Crabitat tank journal

[Scarletfire]

In between cleaning out the 30 gal and setting this up, the Substrate is moistened in a controlled manner, and I started to soak the cholla wood,just so it'll be moist. I'll pick up an air pump this weekend to bubble a jar that I'll leave in a corner. The hamster wheel.. Not sure where I'll put it.

To be purchased:
Crafting mesh for hamster wheel
Air pump
Check valve
Air line

(Yes I know I threw some plastic boxes in. They're still sandy, so I'll rinse and reuse for something else when the sand gets dusted off. The boxes dug into the sand are deeper. )

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[Scarletfire]

Mounted the hamster wheel upside down because I don't want to dig into the sand to clean the wheel. Shells, I put onto the jet on the left side, but I don't know if they are steady enough for they to change, or they might just drop it onto the ground anyways.. Thoughts? Air pump to come tomorrow.

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[Oliviet#1]

Nice job on the tank! I would think that the shells might fall, but if you want them out of the sand you can put them in another plastic container. Are you still gonna use the pvc pipe?

[Scarletfire]

Nice job on the tank! I would think that the shells might fall, but if you want them out of the sand you can put them in another plastic container. Are you still gonna use the pvc pipe?

I originally planned for it to be straight up to be honest, or just a tunnel for them to go through. I can move it out of the way.

If I make a new next with sticks on the side like a hammock.. Would that be steady enough for them to change shells?

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[GotButterflies]

Wow! Great job! What if you bought a basket from the dollar store for the shell shop?

[Scarletfire]

It's really weird telling people that I'm planning on adopting hermit crabs. Particularly when I don't have any in my tank yet and I just show them my tank photos and it LOOKS established.

I have pet sand. Its hard to keep it happy. Materials (air pump and new tubing) finally arrived for me to make this diy modified Bundy's humidifier. If brings it up, I'll probably make a second if it's humidity is still not high enough. 3rd hole on the cap, I'm debating between second output tube, or a tube to siphon water into the jar without taking it out of the tank.

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[Scarletfire]

It was concerning me that my Inkbird temperature humidity remote probe isn't working right (not going above 60% at all), so I ended up buying a remote sensor (thermometer only, by accident) and a temperature / humidity monitor.

My humidity went from 55 to 60-65% humidity when I added the jar, and 75% when I added a second airline to one of the water pools. A couple of questions / comments:
- For the jar, the cap is metal, and I already noticed rusting where the holes were drilled. If I replace the cap with craft mesh and some small rocks to hold it in place, is that sufficient?
- When the humidity is holding at 75% and I open the lid to only briefly switch air stones of two air lines, the humidity dropped to 70%. Is that normal?
- I did notice that the water pool with air stone is definitely splashing water out of the container after trying it for one day. Going to put a tray under to see how much water actually splashes.
- Instead of using a glass jar, is it okay to use a plastic water bottle? Just asking the question for these reasons: (a) the increase in humidity from the air stone in jar was much less than air stone in water pool; (b) jar is narrower than water pool, but there's a greater height; (c) water pool has a greater surface area).

[Oliviet#1]

Have you wet the sand yet? That could be why the humidity is so low. I have seen people suggest slowly putting declorinated water in the coners. Maybe a cup at a time?(I'm not sure) you can also cover the top of the tank/lid with plexiglass, glass, or plastic wrap to help hold in the humidity.

[Scarletfire]

Have you wet the sand yet? That could be why the humidity is so low. I have seen people suggest slowly putting declorinated water in the coners. Maybe a cup at a time?(I'm not sure) you can also cover the top of the tank/lid with plexiglass, glass, or plastic wrap to help hold in the humidity.

Yes, I've wet the sand. The tank has a sliding glass lid. I'm worried about accidentally flooding the tank with adding water into sand continuously. Not sure how to ensure it's controlled.

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[Scarletfire]

Humidity has stabled out to 78-80 after switching the large air stone into the jar, and smaller into water pool. I'm considering removing the air stone in the water pool into a jar as well, just to make it easier for water changes.

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[Scarletfire]

This is my final crabitat set-up. Local classifieds turned out a pair of crabs requiring adoption today from my wanted ad! No idea how big they are, their history or species.. (random call out of the blue), but we'll see! My go bin below wasn't sure what I needed. Packed last minute.

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[ROSIEonFIRE]

Wow! Looks great.

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[RiNiKy506]

Thank you for sharing your progress with us, I love seeing how peoples tanks come together. It turned out great, you did an amazing job!

[Scarletfire]

Thanks!

I was actually thinking that I actually do need the back glass pieces to slide as well to have better access to the back. It's been a hassle trying to rehydrate moss in the back.

Back to sanding this week. I'll prob need to plastic wrap the tank in the mean time.

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[Scarletfire]

Got a wyze camera, so that's what the interior looks like now. As for h th e sliding glass top... No amount of sanding down the sides worked to get the bottom pa r sliding, so I just ended up cutting the bottom half of the window moulding. Actually worked well to allow it to slide. In the 1 hr that the top was temporarily plastic wrapped, Pebbles tried to explore "more" than the crabitat. Scared me to death hoping that (a) his antenna won't get caught in the plastic wrap when I took it off, then (b) when he wouldn't let go. I completely understood. It took some teasing, but his claws eventually let go.

For those who have plastic wrap for your cover.. This is why something needs to be on top of the wrap.



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