Second story materials

[TunaCreb]

I’m currently working on getting a hermit crab tank started. It will be my first time owning hermit crabs. I’m 17 and I’m on a budget! I purchased a 29 gallon tank for my future hermies and I was wondering what materials might be good for a second level. I read a lot of the topics and questions here and I have a good idea of what I can’t and can use for my tank. I still have to ask as I am dead set on trying to use wood for my tank, is it possible to somehow use one of those sample pieces of floorboard you get when picking out new flooring as a base for my second level? I plan on covering it in net or rocks so they have a better grip to climb onto it but I don’t wanna make a second level base if it’s toxic. It’s already pre sealed and I assume it’s waterproof. If anyone can help thanks! My second idea was to take desk organizer trays or whatever and cut them to my desired size and all that jazz. I just want something that’s cheap, easy to use and cut and create, but safe for the crabs. All advice is appreciated!


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[crabbycasey]

I just very recently saw where someone used clear plastic risers for 2nd level stuff! I typed it into Amazon search and am ordering some myself. I like that they’re clear bc it keeps them from being an eye sore. My tank is set up to look very natural...really looks like a mini jungle, lol. I plan to use some of my greenery around/on the risers to keep the theme!

You sound like me in wanting to use what you’ve got around the house! I too was always questioning if the materials were safe for the crabs. If I wasn’t sure, I didn’t use it.

Hope you get more feedback...and have fun getting it all set up! Post pics when you’re done, love seeing other tanks!


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[TunaCreb]

I just very recently saw where someone used clear plastic risers for 2nd level stuff! I typed it into Amazon search and am ordering some myself. I like that they’re clear bc it keeps them from being an eye sore. My tank is set up to look very natural...really looks like a mini jungle, lol. I plan to use some of my greenery around/on the risers to keep the theme!

You sound like me in wanting to use what you’ve got around the house! I too was always questioning if the materials were safe for the crabs. If I wasn’t sure, I didn’t use it.

Hope you get more feedback...and have fun getting it all set up! Post pics when you’re done, love seeing other tanks!


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Thanks! Can I see what you’re ordering off Amazon? They sound like I could use them!


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[CrabbyLover77]

These are the plastic risers I bought last year.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07LC4 ... asin_title

I have all 3 of them in my 55 gal. I keep my salt pool on top of the tallest riser, and the fresh pool underneath. I used double sided tape to attach craft mesh to each riser. Then I used zip ties to attach cholla wood to the mesh. The mesh and cholla wood allow the crabs to climb up the risers. I believe each riser measures 4", 6", and 8".

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[Enson]

I've tried 3 methods.
1. Egg crate/lighting diffuser (held together with zip ties) wrapped in craft mesh/plastic canvas for a walking surface.
2. Tension rods wrapped in jute with a climbing net in between
3. Corrugated plastic (held together with silicone and decorated with stones)

Currently I have 1 & 3. I'm probably going to try fitting number 2 back in at some point. It was just tough to get the food bowl in and out after I added number 3. Lol. Also I'm going to try for a more natural look next time without using the egg crate/craft mesh

Note: if you use the corrugated plastic keep in mind that the bend radius is different from one axis to the other.. you have to cut one side of one direction with a razer blade to get it to bend and it makes a near 0 bend radius. If you don't know what I mean, basically the sides you can bend without cutting will be shorter than the side you have to cut so just make a test piece so you can see how much longer to make your cuts. I did not do this and just covered it up with substrate lol.

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[crabbycasey]

There they are! It was Crabbylover that had them...those are it! I’ll post once I get mine and figure out how I want to use them. I think I ordered the bigger/longer ones. Thanks for the idea CrabbyLover!


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[CrabbyLover77]

There they are! It was Crabbylover that had them...those are it! I’ll post once I get mine and figure out how I want to use them. I think I ordered the bigger/longer ones. Thanks for the idea CrabbyLover!


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You're welcome! I hope your crabbies enjoy yours too! I'd love to see pics when you're all done.
When I bought mine, I didn't have a soldering iron. So I used double sided tape to attach the mesh. But if you happen to have a soldering iron (looks like a pen that the point heats to 200°+), it can poke holes through plastic. If you melt a couple of holes in the plastic, you can thread zip ties through them and the mesh. Once the tape I used gives way, that's what I'm going to try. I got my iron for about $25 on Amazon. But so far the tape is holding.

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[crabbycasey]

I’ve been wondering how I would do that, haha...thank you for the suggestion!Thought I might try to cover them in lots of greenery so you can’t even see the riser...and they can hopefully just climb on the vegetation! We’ll see, lol! I will def post pics once I do it...just have to wait til my crabs come up! They are all 5 molting and it’s my first molt ever as a crab owner so I’m pretty paranoid about disturbing the tank. Scared if I start moving stuff around, it could collapse tunnels. I’m going to be so ready to redecorate by then, lol!


