HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I usually use Oceanic Salt. But due to recent changes in income, I switched to API. I know that several members use this, and didn't think it was a big deal to switch. I was browsing around this morning and found this on www.hermitcrabparadise.com. I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on it.There is much more to salt than expected. Two types of salt are commercially available in stores: fresh water salt and marine sea salt. Even fresh water fish need small amounts of salt in their water to survive. On the other hand, hermit crabs need the chemicals that make up marine sea salt in their environment, not those that make up the fresh water salt. After Marie Davis (ladybug15057) conversed with several professional marine biologists and to her shock, this was what she found out: "Fresh water salt mixes (such as Doc Wellfishes and API) mainly consist of Epsom salt, which is an anesthetic for invertebrates and can easily kill them. To euthanize an invertebrate is usually done by overdosing it on anesthetic where normally Epsom salt is used. An Epsom salt bath will usually cause invertebrates to slowly go to sleep." - Marie (read the full article on the Crab Street Journal) Hermit crabs are invertebrates; living organisms that do not have a backbone. They have a hard exoskeleton that encases their soft interior. Have you been using a variety of fresh water salt? Unfortunately, it might simply be Epsom salt. Although you may not be able to observe any physical harm that the salt inflicted upon your hermit crabs, if there is a much safer and healthier alternative, why put your hermit crabs' lives at risk?Are commercial "salts" that have been specifically designed for hermit crabs ideal? The real question is whether those crystals you see are actually salt or not. Marie tested the "hermit crab salts" by ZooMed and HBH, only to find that they failed to even register a salinity reading on her hydrometers. She further justifies her views against the use of these two salts below: "ZooMed Part 2 has a yellow dye within it, something a hermit crab does not need within their diet. Within this product, it does not contain an ingredient to remove heavy metals from tap water, as well as ZooMed Part 1 fresh water conditioner does not contain a heavy metal neutralizer." - Marie and RFCrabs (read the full article on the Crab Street Journal) A hydrometer (not to be confused with a hygrometer) is a device that measures the "specific gravity" of a solution. It provides the ratio of the density of the solution to the density of pure water. From the ratio, we can determine whether the salt solutions that we mix are concentrated enough or not. The greater the value of the specific gravity, the "saltier" the solution is. For hermit crabs, the sea salt solution should register a reading between 1.021 - 1.025 on a hydrometer at room temperature. Specific gravity values will decrease as the temperature of the salt solution increases. Do not stress if your hydrometer registers a reading slightly over 1.025 and that your salt solution is too concentrated for your hermit crabs to use as shell water. Your hermit crabs can use the fresh water that you provide them in another dish to dilute their shell water until they are satisfied. If you follow the mixing instructions provided on the package of the sea salt that you bought, but your hydrometer registers a reading below 1.021, slowly add more sea salt until your hydrometer registers a reading within the range stated above.Recommended:Crystal Sea MarinemixInstant Ocean Sea SaltOceanic Natural Sea Salt MixRed Sea SaltTropic Marin Sea Salt Not recommended:Fresh water salts (any)Table salts (any)API Aquarium SaltHappy Hermits Salt Bath CrystalsHBH Hermit Crab SaltPetco Saltwater GlubZooMed Part 1 Drinking Water ConditionerZooMed Part 2 Salt Water Condition

I had no idea about that, all I can tell you is when I first got my crabs I used API and they never went in the saltwater. A couple months later I switched to Instant Ocean or Oceanic because of my hubbies saltwater tanks and they love it.

I would like to know the people that she spoke with though? I have been using API for six years for my PPs and they love it - and it tastes like 'salt' to me (yes I taste it from time to time lol). Epsom salts have a really bitter taste IMO and don't taste anything like API salt, though they do look similar to each other if you were to lay the salts out side by side. Here is the chemical analysis of API, albeit from 2005. Did she mention if this was recently that they changed the composition of API? I just made a fresh batch and I will taste it tomorrow to be sure.I will say that API is probably not the best choice for those raising exotic crabs, but my PPs don't seem to have an issue with it and have even been 'pregnant' the past two summers so I would venture that it has to be working for them. JMO though.

I started to respond to this earlier and got called away but I share Nicole's sentiments. Although not the best salt out there, I personally wouldn't knock API off the list of salts for domestics. API is made from evaporated sea water and though reconstituting probably isn't 100% comparable to it's original composition as it likely loses some trace elements in the process, I have used it for all but this last year of crabbing. I've also had females with eggs and have a tank full of large and jumbos going on 5 years with me.I'll support the remainder of the not recommended list but for API I disagree.BTW, I don't know when Marie tested her products and produced the above mentioned article but it reads an awful lot like two of our 2005 archives by Kuplacrabs and http://landhermitcrabs.com/eve...=390103985#390103985]Willow.

I was surprised by it being on the list myself. I am not going to stop using it either. You guys have never steered me wrong, and I trust your years of experience over some article I have just read. That was the whole recommendation on saltwater. I just hit copy and paste. There wasn't anything on there about them changing their formula. However, I did notice when I bought mine, it doesn't give the instructions for making brackish water. I had to look it up. It doesn't tell you how on their website (or at least I couldn't find it). All it does do is tell you how to mix it for medicinal purposes.

Seriously! I just found that Doc Wellfishes aquarium salt! Just my luck ! But I'm glad I read this before I used it for my hermit!~No pet is easy to take care of~My...(some kind of crab) hermit- Speedy (R.I.P Clicka)

I noticed a couple of weeks ago at my local Walmart that API has changed it's name and is in a differently designed carton that does not list the instructions for hatching brine shrimp like the old version it only says that is for medicinal use in fresh water aquariums.(?) I have used API in the past as well as Oceanic marine salt for salt water aquariums and I noticed something strange about the Oceanic it went watery about two days after the package was first opend even with refrigeration so I stopped using it and went back to API and I've been using it for the last three years with no ill effects to my crabs.

I use either Red Sea Salt or Oceanic. I had a similar problem with Oceanic taking on too much humidity. I tried putting uncooked rice into it, which helped a little, but eventually I tossed it. Now if I buy Oceanic, I buy the small bag, and I don't have that problem. My crabs seem to love both brands. When I first started giving my crabs saltwater, I got API, and crabs didn't visit the saltwater dish much if at all. This could have been because of the brand, but it was several months after we got our first crabs (because I didn't know much about crabbing at the beginning), so it is also quite possible they were already brain damaged or something.

I almost got the stuff from walmart, but both my fiance and I agreed that it wouldn't work because it was fresh water salt vs marine salt, seeing this somewhat confirms that.I don't think it'd be bad for them or anything like that, they might actually enjoy having three water choices. It's possible that in their natural habitat they could have all three, ocean, fresh and fresh salt water.I have just E's now so I'm sticking to just Oceanic for now, it's what I've always used and they really like it.