HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I went to fluff the stuff and about wanted to vomit! Some how it had got very wet again on one end of the tank again and talk about smelling! Plus I saw critters! I don't know if they were gnats from summer or what but I know my crabs hadn't been coming down unless I took them out of the caddy. Took me about 2 hours to get every thing out of the 55 gallon, wash all the stuff, get all that eco earth out and gagging while doing it! Got 120 lbs of sand in it now and they are so happy and active. Usually crabby paddy has went down by now for his yearly molt but has been detained because of the nasty e.e. so I'm hoping he will get to molting soon, then the others follows after.

@Laurie, as you know ee is made from ground up coconut husks which causes it to have a strong odor anyway as it decays but when it gets wet and stays wet for a long period of time it is subject to mildewing, molding and growing fungi and lots of bacteria which will cause it to have a whole different smell as it has essentially been rotting that process is sped up and the bacteria responsible for decomp flourish due to the presence of excess moisture.I've used ee in the past and am not a big fan of it on its own as it does tend to spoil/stink much faster than sand and is a lot harder to sterilize to get rid of the odor.I'm now using a substrate exclusively made up of play sand and my tank has stayed looking nicer and smelling better and I made the switch last year due to the same issues you've had with ee.

What could've caused the smell? Eco earth is technically just branded coco fiber right? I find it interesting that it could actually smell bad without anything rotting in it.

@Tongue Flicker, ee is an organic material and all organic materials rot over time due to the presence of certain bacteria so its actually the bacteria responsible for the decomp process causing the odor.

Oh yes not my first rodeo with smelly eco earth, this just seemed more nastier than any other time. I like the eco cause it's easier to get rid of, I can take it to the land fill. I don't like the looks of it either, just messy dirty. Sand is hard to to dispose of here, but very clean looking. I have the white kind from farm king. Yes it's all natural play sand, washed to... to others that maybe reading this, sand does mold to if the bottom of your sand gets over saturated for long periods of time to.

It probably smells because1. It is real coconut, so I decomposesAnd 2. If it is really wet the it makes sense that it smells

I've been using the same coco fiber mix for my reptiles, scorpions and tarantulas for more than a decade without problems. Even getting to the point where they're damp. Take note, crickets and small vertebrate prey do smell a lot when they're remains are rotting dead inside a tank but never had smell issues with coco fibers for more than half a day.Probably coz you keep your tanks covered and heated?? I had more issues with sand since they hold bad odors well and hence they smell bad longer too. That sour, citrusy smell is kinda stressful haha

I dont leave food in my tank and those types my crabs don't touch anyway. My eco earth was rotting because of extreme moisture over load on one end of the tank because of the tank not being level,water pooling at the one end and I try to get it stirred up once in while to dry it out. yes I have jacked it up as much as I can but with a 140 year old house, there is not much I can do to keep the substrate moist, humidity up and not have it dry out during the winter months. No I can't move my 55 gallon tank my living room is 2walls of Windows, very cold drafty Windows, my other wall is a door and couch, that leaves one wall across from the heat register. Yes I mist from above but it just dries out fast, and I just don't have time to stir up everything all the time. Not the first time this happened to me..even happened with sand. Yes sand will mold to!

Oh i see you had a bog effect then. Yeah sand is one of the worst if they start getting molds and algae. It sticks and stains the glass and becomes an eyesore plus more funny smells lolToo bad a false bottom setup for hermits could prove worthy of raising the humidity but is also hazardous if they dig deep enough and get stuck