightstores.com/craft-h ... BP80128863

I would suggest either buy it offline, whether its ebay or craft related sites:
http://www.shamrockcraft.com.au/MES3015 ... %23/pd.php
https://www.ebay.com.au/b/Hand-Embroide ... bn_1869932

Thank you so much for all of the helpful information! I am surprised that spotlight doesn’t stock craft mesh, but I’ll be purchasing some from the links that you attached. I have a little tub of smooth stones and rocks which I think would be great for the water pools thanks again!


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Hermiesguardian wrote:

Angel_crab wrote:Love the tank! It looks like a fun playground for the crabs to play and explore in, and I like the salt water and fresh water pools as well - they look really natural with the rocks at the bottom did you silicone the rocks to the bottom of the water containers? I’ve been wanting to add in container pools for my crabs, but Oreo is so small and I’m worried that he might drown - so I wanted to add rocks at the bottom but it gets annoying trying the replace the water and having to empty all the rocks and put them back in again.

I forgot to mention how I clean the stones. I pour them into a small colender and rinse them off. Not difficult.

Thank you!


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JJ, have you tried asking for plastic canvas or specifically plastic needlepoint canvas? It was all the rage in the 80's (at least in the US and UK) for 3D needlepoint projects but some stitchers still prefer it over fabric canvas. A craft store should have it somewhere.

wodesorel wrote:JJ, have you tried asking for plastic canvas or specifically plastic needlepoint canvas? It was all the rage in the 80's (at least in the US and UK) for 3D needlepoint projects but some stitchers still prefer it over fabric canvas. A craft store should have it somewhere.

Yep. Any name that it was called, I asked for... I even just showed pictures and whatnot, and resorted to asking them to show me the stitching/'needles' section... Nope. The closest for me was flyscreen at my local hardware store...

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