Salt and Fresh Water Pool Upgrades! 2.5G Cycled

[Motörcrab]

I believe the crabs are really liking the saltwater pool. I have seen several hovering around the top at different times. Ateast one crab is really liking it! For the last three days the same crab has been at the bottom of the pool when I wake up in the morning. Trying to see how long he stays in the water it was about an hour from when he went in until I saw him.



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[Hungrytree]

I believe the crabs are really liking the saltwater pool. I have seen several hovering around the top at different times. Ateast one crab is really liking it! For the last three days the same crab has been at the bottom of the pool when I wake up in the morning. Trying to see how long he stays in the water it was about an hour from when he went in until I saw him.



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I love this!!! I’m going to start researching pools like this for my guys. I’ll need a bigger tank than the 29 gallon they are on now but it’s not too early to dream.


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[Motörcrab]

I finally managed to upgrade my freshwater pool two weeks ago. I tweaked a few things to try and improve the set up.

I picked up some lava rock for household plants for the background. AussieJJDude suggested this. He was right it took a lot of rinsing to get them clean. The water was completely brown for a while.

The one issue I have with my salt pool is having the filter wanting to float. I combated this by marking where it sits on the rear wall and the base. When I siliconed the lava rock to the back I kept them clear of the filter area. I also siliconed stones to the bottom. My idea is the rear wall will help lock the filter in place. The stones on the bottom also help too. They also keep the loose stones from pushing up the filter.




I also made my top deck larger since the crabs really love hanging out on the salt pool one. I have seen crabs hanging out on top but not in the pool yet. I'll give them more time to explore before changing things up. I think the top may be too large and the restricted ramp may be scaring them from entering the water.


I really think the plastic plants and craft mesh on the ramps make the crabs feel more secure. It gives them more thing to grip and grab.




I also replaced the charcoal in the filter to biological filter media so it will gather good bacteria.

I'm also experimenting with the bio media in standard pools and a few other things in another tank. I'm hoping to achieve a partially cycled pool by creating good bacteria in the bio media. I'm hoping it may increase activity in standard pools.

Just because I could add more pictures. Some of my berries enjoying the saltwater!





Yes, I did notice a big difference in salt water activity after adding the bioactive pool!

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[Motörcrab]

I did my full water changes on both tanks tonight. I wasn't happy with the first level in the water. I felt it was too low. While I had everything apart I raised it about 1.5 inches. That made the shelf about an inch below the waters surface. After the lights went out my crabs decided to emerge. I noticed Wendigo playing on the first level! A few minutes later I peeked in again and didn't see her. Upon further investigation she was all the way at the bottom! This is the first time I saw anyone in the freshwater! A berry too!

I believe the first level in the water is critical to be 1 to 1.5 inches below the waters surface. I noticed the same thing with my salt pool too.

Sorry for the bad pic but I almost had to be double jointed to get the second pic. I don't have any clear lines of site inside the pool.



I just checked the playback on my cam. She spent about 90 minutes swimming!

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[Maddamay32]

Wow how impressive. Do you have any pp? That's all I have and I really want to see yours take advantage of the new pools.

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[ciaraalston]

Love love love this!!!
I have some questions!
How often are water changes needed? Would you do a full water change, or half, or 10%ish?
When doing a partial water change on the salt water pool, would you replace with salt water or fresh water?
Does anyone use a vacuum on their pools, or just water changes?


I can't wait to do this for my tank!!! I'm getting so antsy

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[Maddamay32]

Love love love this!!!
I have some questions!
How often are water changes needed? Would you do a full water change, or half, or 10%ish?
When doing a partial water change on the salt water pool, would you replace with salt water or fresh water?
Does anyone use a vacuum on their pools, or just water changes?


I can't wait to do this for my tank!!! I'm getting so antsy

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Me toooooo. I think about it everyday. I even have an Amazon list of things I will need and keep adding to it. I don't think I'm prepared yet, but the plan is heavy on my mind. Very excited but still feel very inadequate

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[Motörcrab]

Love love love this!!!
I have some questions!
How often are water changes needed? Would you do a full water change, or half, or 10%ish?
When doing a partial water change on the salt water pool, would you replace with salt water or fresh water?
Does anyone use a vacuum on their pools, or just water changes?


