Water pools/pump

[nataliextodd]

Hello all! I just added a water pump to my hermies water pools. I've never seen them in their pools, granted they do come out at night. Now that there is a water pump, will they be more likely to go into the water? Are hermit crabs like other animals and prefer water to be "running"? Why do my crabs not use their pools much?

(I have two water pools, one salt and one fresh. I have instant ocean and test their salt level. The pools are deep enough for all three of my crabs to party in there if they want and I have shells stacked up in the pools so they can get out.)

[Links]

Check this out. She really concentrated on the water part.
https://youtu.be/4ZvBcrxy8Ic


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[aussieJJDude]

I find my crabs to appreciate running water, while I kmow otjer crabbers find their crabs like the water tp be still. Be interesting to see what you find, but generally they do like watrr movement

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[Motörcrab]

I really think a lot has to do how easy they can access the pools. If they are unsure of the ramps, or think they may move or drop they may avoid the pools. The last thing a crab will want to do is go swimming and drown. We know the ramps are safe but to them they may feel they are accidents waiting to happen.

[wodesorel]

I've had crabs that were downright terrified of the running motor. It really depends on them and what they will tolerate. They like running water but it can be hard to give them that without scaring them.

[CrabbyChelle628]

I just got a 55 gal and I want to upgrade my pools. I want to do it right the first time. How?
I want to get everything set up before I move the crabs in.

I’m not that experienced with crabbing but as I go up from a 20L, to a 55G I want to do everything right. As of right now my pools are glass bowls of FW and SW with a few rocks in the bottom. My FW has something tiny in little groups moving on top of it that I am not sure what it is.

If possible I would like help on what to do and how to set up the pools in my 55g without breaking the bank.


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[Motörcrab]

I just got a 55 gal and I want to upgrade my pools. I want to do it right the first time. How?
I want to get everything set up before I move the crabs in.

I’m not that experienced with crabbing but as I go up from a 20L, to a 55G I want to do everything right. As of right now my pools are glass bowls of FW and SW with a few rocks in the bottom. My FW has something tiny in little groups moving on top of it that I am not sure what it is.

If possible I would like help on what to do and how to set up the pools in my 55g without breaking the bank.


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It all depends on how elaborate you want to go with the pools. The easiest way would be to get plastic food containers from a dollar store. They have a dozen or so sizes to choose from. Get two containers for each water pool, four total containers. So the crabs can climb in and out of the pools you can purchase small zip ties and some crafting mesh also called plastic canvas to line the insides of the pools with. For water movement you can purchase an inexpensive air pump, air tubing, air stones, air control valve, and air line "T".

The first container can be placed into the substrate first. Add a few stones to the bottom of that container. Then place the pool with the mesh and bubblers into the first pool. The stones in the bottom of the first container will allow to easily pull the top pool out . The bottom container acts as a buffer so you run less risk of disturbing a molting crab that may be next to the containers.

All together this set up should only be under $40 or less.
$4 for four containers
$1 for a sheet of crafting mesh
$4 a pack of zip ties
$10 air filter
$5 air tubing
$3 air "T's"
$3 air control valves
$4 air stones

[CrabbyChelle628]

Ok thank you


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[CrabbyChelle628]

I watched the video of Chollaqueen’s crab con presentation and was wondering what she meant by cycling?


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[Motörcrab]

Cycling is when you allow the water to gain "good" bacteria. It requires a good bit of work at the beginning in order to cycle it.
Once cycled the pools only require minimal water changes 25-50% anywhere from once a week to monthly. Cycling the pools is the easiest way to mimic natural waters.

The crabs start by dropping food, and poop into the water to begin the cycling. That begins to raise the ammonia levels. Eventually nitrates will build in the water to eat the ammonia. As the nitrate raise ammonia levels drop. Eventually the nitrate levels increase and that causes the nitrites build to eat the nitrates. Once you have minimal levels of all three your water is cycled.

[Links]

I can give a little tip. Incase y’all haven’t seen my latest post about my pool filters. I couldn’t get the salt water to cycle. Nitrites keep building up daily. Even with daily water changes. Finally I cleaned the filter cartridges. Not change them but just cleaned them. And now I have zero nitrites. And the nitrates are lower too. I guess the cartridge was just that dirty. I fought the nitrites for months doing daily water changes. No more of that!

Edit: clean them in dechlorinated water (I used water I drained from the pool) so you don’t kill bacteria

[Motörcrab]

I can give a little tip. Incase y’all haven’t seen my latest post about my pool filters. I couldn’t get the salt water to cycle. Nitrites keep building up daily. Even with daily water changes. Finally I cleaned the filter cartridges. Not change them but just cleaned them. And now I have zero nitrites. And the nitrates are lower too. I guess the cartridge was just that dirty. I fought the nitrites for months doing daily water changes. No more of that!

Edit: clean them in dechlorinated water (I used water I drained from the pool) so you don’t kill bacteria

That's interesting. you use charcoal inside your filters? When I was getting mine set up AussieDude told me that the charcoal is mainly for taking medicines out of the water. I don't think that would affect anything with cycling. I just thought I would mention it.

I used the air powered filters rather than the powered ones with my pools. Less chance of a crab deciding to pick at the power cord. They were less than $7 each. I added bio stones onto the bottom of each filter then filled the top with the filter media. I also added some of the bio stones to the bottom of each pool too. The bio stones are supposed to give the good bacteria places to attach and grow.

