Crabs' Salt Water Brand Preferences

saberkitty · Post by **saberkitty** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:30 am

I recently switched to a bag of Red Sea brand salt mix from using API. I have noticed the crabs using the salt water dish a lot more ever since. They hardly ever used it with the API, now they use it quite a bit. Does anyone else's crabs seem to show a preference for different brands of salt mix? I mixed both brands according to specs here on the forum.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:36 am

LOL! I had the opposite reaction - I switched to Red Sea awhile back from API and my crabs absolutely avoided the salt water dish. I waited over a week to see what they would do, and finally I gave in and gave them back their API. I had at least three crabs crowding the dish trying to get their fill of missed salt water.

breezeetew · Post by **breezeetew** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:01 am

Okay here is Breezy doing the weird thing... AGAINI like to use salt water from my marine fish tank. I figure it gives more of what is missing from just plain salt water mixes.Not everyone has this option, I realize, but they do sell "Real Ocean" water in pet stores, and that would be my second option.I don't notice the crabs lining up for it or anything, but I do notice that they seem to do well with it.

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:44 am

I made a recent switch to Oceanic and noticed the increase in the fresh water dish. It must be stronger than the API and they need more fresh to balance it.

lpshiner · Post by **lpshiner** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 7:31 am

quote:i use instant ocean, but i dont know in how much time i have to change the water i prepared for my crabs Do you mean how often to change the water in the crab's dishes? Or how long the salt water mixture you have prepared lasts in the container? I change the water in my crab's dishes every other day- sometimes I will let the salt water go three days if they have not been in the dish much. I mix both dechlorinated and salt water in separate one gallon jugs and they seem to keep fine- I go through the dechlor water pretty quickly, in a few days, but the salt water may last a few weeks.

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 11:46 am

quote:Originally posted by breezeetew:I like to use salt water from my marine fish tank. I figure it gives more of what is missing from just plain salt water mixes. What brand do you use for your marine tank?I use Red Sea. And API, Real Ocean, and Oceanic. I like to mix it up a little, LOL. I haven't noticed that they prefer one brand over another, except they really do like the Real Ocean best, but it's too expensive to use all the time. But among the brands of salt MIX, they don't have a preference.

breezeetew · Post by **breezeetew** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:52 pm

I have used Oceanic and a store brand as well as the boxed Real Ocean water. (I agree about the expense, it is horrible!)My saturation is at the point where I only have to add a bit of fresh water to replace the evaporated water for the most part.I add a bit of salt mix now and then because I end up with a salt crust on the tank and the ratio goes off, but the tank is fairly self sufficient now. The marine hermit crabs are happy, anyway!I pull and use about a gallon at a time in my LHC water pools, and I don't change them often because- well, they take awhile to dirty or use a gallon of water. Besides, I believe in beneficial bacteria and no one seems to be suffering from my choices.I did try fresh water from the fish tanks, but that was more of a hassle than it was worth, so I gave up. I don't sanitize my crab items, just give it a good wipe off and rinse with fresh clean water if it gets grungy.