Now the fun part comes where i get to clean about an inch of the top layer of sand. Now that everything is out of my tank i can easily clean the debris, crab poop and any other unwanted old food dragged off by a hungry crabby. I do this by taking an old credit card or plastic card, and carefully scrape the first top inch of sand in the entire tank, corner to corner into a pile. By this time all of the crabs will be running around wondering whats going on, but not to worry they will be alright a little bit longer. I take the dirty pile of sand and fill it into a large plastic container, preferably a large plastic mixing bowl of some type, and then proceed to rinse the sand by filling the container with hot water. I do this under the kitchen sink so that i have a constant flow of water. All of the debris in the sand will then float to the top of the water and the sand will sink. Repeatedly filling up the container and pouring out the dirty water i carefully make sure that the sand does not pour out into the drain. When all your sand is clean now comes the part where you dry it out. I do this by preheating the oven at 400 degrees and pouring the sand onto a cookie sheet. Evenly spread the sand onto the tray and bake until fully dry, you should mix the sand around during the process to make it go a little faster.After the sand is fully dry it should be a pretty white color and look clean, like new sand. This is a great way to recycle your sand and to make sure any bad bacteria is killed that may harm your crabs. LET THE SAND COOL DOWN before even thinking of putting it back into the tank , this will harm them greatly if you do not let it cool down. Finally when the sand is cool you can fill up back up the areas of sand you removed and spread it to your liking of your landscaping. After doing this you can put all your decorations back into your tank . This is how i clean my tank , it is a long and grueling process but i love my crabs and wish them to live as long as possible even if it means just a few hours of time a week.Hope you enjoyed any tips or help that i have provided. Thank you for your time in reading!Semi-Deep cleaning without hurting your buried crabs
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fiestycrab7
Topic author - Posts: 7
- Joined: Sun Feb 14, 2010 5:51 pm
- Location: Annapolis Maryland
Semi-Deep cleaning without hurting your buried crabs
This is just a general way that i clean my 125 gallon tank once a week. First off (assuming you have a stand that allows you to look underneath) i always try to locate any crabs that i can see with the naked eye underneath the tank that are currently buried.Common sense, even though some crabs may not be visible, still use caution when moving any rocks, large dishes, artificial caves, coconut huts, etc. to ensure that caves wont collapse. I then collect all of my decorations, vines, dishes and even extra shells to rinse in hot water thoroughly, keep in mind unused shells are a great hiding place for mites and other pests that you do not want inside your tank. If you do have mites you should clean your articles in your tank quite often to help get rid of the problem.After ALL of my articles are out and rinsed i let them to dry outside in the sun. The sun helps to bake out any tiny mold spores that may be developing in any wood products that you may have in your tank, and also helps to cure the wood so that it will last longer. Now the fun part comes where i get to clean about an inch of the top layer of sand. Now that everything is out of my tank i can easily clean the debris, crab poop and any other unwanted old food dragged off by a hungry crabby. I do this by taking an old credit card or plastic card, and carefully scrape the first top inch of sand in the entire tank, corner to corner into a pile. By this time all of the crabs will be running around wondering whats going on, but not to worry they will be alright a little bit longer. I take the dirty pile of sand and fill it into a large plastic container, preferably a large plastic mixing bowl of some type, and then proceed to rinse the sand by filling the container with hot water. I do this under the kitchen sink so that i have a constant flow of water. All of the debris in the sand will then float to the top of the water and the sand will sink. Repeatedly filling up the container and pouring out the dirty water i carefully make sure that the sand does not pour out into the drain. When all your sand is clean now comes the part where you dry it out. I do this by preheating the oven at 400 degrees and pouring the sand onto a cookie sheet. Evenly spread the sand onto the tray and bake until fully dry, you should mix the sand around during the process to make it go a little faster.After the sand is fully dry it should be a pretty white color and look clean, like new sand. This is a great way to recycle your sand and to make sure any bad bacteria is killed that may harm your crabs. LET THE SAND COOL DOWN before even thinking of putting it back into the tank , this will harm them greatly if you do not let it cool down. Finally when the sand is cool you can fill up back up the areas of sand you removed and spread it to your liking of your landscaping. After doing this you can put all your decorations back into your tank . This is how i clean my tank , it is a long and grueling process but i love my crabs and wish them to live as long as possible even if it means just a few hours of time a week.Hope you enjoyed any tips or help that i have provided. Thank you for your time in reading!
Now the fun part comes where i get to clean about an inch of the top layer of sand. Now that everything is out of my tank i can easily clean the debris, crab poop and any other unwanted old food dragged off by a hungry crabby. I do this by taking an old credit card or plastic card, and carefully scrape the first top inch of sand in the entire tank, corner to corner into a pile. By this time all of the crabs will be running around wondering whats going on, but not to worry they will be alright a little bit longer. I take the dirty pile of sand and fill it into a large plastic container, preferably a large plastic mixing bowl of some type, and then proceed to rinse the sand by filling the container with hot water. I do this under the kitchen sink so that i have a constant flow of water. All of the debris in the sand will then float to the top of the water and the sand will sink. Repeatedly filling up the container and pouring out the dirty water i carefully make sure that the sand does not pour out into the drain. When all your sand is clean now comes the part where you dry it out. I do this by preheating the oven at 400 degrees and pouring the sand onto a cookie sheet. Evenly spread the sand onto the tray and bake until fully dry, you should mix the sand around during the process to make it go a little faster.After the sand is fully dry it should be a pretty white color and look clean, like new sand. This is a great way to recycle your sand and to make sure any bad bacteria is killed that may harm your crabs. LET THE SAND COOL DOWN before even thinking of putting it back into the tank , this will harm them greatly if you do not let it cool down. Finally when the sand is cool you can fill up back up the areas of sand you removed and spread it to your liking of your landscaping. After doing this you can put all your decorations back into your tank . This is how i clean my tank , it is a long and grueling process but i love my crabs and wish them to live as long as possible even if it means just a few hours of time a week.Hope you enjoyed any tips or help that i have provided. Thank you for your time in reading!fiesty crab >:@