HCA: Hermit Crab Association

It is unfinished, but should be complete in about two weeks.

It certainly is a statement! Absolutely love it.

Could you walk us though how you pieced it all together, very interested in the connection of the two tanks at the bottom.... did you completely remove the glass or partially remove it?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Thanks! I sure will, but it was far less complex than it looks.

The bottom is two Aquaeon 75 gallon tanks, which I busted the sides out of with a hammer. I did so in two ways: for the first, I tried to strip the silicone from under and pull it out intact, which I eventually gave up on; when it shattered, however, it broke clean with large, easy-to-remove pieces. For the second I simply smashed it, which resulted in the "safety fracture" and a lot of digging around the edges to get the pieces out. I would recommend at least slicing into the silicone underneath as I did with the first tank before shattering it, so it will loosen and break easier.

First tank shattered. This is the one I tried to remove first.

Here it is mostly picked clean.
*Removed because GIFs don't work.*
https://i.imgur.com/kXT7C3L.gifv
This is me attempting to shatter the second. The goop is glass etcher I had hoped would make it easier.

Here is the result. :Z

I attached the two together with GE Type I aquarium silicone.

On the back I tried to use wood as a guide, but it turned out super messy.

Since that didn't work I just used a piece of tape as a guide along the back, and then squeezed out the extra with a second piece of tape along the front. It turned out much more clean...though the bottom is still a mess, but since it only needed to hold in sand I didn't really care.

The rebuild was prompted by a roach infestation in my old tank - they were living underneath the black plastic edge. So I turned that into my topper, and like any reasonable person, I ripped it to shreds.

I actually removed the bottom glass from this one, took the plastic off in one piece, scrubbed the heck out of it, and sat it on top as my lid.

Super cool! I like how it all came together, they must love all that space. The small tanks as pools are incredible, they have ponds instead of pools. Lol! Very nice!


♡ Rod ♡ Salty ♡ Bob ♡ Squirt ♡ Crabina ♡
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers »-♡->

RiNiKy506 wrote:Super cool! I like how it all came together, they must love all that space. The small tanks as pools are incredible, they have ponds instead of pools. Lol! Very nice!

Thank you! They all seem to just want to hug that cork "tree" for right now, but it's still probably a bit chilly on the far end for them, so I'm sure they'll branch out once I slap a few more UTHs on there.

I used to have 15 male bettas, so my closets are full of small tanks and the little mesh dividers. With 29 crabs, I figured this was a better use for them than gravel storage and dust gathering!

Looks great!

WOW!!
I applaud you for keeping your sanity!

rainbow_crab wrote:Looks great!

Thanks!

ciaraalston wrote:WOW!!
I applaud you for keeping your sanity!

You wouldn't have said that if you had seen me at 4:30 in the morning with a linoleum knife tearing the one tank apart! Lol, thanks!

Wow!!! I applaud you for your dedication!! I know how much work this was. I took 55 gallon tank apart, and then after the work I changed my mind on the project. This looks great! The only thing I would worry about with this is the lights cracking your glass. You have some spoiled hermies there!!

Holy Crab! Great work!

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

That’s really impressive! Now I want to give it a try.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

GotButterflies wrote:Wow!!! I applaud you for your dedication!! I know how much work this was. I took 55 gallon tank apart, and then after the work I changed my mind on the project. This looks great! The only thing I would worry about with this is the lights cracking your glass. You have some spoiled hermies there!!

Thanks!

TIL that the glass lids you buy (or at least the brand I did) are weaker than the bottom glass of a 55 - I have left the red lamp running on the top of my topper (the bottom tank glass) for a week straight, and it's been fine; I moved it onto one for a bit as I mucked around for a few hours, and sure enough it shattered! I patched it, but you were right to be worried!

@JoeHermits & elly_bananas - Thank you!

It's amazing! I wish I had the room and craftiness for that kind of that setup, I'm limited to a ten or twenty gallon.