Stupid question

[myllkti]

Ok I'm about to be so annoying. Sorry I just can't get it out of my head. For those that experimented with the substrate mix, why did you prefer 5:1? My reasoning for asking is going to be so stupid but it's just been nagging at me for weeks. It's just 5+1 makes for a total of 6 parts which doesn't go into 100 evenly. How big is the difference between 5:1 and 4:1?

Not to worry I have recommended 5:1 to those I encounter and I used abouuuut 5:1 as I know that's the ideal consistency it's just that this has been nagging at me so I wanted to just settle that voice in head going "but why can't it just be 4:1". Thanks in advance for dealing w me haha

[curlysister]

There is no ideal. All play sand, all eco earth, or a mix in any ratio are all fine.
And any number of parts goes into any size tank. Well, unless one 'part' is like 20 gallons, then you are correct that it won't go.

[myllkti]

Oh! I guess I must’ve misunderstood the care guide! Thank you so much, I know it was a stupid issue to have with the ratio but it was bothering me so much and I feel a lot better now, which is stupid but yeah haha. <3


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[DragonsFly]

No, that's not stupid at all; it says 5:1, that seems really specific, so it's understandable you might think there was a specific reason for that particular ratio. But me, I like to give them a "beach end" of the tank that is all play sand, then transition over to a "jungle end" that is a mix of EE and play sand; on the jungle end, I just layer play sand and EE until I get it up to the height I want. One of my crabs likes to dig in the beach end, the other one prefers the jungle end.

[myllkti]

No, that's not stupid at all; it says 5:1, that seems really specific, so it's understandable you might think there was a specific reason for that particular ratio. But me, I like to give them a "beach end" of the tank that is all play sand, then transition over to a "jungle end" that is a mix of EE and play sand; on the jungle end, I just layer play sand and EE until I get it up to the height I want. One of my crabs likes to dig in the beach end, the other one prefers the jungle end.

Thank you! That's very validating and also a nice idea!

[DragonsFly]

I mostly do it for aesthetic reasons, and a small attempt to give them as naturalistic as possible a captive habitat, but when I discovered that Billie Jean likes to dig in all-sand better, and Major Tom prefers to dig in the mix, I've always designed my tanks that way ever since, with the marine salt water pool on the beach end, and the fresh water source over "in the jungle" (where I also have pothos growing).

[JoeHermits]

That specific ratio was created by a hobbyist trying to recreate what crabs would encounter in the wild to decrease exotics’ mortality. It’s nothing like what they would have but the idea caught on and it works well so we’ve been recommending it since.


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[Alaina]

There are no stupid questions. That would make my OCD son insane to think about as well lol. I think most of us feel we have stupid questions even though I've read the crab info on various sites and answers 20x I still find weird questions. Not to mention, they all vary in answers honestly.

[myllkti]

Thank you to Alaina and JoeHermits for your reassurances and elaboration!

And I’m glad you were able to stumble upon something that worked so well for your crabs, Dragonfly!


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[DragonsFly]

So far, so good! My original two rescues still doing okay, coming up on 10 years this fall. . .

[quinnmquinn]

I verge on the side of too much sand. Used to have too much coco and it got kinda sloppy/moldy. I have the same size tank 36x18x18 and that came up to 2 bags of play sand and 2 bricks of coco for the perfect mix. Enough to keep the sand moist but not soggy.


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[crabocado]

Following up on this discussion, this seems a good opportunity for me to ask why anyone bothers with sand, and apparently one answer is that coconut fiber gets sloppy/moldy. The reason I have never used sand is that I don't honestly know what "play sand" is, I only shop in pet stores (e.g. PetSmart, PetCo, or local aquarium shops), and I have never seen anything called "play sand". Also it seemed like there is added work involved when you combine things (measuring, mixing, etc.), although now I've learned that you can simply make layers and let the crabs do the mixing. So my main question is, what improvement does sand contribute to the mix?

[JoeHermits]

Play sand is a silica product sold for children’s sandboxes. You won’t find it in pet stores.

It holds moisture and structure better than coconut fiber alone.


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[curlysister]

Play sand is found at hardware stores. It's way cheaper than EE, so that's a bonus for us 'thrifty' crabbers!

[Alaina]

I personally don't feel it to bad cleaning. I scoop their poop and if needed I scoop out any that looks bad, norm that's not an issue. Deep on tank conditions I clean clean(not a tech term lol) 6-12months. I try my best to stay with nature and I don't think anyone is cleaning up after them in nature but o. The other hand nature has a wonderfully brilliant way of working to do those things naturally, which is why I clean as needed without overly disturbing their stuff. That's me though. I do use the play sand(depot) and fiber mix. MY younger son(hes 10) actually enjoys making it up. If he had it his way he would change it daily. He loves them and we are co-caregivers