The strange thing and I can not figure it out. These is no growth that I can see in my filtered pools. In CrabbyLand, my 29 gallon tank their non filtered saltwater pool without bubblers has a nice green tint to the entire container. The bio stones in that even have green on them. It's been this way for months. I have been checking the levels of this pool and I have been getting about a week out of it. For cleaning this pool I haven't been scrubbing it. I remove the stones and rinse the inside of all the sand and other dirt in it. My theory with this experiment is in the wild crabs will not always be able to get fresh water. They will get water from puddles, tide pools and wherever else they can. That water will have leaves, dirt, and who knows what else mixed in. My thoughts are that the algae is helping to "clean" the water and make it similar to what they would experience in nature. I sometimes think that cleaning the pool containers all the time discourages them from having more interaction with water. I've been doing this since maybe November with no issues that I'm aware of.

I can't explain why this has only happened with the salt water and not the fresh. I'm puzzled with that considering they are side by side in the tank. Both pools do get activity too.

[Links]

That's interesting. you use charcoal inside your filters? When I was getting mine set up AussieDude told me that the charcoal is mainly for taking medicines out of the water. I don't think that would affect anything with cycling. I just thought I would mention it.

I used the air powered filters rather than the powered ones with my pools. Less chance of a crab deciding to pick at the power cord. They were less than $7 each. I added bio stones onto the bottom of each filter then filled the top with the filter media. I also added some of the bio stones to the bottom of each pool too. The bio stones are supposed to give the good bacteria places to attach and grow.

The strange thing and I can not figure it out. These is no growth that I can see in my filtered pools. In CrabbyLand, my 29 gallon tank their non filtered saltwater pool without bubblers has a nice green tint to the entire container. The bio stones in that even have green on them. It's been this way for months. I have been checking the levels of this pool and I have been getting about a week out of it. For cleaning this pool I haven't been scrubbing it. I remove the stones and rinse the inside of all the sand and other dirt in it. My theory with this experiment is in the wild crabs will not always be able to get fresh water. They will get water from puddles, tide pools and wherever else they can. That water will have leaves, dirt, and who knows what else mixed in. My thoughts are that the algae is helping to "clean" the water and make it similar to what they would experience in nature. I sometimes think that cleaning the pool containers all the time discourages them from having more interaction with water. I've been doing this since maybe November with no issues that I'm aware of.

I can't explain why this has only happened with the salt water and not the fresh. I'm puzzled with that considering they are side by side in the tank. Both pools do get activity too.

Good info! Is your lighting different in one tank from the other? The green tint is it algae? I don’t see any algae growing in either of mine. I wonder if lighting is too low in mine for algae. Over more time I’m sure I’ll see some kind of algae surely. Seems it can grow in the lowest of lighting but I’m not sure.

And I found my filters on amazon or chewy. Seems I got a good deal. I think they were $12. And I got extra cartridges that I’ll use when the others start to break down and fall apart. And I’ve covered my cords with lava rock around the filter and a pvc pipe from the top of the filter to the top of the tank. They shouldn’t be able to get to the cords. And yes I was using carbon that came with the filter. I thought it be good to run it at first Incase there were any chemicals that inadvertently were in the water. But now the carbon is probably spent and just serving the purpose of surface area for bacteria so I’ll leave them in. I just lightly massage in the water I siphon to clean them. Other than that I don’t do any scrubbing of anything in the pools.

I’m just so excited I have a clean bioactive sw pool now. I was starting to get really low on prime and instant ocean. With a busy life and family I just wasn’t really thinking that cleaning the filter cartridge was going to do anything. The Fw pool has been good but it could probably use a filter clean as well.

So my pools don’t really have any substrate to speak of they are pretty much a bare bottom. But there should be enough surface area in the filter media and the lava rock for the bacteria to live on. I could also use some bio stones like you mentioned and put them inside the filter or on the bottom of the pool itself. I’ll eventually upgrade the pools because if they all decide to take a dip together it will be crowded. When I do that I’ll need to go back and read your topic with AussieJJdude because I’m not sure what to use for substrate in the pools. I used a little bit of gravel I had for my freshwater and I don’t like it because the gravel is too small and it has a chance to get in their shell. Not sure if that’s really a problem or not.

[Motörcrab]

My lights are slightly different but nothing that should change anything. in the 29 I have an old fluorescent hood light on that. The 75 has a UVB bulb on one side and LED hood on the other. The UVB buld is on the saltwater side too. I would think that would possibly increase the algae growth.

I don't have much substrate in my pools. A thin layer of small lava stones on the bottom, maybe a half inch. It's just enough to cover the bottom and give the crabs something the grip.

The biggest thing I have noticed is that most of the time they don't fully submerge. Mine generally sit on a platform that is about an inch below the water and play on that. It's pretty common for me to see two of them wading on that ledge.

I really wish more people would experiment with different water pool designs. It's an essential requirement for hermits to drink and to regulate the water in their shells. I really think there is more to water than just supplying pools deep enough to fully submerge.

[CrabbyChelle628]

As I mentioned before on the top of my FW pool are groups of little white things that seem to be moving. Does anyone have any idea what they could be?


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