HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have my crabitat overrun  with mites and I cannot do any deep clean because i have crabs under . And deep cleaning , etc. Will stress and possibly cause death to a molting in process crab They look like this! They are food and mold mites, but they crawl everywhere and annoy the crabs!! So I am gonna try the hypoaspis miles Just placed an order for a tube of 25,000 from Evergreen Growers Supply  Has anyone else treated with hypoaspis miles( predatory mites) and does it work?? 

I have never seen anything like that in my crabitat personally. Did you check out the archives? You can find them here...http://landhermitcrabs.com/eve...ms/a/f ... 02988There may be some information on either getting rid of them or the use of the hypasopis miles that you ordered.

I've never personally had to use the hypoaspis mites to treat for a mite infestation but I do know several of our other members here have done so quite successfully in the past.If one treatment doesn't work then you probably need to do two so that the eggs and mature pest mites get completely cleaned out.

You probably could have gotten away with the smaller tube of them, as they are meant for a whole green house. But they work, that's for sure

I have been lucky enough to NOT get mites so far.... Kuza you stole my crab. LOL JK! I just have one hat looks just like that!

Update: So I went with the hypoaspis miles from evergreen growers supply; tube of 25,000 and IT WORKED ! Yayy I would most definitely treat again if those other mites come back

Mine have come back, I think on my latest blues, sigh. At least I know 2 of these treatments will do the trick.

Awwe crap Kuza !! So you gonna do a treatment again ?? Well I also recently did a deep clean in my crabitat, took that advantage while all of my 6 are up! So I wonder how long it's gonna take for mine to come back!The mites also invaded the humidifier and tubing so I had to wash the humidifier out and changed tubing! They can clog up airflow

How do you get mites?can they ride in on new crabs? food? sand?

Crab mites come in on crabs only unless you live in an area with crabs. Normal food mites or dust mites or sand mites you will have everywhere, in your house, yard. That's just a fact of life.In fact if you have a basement or even better, a kitty litter, go watch the ground closely near it or even under it. Or leave a piece of wood or drywall on the ground for a few days then turn it over. I'm sure you will see house mites. So these mites can invade your crabitat anytime and repeatedly. You could ignore these mites. Well you could ignore all mites really, 99% of crabs have some sort of mite or have had them. I currently have both mites in my tank, so it's time for another H.Miles treatment or 2.

Update: doing another treatment, the mites are back !! But with a smaller number, 12,500 since my tank is small 20gal

You sure you're not seeing the H.Miles mites still?

quote:Originally posted by kuza:You sure you're not seeing the H.Miles mites still? Hmmm , I admit, I think I am having trouble recognizing them. This tube I recently got, I checked by pouring a bit on the back white invoice sheet and I saw a few brownish ones crawling, so the culture is alive, then I put them in the crabitat. Now it's unrecognizable. I see all the white mites I already had overrunning the food and everywhere else . Do h miles climb glass ?? Because my other white mites are and is h miles white as well and how big are they ?

The H.Miles themselves are tan and they do climb glass for sure. The males are super tiny and the young mites will be super tiny as well and look like moving fuzz. But I think the mold/feeder mties they sometimes add with the H.miles may also be the ones you are seeing. Either way, the mites in your natural area will continue to invade a nice warm moist tank. They aren't crab mites if they are on the food so they aren't as much of a big deal to worry about.

Thanks for clarifying that Kuza !! They also climb on the crabs, but just for the heck of it though !! They sometimes get annoyed