It great that she had a SW setup, if there is any problems she can be a great starting point before asking online forums, one bad thing about the fishkeeping community is that information is constantly changing - I guess it is like our hermies - as new ideas & research come out. I have a few fish books thats not even 8 years old, and they recommend a undergravel filter for a SW tank or a canister. Nowadays, you will see that opposite!MuseCrazy wrote:She has kept a SW set up before. Years ago though I was like 5. There will be 20 crabs using and dumping their poop in the pools, I don't think the sump method would be efficient in transforming the ammonia fast enough. Is that what you use in your pool? I really just want to get a good cycle going so I only have to do the 20% water changes like youthe fish is just an idea.
There was that other member on here that had marine hermits in their salt water pool but I forgot who it was so I can't bombard them with questions.
Once the sump gets established, it will work better than most filters IMO. This is due to the large surface area and over time, algae, bacteria & small invertebrates like copepods will form in large numbers and break down waste. However, in saying that water changes are important in removing other nasties like nitrite. Personally, I would love to use the sump method on my pools (and my fish tank, the canister is a pain to clean), however with them being large totes it is very impractical & difficult!
To get a good cycle going you will need a food source for the bacteria. Many people do this by feeding the tank with fish food (yes, feeding an empty tank) or by dousing the tank with ammonia.
To keep up with the bacteria colony once the tank get established, the hermie poop will do quite fine. Also it is important to note that at the start there will be high levels of ammonia/nitrate/nitrite. The only way you can remove this and possible making it safe for the crabs is regular water changes. After the ammonia & nitrate has peaked and running at 0 ppm then a weekly water change (of 10 - 50% depending on what you feel is best) is all you need.
However it will take quite a while to get the pool established - about a month or so. 
If you ever need to clean the filter, please wash it out in the "dirty" tank water like when you do the water change, otherwise you will get another pool cycle as most of the bacteria will die.
BTW, the member that has the MHC is Curlz.
more pics in the morning, worked on it from 2pm to 2am lol
The E's really love doing laps up and down the tank 
) Another curious question, what type of snails do you have?
