55 Gallon Crabitat

[jjokela1]

Hey CrabbyJo - I posted my pics in Gallery under the 41 to 50 gallon crabitats. I have four pictures - one of a couple of my crabs, right side of tank, left side of tank, and long view. I didn't know they had an album for 50+ tanks! Let me know your thoughts. My hydrometer and thermometer isn't showing because one my crabs knocked it over into the sand...although I have one to the far left which isn't showing. my water dishes are in the center of the tank tucked into the substrate so they don't get tipped over. I have two dishes for salt and clean water, and three food dishes scattered throughout.

[CrabbyJo]

Here's a link for a quick look:

http://www.hermitcrabparadise.com/galle ... =-29&pos=0

I haven't been crabbing long myself, but it looks pretty good! I would just make sure the humidity gauge is center and near the substrate, as humidity rises and the reading should be where the crabs spend most of their time. It would be dryer down where they are if your gauge is up high.
Looks like they have a lot to climb on! Since you have a couple of rather large crabs, you need to consider the amount of space they take up, so you may not want to add too many more crabs. Just my opinion though, you don't want to overcrowd. You'll have to trust your instincts on this, or someone who has more experience than I do.

[jjokela1]

My husband would probably think I'm crazy if I get anymore crabs!!! My humidity gauge was in the center near the substrate, but the crabs seem to think it is a climbing device and keep knocking it over! I might need to buy another one soon because I'm afraid it might get wet and lose it's accuracy. I check it though using the salt method.

Once I month I like to try and redecorate the crabitat and move things around. What do I do if some of them are still buried? Do I just leave them alone and try to just move things above the buried crabs? what are your thoughts. Since I have 16 of them, it's hard to keep track of them all. At any given time, I could have 10 - 11 crawling around, and sometimes only 5-6 with the rest buried.

Also, if they are buried, how do I know if they are moulting or dead? By a fish smell? I know some of them have molted because I accidentally dug up two molters...they turned out okay since I dug them up during the last stage (only the BP was left) and I now see them crawling around the tank. But what about the rest....do I just leave them alone and hope for the best and rearrange around them? BTW...I don't stick anything into the substrate just lay it on top...that way I won't accidentally squish somebody.

[emmac350]

One of my crabs likes to climb my temp./humidity gauge too...luckily for me, though, she's very small and it doesn't do any damage. You could try using the 3M sticky strips to hold it onto the glass - that's what I use and it works really well.

If you have crabs buried and you know where they are, I'd recommend trying to leave the stuff over them how it is and move stuff around them. Don't put anything heavy over a buried crab - if it's molting, it could collapse the cave.

Also, don't worry about whether they're molting or not - the crabs have a reason (who knows what it is) for every time they bury themselves, so just try not to disturb them. If they have died, you will notice a fishy smell at some point, although you may never know - I have heard that EcoEarth in particular will help the crab decompose rather quickly (within 3-6 months) so you may never smell it and may find the last little bits during a deep clean.

[CrabbyJo]

Ewwww Emma! lol.

Jjokela, that's a lot of crabs! lol. I have 6 in my 55 gallon right now, and have 4 more waiting to go into it after they are done in isolation. Unfortunately that will be a while, I adopted crabs that had had mites that we thought were gone, but they came back with a vengeance. I've ordered predatory mites to get rid of them once and for all.

I agree with Emma on moving things around over the molters. Best to be careful. It's a good rule of thumb to never dig up a buried crab for any reason.

I actually DID dig up a buried crab once, but I had just seen him the day before and I HAD to get the substrate out (it was Quickrete Playsand, ugh) to replace it with my new Aragonite sand. He was the only one buried. I felt bad digging him up, and now would be more hesitant to do so even in the same situation.

Have you noticed your crabs molting almost in groups? It seems like I had 4 go down all at once! Just had two come up too.

[jjokela1]

YES!!! Mass molt!!! I got my crabs within weeks of each other and one day after I remoistened the substrate and moved my decorations around, all but 6 crabs buried themselves. I wasn't sure if they were molting or just destressing, but they were molting. Two I accidentally dug up, and I just left the rest alone. Apparently, they weren't in proper molting conditions at the store and so when the opportunity came for them to do so, they did. Unfortunately, I didn't know they were going to bury themselves so no time for an isoloation tank for any of them, but then again, try to isolate 10 crabs...10 tanks maybe? lol.....

I might have a cage that looks like a carnival game...the ring on the bottle toss? Put the ring on the molter that comes up first and you win a prize!!!!

[emmac350]

Haha, that's awesome. Unfortunately, I have heard of hermit crabs being prizes at fairs.

And yeah, the idea of decomposing your crabs is kind of gross...but at the same time, I think it's kind of cool. Like...it gives you a somewhat more complete ecosystem in there, somehow. As long as you can't smell it...the smell is forefront in my memory, and every time I smell a really fishy smell, my first thought is "oh no! my crabs!" Must be PTSD or something.

[jjokela1]

So now there's 9 of my crabs crawling around at night. I'm making a second story out of cholla wood (cholla wood posts and cholla wood flooring, with coconut mat and a couple of hermie huts). I'll wait until all of them are out to put them in. I'll post pics of the new look when I'm done!

[CrabbyJo]

Nice, can't wait to see it!

[Salt and Pepper]

Atleast 4. You can put a lot in there, but ATLEAST 4 because that's really big.
-Salt and PepperXx