Slimey water

Lyn Penn · Post by **Lyn Penn** » Sun Sep 07, 2008 12:20 pm

I change my crabs water everyday, without fail. I'm kind of funny that way. I feel they should always have clean water. Everytime I change their water, the bottom on the water dish has a slimey feel to it. Do crabs secrete anything when they're drinking to do this to the dish? Just wondering.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:06 am

I'm not sure about secretions, but that slick feeling is pretty normal. If the water is otherwise clean, what you are probably feeling is a biofilm of some sort, which is basically just the 'honeycomb' type arrangement that bacteria live in. People with fish tanks encourage it in order to help process waste. It shouldn't hurt the hermies (probably makes the water taste better if anything), but if you want to get rid of it, use hot water and scrub it off. It should come away easily.

One of the better articles on it:
http://www.happykoi.co.za/1.%20all%20ab ... i_pond.htm

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:22 am

Whew. I'm not the only one doing it. If a feel a bowl is slimy after I rinse it out with sea water, I wipe it out with a paper towel and rinse it again.

Boy, you're as compulsive as I am!

limeslide · Post by **limeslide** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:06 pm

Callatya wrote:I'm not sure about secretions, but that slick feeling is pretty normal. If the water is otherwise clean, what you are probably feeling is a biofilm of some sort, which is basically just the 'honeycomb' type arrangement that bacteria live in. People with fish tanks encourage it in order to help process waste. It shouldn't hurt the hermies (probably makes the water taste better if anything), but if you want to get rid of it, use hot water and scrub it off. It should come away easily.

One of the better articles on it:
http://www.happykoi.co.za/1.%20all%20ab ... i_pond.htm

i have the same gooey stuff on my tank!

Kilimanjaro · Post by **Kilimanjaro** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:20 pm

Compared to you, I'm actually quite lazy when it comes to water changes. My day is so hectic and busy with school, homework, and other stuff that I rarely have time to really tend to the crabs.

Now, I do change the crabs water, and they have pretty large dishes. I usually change my water around every 3 days (sometimes 4). The water is usually fine, and only has a small slime-build-up.

Haven't had any problems yet, so I'm assuming it's fine. I believe land hermit crabs would drink off of sitting water sources in the wild after it rains, so I'm assuming it's the same concept and not detrimental to their health.