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[Enson]

If you use a soldering iron please do it in a well ventilated area. Don't want to be breathing plastic fumes.

You can also use a drill/dremel, but if you aren't experienced with drilling plastic, you'll want to practice on a test piece since some plastics are easy to crack. I can write up a quick plastic drilling how-to if anyone is interested.

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[crabbycasey]

If you use a soldering iron please do it in a well ventilated area. Don't want to be breathing plastic fumes.

You can also use a drill/dremel, but if you aren't experienced with drilling plastic, you'll want to practice on a test piece since some plastics are easy to crack. I can write up a quick plastic drilling how-to if anyone is interested.

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If it’s not too much trouble , that would be great! I have a drill...

Thank you, Enson!


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[Enson]

So this is all I can remember off hand.. if you have any questions please let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Oh edit!: Can't believe I forgot. Don't forget safety glasses. Protect those eyes!

This is probably more than necessary for at home use, but it's just best practices I've picked up from working as an engineer in a machine shop.

(Note all of this only applies to plastic. Other materials may have different strategies. Also keep in mind, plastics vary wildly. Acrylic is much easier to crack than say, polyethylene. With polypropylene being somewhere in between. That's why I always recommend a test piece or to do the first hole somewhere inconspicuous so you can hide any mistakes.)

Bit selection:
It's important to use a sharp bit. If you happen have a choice between 118 degree bits (made for soft materials like wood/plastic) and 135 degree bits (made for hard materials like steel), go with the 118's, but either will work. I've heard step drill bits work well on plastic but never tried it myself.
For the size of the bit, you'll want to go slightly bigger than the zip tie. If you have 1/8" wide zip ties, an 1/8" drilled hole may be too tight depending on the tolerance on the zip tie measurement. You'll probably want the next size up bit, but remember, you can always take away more material. Putting it back is much harder. Try to maintain 2x the diameter of the hole in wall thickness for any load bearing holes and at least 1x the diameter for cosmetic holes. The more you leave, the less likely you'll crack the plastic.

Starting the hole:
First I recommend taking your bit by hand (or preferably a pin vise, but I doubt you'll have one of those) and carefully twist it at the location you want the hole to be. This will make a pilot starting point to help you keep from "walking" and scratching the surface. Be very careful if you do this by hand. I would wrap a rag around it. I've cut myself more than once with the back end of the flutes of a drill bit doing this because I was too stubborn to put on a glove or wrap it in a rag.

Roughing the cut:
Put the drill bit in the notch created by the twisting done earlier. Slowly start drilling. You're goal here is to apply just enough pressure to bite and start cutting into the plastic, without cracking the plastic. There's some finesse required for this stage. Once you have a good cone started from the tip of the drill bit, ramp up the speed and slowly let off the pressure.

For a good finish you want high speed and low feed. What that means is to spin the drill as fast as it will go (or preferably something like a dremel that spins faster -may need to play with the speed depending on the material), but apply very little pressure. Let the drill do the cutting. In fact, with a lot of plastics you'll experience a screw like effect where the bit pulls into the hole without finishing the cut.. to fix this, you actually want to pull back on the bit.

Finishing the cut:
If you have a hole that will be visible and you want it to look nice, there are a few ways to clean it up.
The hole will likely be stringy on the ends. You can just clean up the edges with a knife or a larger drill bit spun by hand or very slowly in the drill to chamfer the hole.
If the hole itself has problems, perhaps for this material it would be a good idea to do a "rough cut" with one size smaller drill bit, then do a finish cut with the size you want.
If you are cutting acrylic specifically, you can very carefully hold a lighter to it and "flame polish" the inside of the hole. But again practice in an inconspicuous location incase you accidentally melt it.. lol

Plastic overheating:
If you notice any melting or discoloration of the plastic you can use water to keep it cool. Just don't get it near the drill motor or battery. Depending on the plastic you might get away with a lower speed on the drill spinning to prevent the discoloration.

Drill bit overheating
If you're only doing a few holes it won't really matter. If you do a lot of holes, dip the bit in water every now and then to keep the temp down so you don't overtemp and soften the bit.

There's lots of ifs ands and buts that are dependent on which plastic you have but after a couple of holes, you'll figure all of those things out. Lol

Another edit: if you have a vise with soft jaws, or some clamps, it will very much help to clamp down the workpiece before trying to do any of this.
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[crabbycasey]

I’m going to use my boyfriends hands as the clamp, lol. Your detailed instruction has me feeling very confident I can accomplish this task successfully, thank you so much! Once I get started on this project (when my 5 molters come up), I will ask questions as needed! Thank you again !


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[Enson]

I'm not going to say I haven't used the old hand vise before.. but it definitely isn't the world's safest option. Just be careful. Lol

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[crabbycasey]

Lol, will do !


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[Daddy crab]

Great ideas! I used hammocks to creat two additional levels and climbing branch/rack stick. For my crabs to climb up and down.

Im new to this site. Not sure how to post a picture yet.