Sandcastle consistency QUESTION

[jbjwanted]

I have a 10gal tank with 3 small Hermies. They currently have some of the Hermit Crab Sand from the pet store & some cocofiber on top. The more I’ve read, the more I realized that I needed something different. After several days of searching for Play Sand (most stores are out near me & I ended up making a 40 minute drive 1 way for a $5 bag of sand!), I finally found some. Purchased 3 days ago... then got home & read that it’s best to mix with the salt water... the marine salt was another 40 minute trip in the opposite direction today. Now, I believe I have everything, but I have no idea how much of the 50lbs of sand to use or how to mix it with the water.

Do I mix the water by the gallon & how much sand will mix with that amount... or what should I shoot for here? I’m a bit lost & I wanna get it right so they thrive.

Also, is it best to add the amount of desired sand to the tank and then mix it in the tank until correct consistency, or mix in another container & move it?


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[wodesorel]

If you have a large bucket or bin, I'd recommend mixing it outside of the tank. The sand can scratch the glass, and it's a LOT of work, so the more elbow room you have, the easier it will be.

For a 10 gallon, you'll need most, if not all, of that 50lbs. Go slow with the water as it's easier to add more, then to wait for it to dry out. I usually use about a half-gallon of water to a bag of sand, but it really depends on how the bag was stored and how humid it is.

[jbjwanted]

Perfect! I was hoping that someone would give me a clue & I’ll expect it to be roughly that much... I think the 50 should give them plenty of room, I was completely worried about the approximate ratio to watch for... I’m very happy for the “starting point” THANK YOU!!


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[jbjwanted]

One other thing... can Distilled water be used for making the Marine Salt Water??


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[jbjwanted]

Or Spring water??


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[wodesorel]

Either distilled or spring can be used to mix substrate, with or without the salt mix. For drinking freshwater, spring is better. For drinking saltwater, either would work.

Tap water is absolutely safe to use for everything if you use a dechlorinator like Prime on it!

[jbjwanted]

Thanks for that info!!


I spent literally hours last night on my babies...

I made MSW from a fresh gallon of Distilled Water. (Added 8 TBS of the Instant Ocean cuz it said 1/2 cup per US gallon)

I did end up using about a half gallon of that MSW to mix with the 50 lbs of Play Sand.

I used a separate completely fresh gallon of regular Distilled Water to “fluff up” a brick of the CocoFiber... hand-squeezed the extra water out & mixed that in with the Play Sand.

Pulled everything out of their tank, wiped it all down, replaced their substrate with the sand/CocoFiber mix (they have approximately 6 inches depth now), replaced all of their items back into the tank and added a bowl of the MSW mix (previously not in their tank), & then placed the babies back in.

I had hoped that the new substrate mix would have upped their humidity more than what it did, so I will be adding the ReptiFogger I bought (a few days ago) to their tank today. I’ve had the worst trouble getting the humidity high enough!!!
Current Temp: 75°F / 76°F
Current Humidity: 72

We also think that our crabs may have not been in a “close to natural” habitat before... none of them have even attempted to dig anywhere yet. They all seem to stay huddled in their Hermie Hut. I understand why they did before since the substrate wasn’t an actual consistency or depth appropriate for that sort of thing, but I’m a bit surprised they haven’t tried yet in the new sub.

Could it be that they’re still just waiting for a higher humidity? I’m trying to fix this, I really am!

To hear my other half tell this story... “ we’ve now spent literally hundreds of dollars on $10 worth of crabs”
But... they’re so cute!! How could anyone get them & not at least try to do a good job to make them as comfortable as possible!?!?


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[curlysister]

Give it a day or two for the humidity to stabilize, it could still come up a bit more.

[jbjwanted]

So I should wait before adding the ReptiFogger?

I also bought a timer/power bar contraption for it... even if I wait a day or two to add that, would 15 minutes every 4 hours be reasonable??


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[JoeHermits]

That timeframe sounds like a good place to start. Foggers are finicky and every tank is different, so you may find yourself adjusting it further to get the conditions you want.


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[jbjwanted]

That timeframe sounds like a good place to start. Foggers are finicky and every tank is different, so you may find yourself adjusting it further to get the conditions you want.


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I’ll keep that in mind, thank you!


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