Saltwater disappearing

[Cumba]

Hi everyone!

Something very mysterious has been happening in my crabitat. I fill up the saltwater bowl every morning. Within 5-6 hours it all has disappeared! I do not know what is causing this. I am running out of saltwater! I do use the All Living Things brand, I know it is not best quality. I am upgrading to Instant Ocean in a few days. Does anyone have a possible explanation? Why is all of the saltwater disappearing? Anything helps!

Thank you so much! Cumba

[CallaLily]

Are you sure the dish isn't leaking?

[IMS08]

I am glad you mentioned it, I have found the exact same thing to happen in my tank. I changed the dish I used and it seems to work out well.


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[YYWW]

Yes, it is probably a leak or some wicking. It is best to change to a different bowl. Or you can test it by filling it and leaving it on top of something soft and seeing if it retains the water that way.


Crabbers unite!!!

[Cumba]

Thank you so much everyone. Later today I am going to try putting the saltwater bowl on a towel and see if it disappears and makes the towel wet. Again, thank you!

Cumba

[Cumba]

Okay, so I tried a new bowl in the tank and put the old bowl on a towel with some water in it. The new bowl is holding saltwater just fine, but so is the old bowl! So basically what's happening is one bowl can hold water inside the tank and one can't. At least I've found a bowl that works! I'm cool with that.

[CallaLily]

Does the leaky one sit lower in the substrate? If the crabs push the substrate up against the edge, even if it's barely touching the water, it'll wick water out. The other possibility is if it's a lighter dish the crabs may have been dumping it.

[Cumba]

I think it was wicking! The leaky one did sit a bit lower in the substrate... Also, the leaky one had a very gradual edge from the sand to the bowl. The edge was ALWAYS covered in sand. Thank you to everyone for helping me solve this mystery!