DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

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Spocktopus
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Location: New Jersey

DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Spocktopus » Fri Jan 07, 2022 5:40 pm

Hey everyone! I’ve been working for the last few days on a 40 gallon tank for my two crabs, Scuttle and Tank. I’ve had them in a glass 10 gallon tank since I got them in Dec. 2020, they have molted 3 times since then and I felt it was time for an upgrade. 40 gallons is a bit overkill for their sizes (1 in and 1 1/2 in leg spans), but they are awesome and I wanted to give them tons of space to explore and burrow.

Here’s all the supplies I picked up:

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The bin is a Sterilite 160 qt, sadly the lid is opaque but every bin with a clear lid and the right size is sold out in my area. I also got 150 lbs of Quikcrete Play Sand and several bricks of Eco-Earth for the substrate. The toys and decor was from Petco, Dollar Tree, and Walmart.

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I added in about 130 lbs of the sand along with approx. two bricks of EE, in the normal 5:1 ratio. I just used a cup and put in five cups of sand, one cup of EE, and a bit of dechlorinated water and repeated until I hit 7 inches. This thing is crazy heavy, but slides along the carpet perfectly which will be great for when I need to hide them from the landlord Image

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This is a picture of the (mostly) completed project! My favorite part is the lights, they’re hooked up to an app on my phone and I can control the colors, intensity, and schedule. I made the hide in the middle by threading some pet-safe plastic plants through the spaces of a clear Dollar Tree paper holder. There’s a shell shop under the hide. I also put a 3 in. curved PVC pipe and a large decorative piece of driftwood, as well as some more shells, fresh and salt water pools, and a hamster wheel. I will remove the wheel if my crabs aren’t interested, but I’ve seen other people use them and I wanted to give it a shot too. I would like to add some cholla logs, and I need a bigger heating pad as well. I’ll have to order those from Amazon this week.

I put both of my crabs in, and they immediately began exploring. Both of them are preoccupied with a large piece of cuttlebone at the moment, but I hope they enjoy their new enclosure! Tank was camera shy, but Scuttle let me get a picture of him Image

Image


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~ stay cool ~
pet dad to Dottie the dog + Scuttle and Tank the purple pinchers

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Jlmills525
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Jlmills525 » Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:36 pm

That all looks amazing!


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Wife, Mom, WoW player since Vanilla - Alliance Main
3 PPS - Eugene, Sheldon, Bortus
1 dog - Maggie
1 cat - Weston

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loveFoof
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by loveFoof » Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:51 pm

Looks awesome! :D
6 Adopted Purple Pinchers:
Mango, Papaya, Pea Pod, Tamatoa, General Grievous, and Yoonghi

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Spocktopus
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Location: New Jersey

Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Spocktopus » Fri Jan 07, 2022 9:01 pm

loveFoof wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:51 pm
Looks awesome! :D
Jlmills525 wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 6:36 pm
That all looks amazing!


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Thank you guys! :)
~ stay cool ~
pet dad to Dottie the dog + Scuttle and Tank the purple pinchers

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Hermiecrab
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Hermiecrab » Sat Jan 08, 2022 8:51 am

Stunning!
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Aussiedoodle puppy, Watson <3 Super sweet, and super cute!

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JTKermie
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by JTKermie » Sat Jan 08, 2022 10:33 am

That's awesome!! That's a perfect tote for this.

How is the light string attached? I'm thinking the hermies will be climbing all over that.
Two 29gals. 3 PPs in each.
~200gal of fish tanks. Mostly planted community tanks.
Multiple kiddos, doggies and kitties.

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Spocktopus
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Location: New Jersey

Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Spocktopus » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:11 pm

JTKermie wrote:That's awesome!! That's a perfect tote for this.

How is the light string attached? I'm thinking the hermies will be climbing all over that.
Thank you so much! I totally agree, I was so happy when I got it. I had to go to a couple Home Depots to find the one I was after.

The lights came with their own backing adhesion, so I’m using that at the moment. I think I definitely need to duct tape it down further though, the humidity is a little high for just the adhesion stuff.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
~ stay cool ~
pet dad to Dottie the dog + Scuttle and Tank the purple pinchers

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Topic author
Spocktopus
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:05 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Spocktopus » Sat Jan 08, 2022 3:11 pm

Hermiecrab wrote:Stunning!
Thank you so much! Image


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~ stay cool ~
pet dad to Dottie the dog + Scuttle and Tank the purple pinchers

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aussieJJDude
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by aussieJJDude » Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:42 am

I like it, and I know theyll be loving the extra space!
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Jlmills525
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Jlmills525 » Sun Jan 09, 2022 7:57 am

I love this idea, so much more cost effective than tanks... but i love to see Eugene, and if the lid is off the humidity will go down....
Wife, Mom, WoW player since Vanilla - Alliance Main
3 PPS - Eugene, Sheldon, Bortus
1 dog - Maggie
1 cat - Weston

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JTKermie
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by JTKermie » Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:17 am

^ That's true on the viewing angle. That's the major drawback of the tote on floor. Same situation for the double 29gal stand I have my crabitats on. You have to sit on the floor to get a good view of the floor level 29g.
Two 29gals. 3 PPs in each.
~200gal of fish tanks. Mostly planted community tanks.
Multiple kiddos, doggies and kitties.

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Topic author
Spocktopus
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:05 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Spocktopus » Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:43 am

aussieJJDude wrote:
Sun Jan 09, 2022 12:42 am
I like it, and I know theyll be loving the extra space!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind comment :)
~ stay cool ~
pet dad to Dottie the dog + Scuttle and Tank the purple pinchers

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Topic author
Spocktopus
Posts: 27
Joined: Tue Nov 10, 2020 4:05 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Spocktopus » Mon Jan 10, 2022 12:01 pm

Jlmills525 wrote:
Sun Jan 09, 2022 7:57 am
I love this idea, so much more cost effective than tanks... but i love to see Eugene, and if the lid is off the humidity will go down....
JTKermie wrote:
Mon Jan 10, 2022 11:17 am
^ That's true on the viewing angle. That's the major drawback of the tote on floor. Same situation for the double 29gal stand I have my crabitats on. You have to sit on the floor to get a good view of the floor level 29g.
I agree with you both, the only bad thing about this is viewing is harder. I used to have my crabs on my work desk, and it was so easy to watch them all the time. Now, I have to lay on the floor. I might pick up a table in the future to avoid that.
I would recommend, if you want to do this too, getting a bin with a clear lid would make viewing much easier. I will be ordering a clear lid as soon as I can, the opaque lid isn't my favorite. Humidity is much better now than it ever was in my 10 gal though, so at least that's a perk.
~ stay cool ~
pet dad to Dottie the dog + Scuttle and Tank the purple pinchers


Hermiemom68
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by Hermiemom68 » Mon Jan 23, 2023 11:28 pm

I love your set up! I have been wanting to use totes for awhile now but I read they leak fumes from pvc they use to harden plastics. Have you noticed any kind of smell? I’m getting older and just can’t handle those heavy glass aquariums and loved the tote idea. How long have you had them in your tote setup? I love what you’ve done😀

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hermitcrablover2
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Re: DIY 40 Gal Tote Tank

Post by hermitcrablover2 » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:32 pm

This is so cool! How much was the tote? I never considered using one, but I've been wanting to upgrade my crabitat for a while
2 PP's (Boba and Blue), 1 Dog (Coco)

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