substate

[sonny]

i would like to know if natural sand from the beach is ever used and if there are benefits or drawbacks in this? especially with molting ? i do use a mixture of the playsand with ecoE,but we have a bag of "natures ocean" for the reef tank,they sent the wrong color. but i would really like to use this for crabs if it would good for them. why haven't other people used these naturally cleaned uncolored bags straight from the beaches. will it harden or stink...please let me know if you have any experience with this and what size(grit) is best for them. thank you@"

[Crabber85]

@Sonny, we actually don't recommend live sand aka sand that is meant for marine or reef tanks as it contains several strands of live bacteria to help cycle the water faster that will only serve to stink up a hermitcrab tank and even cause excess pollution.We do use certain strands of beneficial bacteria in the sub to help break down the waste but these are bacteria that are dry state or in other words don't typically occur in water and as such last a lot longer and don't produce an odor.

[sonny]

ok thanks , this is literally heated for cleanliness pure australian sand(dry) ,no chemicals, not live sand yeah that would stink fast if it was the live stuff. any more thoughts on the non live ? like collect from beach and bake, better then playsand? isn't playsand treated ground stone? so it is not that it is just cheaper, it is thought to be the best? i have always used only cocofiber before finding these wonderful sites, and appreciate all your knowledge. i do find my 3crabs i have had for years seemed to love the new mix of playsand/ee (5/1 ratio is what i tried) i have upgraded and added more friends. i just want to provide them with the best

[Crabber85]

Play sand is sterilized river sand that has been triple washed and screened which makes it exceptionally safe for our hermitcrabs unlike sand collected from a beach.The natural beach sand acts like a filter trapping all the nasty little microbes and pollutants that get washed into it and if your local beaches are see a lot of human traffic the risk for trapped pollutants goes up exponentially.We've found that sand collected from the beach can contain oil and fuel from passing boats and pollution from the human visitors that can't be baked out which makes using it a gamble at best.If you want to use beach sand you'll need to collect it from a beach that sees no human or boat traffic and it would be best if you collected from the zone in between the low and high tide mark as the sand in this zone will contain the most minerals from wave and tidal action.If the sand you have has any false coloring it will have to be tossed as the dyes and pigments used are typically harmful to hermitcrabs as they normally consist of a metallic base such as copper for reds, oranges and yellows.

[dylan644]

If you really want to use it I recommend contacting the company, explain that you want to use it in the tank, but you would like to know the location of harvest and the methods that where used to clean it. As far as grit size, I think play sand is fine. I don't know if it is identified by number. I have never looked. You could even use the stuff that is collected from lake bottoms. It has fine sand, but is mixed with really small rocks. It will look like this: Image 1 Image 2 Naturally crab would come across a mix of dirt and this in the wild because they won't be molting down by the tides. They will molt and bury more inland, the ground will be moist as they dig further down.

[sonny]

thank you so much , i feel at ease. i will stick with the playsand, sounds like it is safe and also the tried and true, excellent thanks for letting me pick your brains.

[Laurie LeAnn]

oh that is what the brain is for.. just don't pick to hard.. some of us don't have much brains left lol!!