I have had a string of odd crab deaths since I got my tank set up two or three months ago and I'm still having problems. Being somewhat of a newbie I really went through a lot of information to make sure I did everything right, and I really think I have. But Anyways, after getting four crabs from the beach we got a 10g glass tank and enough sand for a few inches of substrate, which is now up to 5 or 6 in, I also made sure to get salt water maker which is for hermit crabs and spring water for their freshwater, saltwater making, and mistings. The tank has a small 4 watt UHT heater on the bottom and a large UHT on the back wall, it was the other way around till I decided the substrate was getting too warm. The tank as of now keeps temps of low to mid 70's, to low and barely to mid 80s. the humidy stays about mid 70s sometimes going a little closer to 70. Also my substrate is reptile calcium sand mixed with coco fiber. The first one that died became very lethargic and eventually died. a few days later another crab was missing a leg and later lost another before she died. After these two died things seemed to be going good with my other two so I decided to get two more crabs these ones were larger but seemed pretty healthy when I got them maybe a few weeks after getting them one came out of it's shell and I tried method after method to try to get it to go back in and nothing worked i offered it 3 suitable shells to live in but she would not take one, I eventually isolated her in the tank and nursed her for about 3 days hoping she'd go into a shell but she finally passed
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
. I later had one of my beach crabs get pretty lethargic and pass also. Leaving me with my current two crabs but wait there's more. The two I have left, one from the pet store one from the beach, one was buried in the sand for a while and I thought he was maybe molting but eventually came up and was missing his large claw, but still seemed perky and healthy. After he came up I cleaned the tank because of the 4 that had died, because I had no other cause and ended up buying another 40$ worth of sand for essentially no reason, after cleaning the tank which was day before yesterday my other crab lost his big claw too and seems like he may not make it. PLEASE HELP ME FIGURE OUT WHAT I'M DOING WRONG, I really don't want to see another crabby die it's so sad.
Also some things to note:
I have looked for mites and I have looked multiple times and ruled out mites as a cause.
I clean my water dishes every couple days and always provide spring water, I clean my toys and dishes with tap water but try to shake them off well and dry before I put them back in.
I always try to provide a range of food for them too, offering fruits and vegetables along with store sold hermit crab food that's powdery.
They have a net that they don't really use which takes them to a second level of the tank I made, they also have a climbing wall along the back which they barely use. They have two hiding places one that is a cave previously in my fish tank, and the other was from a hamster cage and is a plastic strawberry that I cut the bottom out of so they could dig under it I also made sure to try to sand parts that I cut or that were chewed by the hamster so that they were smooth. They also have a good range of shells to choose from. I also have made sure to not include anything toxic such as certain woods or anything metal
I'm really at a loss for what I'm doing wrong I am sadly feeling ready to throw in the towel on my crabitat after my last two pass
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
I really enjoy keeping them but it's sad and frustrating the money invested into this and poor little crabs that died. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I can provide further details if needed, thanks