Paint smell coming from my tank.

Caetymarie · Post by **Caetymarie** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 12:18 pm

I just put in play sand yesterday. 1/2 tank play sand 1/2 Eco earth. Both crabs are on ecoearth side. I have changed their substrate 2 times in 3 days. (Some one sold me on live arrognite sand that was a crab"expert") I am afraid to change again,as I don't want to stress them out any more. I have only had them 3 days.

Caetymarie · Post by **Caetymarie** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 3:02 pm

Ok. I scooped most of the sand out of the 1/2 of my tank. Filled it with Eco earth moistened it with treated water. I still smell a paint like scent from the crabitat. Could it be from the painted crab huts, or the painted crab shells. (2 of my guys haven't switched to the natural ones available) also I have 2 fake corals for them to climb on. Anyone have an issue like this?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 11:55 pm

Eco Earth has a very earthy smell to it but it definitely does not smell like paint.That smell is either coming from the paint on the shells or the paint on something else and is not a good sign.The fact that your smelling it now indicates that the sealant has softened up exposing the underlying paint, the paint will start to either roll or chip off in a few days to a couple of weeks and this is happening because the kind of sealant and paint used can not tolerate the high humidity and warm temps of a hermitcrab tank for long.If you notice most painted shells that have been in a properly set up hermitcrab enclosure will start to feel sticky after a few weeks its just a normal response of paint to too much moisture in the air.The only other thing I can think is you might be smelling the dying bacteria in the live sand but I've never heard of it smelling like paint before as it typically smells like rotten fish when the bacteria expire.