I can't wait to do this for my tank!!! I'm getting so antsy

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I have been doing 50% water changes every two weeks. About 98% change monthly. I say 98% because there is always maybe 1/8" of water left on the bottom of the pool.

I do both pools the same way. If there is some evaporation in the saltwater it may raise the salinity a little. I believe by doing a monthly change it will reset the salinity back to the original salt content. I never measured it so I am not 100% sure.

When I do my water changes I pull my ramps and platforms out and scoop the water out with a cup. When it gets to about half I move my stones around to kick up sand and other junk that settles on the bottom. I did but a siphon for cleaning but it is way too big for the 2.5 gallon pools.

I don't fill the tanks all the way to the top. I leave the water about 2 inches below the bottom to the top trim. Each 2.5 gallon pool actually only holds about 1.5 gallons of water. I like having the room at the top just in case all crabs would decide to have a pool party it won't overflow and soak my substrate. Also since I have my pools just sitting on top of the substrate if the dig and pool tilts it won't spill.

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[Links]

Hey everyone! these pools look legit!!!
I have experience with freshwater fish tanks so i understand all the jargon but i am new to using refractometers and a tds meter.
apparently you need calibrating liquid for calibrating those as using distilled or RO for calibrating is said to be too far off from normal water parameters the calibration may be off.
Anyway Im not sure my TDS meter is correct. I get a reading of 170 ppm in my freshwater pool and i suppose my saltwater is so high because i get a flashing reading which im assuming means off the chart. my meter is supposed to read as high as 9990ppm. my tap water is about 140ppm
i havent seen the crabs in the water much lately
below are my freshwater parameters:
ph:7.8 , ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10-20, copper 0, TDS 172, KH and GH test kits on the way!
i was going to do a water change to slightly lower the ph and nitrates but that would also lower the TDS which already seems low to me compared to yalls numbers. This is my first experience with a TDS meter. It also said it automatically adjusts reading for different temperatures.

If i need to ask this somewhere else please let me know.

[aussieJJDude]

pH looks fine to me. Acidic pH usually means a reduced gH/kH, which means there's not a whole lot of calcium. As nitrates look fine to me, aim under 40ppm (I'd keep it around 5-20ppm).


The TDS is also fine. Remember, its total dissolved solids - so 140 could be low to some people, high tp others. My TDS is around 60 - 100, and it keeps most of my aquatic pets happy/healthy. Most people keep their TDS for inverts pretty high anyway - I wouldn't worry too much about it tbh.

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[Links]

Thanks again Aussiedude!
Hope those fires subside soon down under!


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[aussieJJDude]

All good. Didn't really offer much assistance tbh. For our crabs, as long as ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is acceptable, they should be fine.


Thankfully, I haven't directly been affected by the fires (much more than some serious air pollution) but I know of many friends that have been. :/

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[orangeinecrab]

Do you have any updates on your pools? I've recently ordered two 12 litre tanks and all the equipment I need for them. I own fish and I'm excited to try cycled pools with my purple pinchers (I realise they don't often like deep pools like other species but it's worth a try). I'm going to cycle both tanks outside of my hermit crab tank so I can get the parameters perfect before letting the hermit crabs use them.

[GotButterflies]

Your pools are great Dan!

[Motörcrab]

Do you have any updates on your pools? I've recently ordered two 12 litre tanks and all the equipment I need for them. I own fish and I'm excited to try cycled pools with my purple pinchers (I realise they don't often like deep pools like other species but it's worth a try). I'm going to cycle both tanks outside of my hermit crab tank so I can get the parameters perfect before letting the hermit crabs use them.

Sorry for the super delayed reply! I've been still doing 50-75% water changes about once a month if the pool needs it or not. My purples still only toe dip. Although I separated him from a strawberry last week. Wasn't sure if he was trying to mate or a shell jacking. I placed him above the salt pool and he decided to submerge. I haven't noticed a lot of activity but I currently have 3 out of 5 straws up and don't have a cam on the pools. I know I said it several times in this post, but i really think the key for water activity is to have a platform just below the waters surface. I really think crabs are afraid of steep drop offs. Did you ever miss judge a step and think you dropped 100 feet rather than a few inches? I think the crabs have the same feeling. I would say I 80% of the time I see crabs just above the water or hanging out on that platform.