New tank

[Sher346]

I am moving my crabs into a 40 gal tank located in my rec room. Any suggestions on heating it and what lighting is best I am using a sand base and have had no problem with humidity or heat in my 20 gallon. But can't get anything consistent in the 40. Need help so I can move them soon. Thnaks

[Geranium]

Is the 20 in the rec room too or are you moving to a different room? What do you use for heat and humidity on the 20? These questions may help short cut the suggestions.

[Sher346]

The 20 is located on the main floor. It has an Uth a plexiglass cover water dish and sponges. It either has light from the sun or a natural light humidity is in the 70's and temp near 80

[Geranium]

First, I would ditch the sponges. When wet they harbor bacteria which can harm the crabs. To keep the sponges safe you would have to sterilize them daily and I am just not willing to do that. They can be put in the tank dry as a supplement.Since you have been successful using a UTH, you can use them for the larger tank too. For the 40 gallon the recommendation would be to get ones rated to a total of 120 gallons. I like the flexibility of several UTHs to make the 120 gallon rating, my 40 usually doesn't need that much heat, when it was single digits outside we did but now that we are above freezing I have unplugged about a third of the heaters. It will take some trial and error. I also have a light on mine, like this. With 40 watt bulbs. I have a screen lid, looks like window screen, that came with the tank, it slides into place so still trying to figure how to replace it but it is working fine to keep crabs in. I have thin plexi on top with the light fixture sitting on top. I worried it would melt but it has been like that since Christmas without issue, no melting odor even. On the larger tank I have two light fixtures, one as above and ones that clamp onto a bar and hang above the tank. As far as humidity goes, having a lid, like the screen and plexi or a glass lid or an aquarium lid, is vital for keeping it in. And having properly hydrated substrate is just as important, you want you sand (or sand/EE mix) to be sand castle consistency, this allows for molting pocket success but also provides humidity stability. You could also have your large water dishes/pools near the heat source (UTH), you can add a moss pit, you can add bubble stones to the large water dishes.There is a bit of trial and error and being in a different part of the house means things will likely need to be adjusted.

[Laurie LeAnn]

natural sun light is to filtered and they need more than that. even zapping hose sponges doesn't kill off those nasty germs, ick ick! if your house is like mine up stairs is sooo much warmer, heat rises. you might not have to have uth on or try several on your tank. I have 3 on my 55, so in the summer I unplug the 2 smaller ones during this winter all three are on.I have a moon glow light for night cycles and a 15 watt for day time, it's trial and error when moving them to dif floors with dif temps..

[Crabber85]

@Sher346, It's really important to know the weight of your enclosure as this will ultimately decide the best place for it in your home.For a forty gallon your looking at around 400lbs approximately for tank, stand and substrate total which means the tank needs to be positioned against the wall where the floor will be strongest as the floor gets weaker the closer to the center of the room you get.You put the entire weight of the enclosure near the center of the room and it will cause the floor to sag and even pull away from the walls after a period of time.This rule only applies to homes that have raised foundations or multiple floors, homes with concrete foundations or single levels that aren't raised don't need to worry as much about tank placement within a given room.