Foggy Glass

[hiddengrin]

The glass all around my tank is foggy with moisture. I can't see my hermies!

The humidity & temperature hover around 78* without the use of heating lamps. I have a 40gal tank, and I use a mix of EE & Calci sand for substrate, its about 4 inches deep, with a small UTH on one end. With a moss pit in one top corner, fresh & salt water pools that are about 3 inches deep and 5 inches long, with gravel to climb out. I had air stones in the pools to help with the humidity... but I turned them off hoping it would clear up the fog, but its still there!!!!

How can I clear this up, besides wiping the inside of the tank all the time???

[CrabbyJo]

Condensation is caused by differences in air temps inside and outside the tank. If it is rather cool in the room where the tank is, you are just stuck with the the condensation I'm afraid.

Have you calibrated your humidity gauge? Sometimes they can be 15% off, or even more. I calibrate mine monthly, and they do change, so it's highly recommended to do so.

Make sure it's reading right, could be it's reading a bit low.

Here's a posting with info on how to do that easily: http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... 74&forum=5

[emmac350]

I just realized you said you used a mix of EE and calci-sand for your substrate. I suggest that you get rid of the calci-sand ASAP. This link should explain why. http://www.hermitcrabparadise.com/crabc ... eslist.php

[hiddengrin]

I do plan on getting rid of it as soon as I can obtain some dry aragonite... living in a rural area, my resources are extremely limited. I figured the calcisand was a better alternative to the playsand, the content is too questionable.
Its not 100% calci sand, its stirred into the EE and combined... I don't have it in any place just by itself.

[emmac350]

You don't necessarily need DRY aragonite - you can dry it yourself before putting it in the tank. I would highly recommend you rinse any sand you put in your tank anyways, so the sand being damp shouldn't be too much of a problem, but rinse it before putting it in the tank.

[hiddengrin]

The only Aragonite we have in town is the CaribSea Live Aragonite, its moist... I've read that the "Live" isn't good for the crabs, thus why I am still waiting to get the plain Aragonite in the sugar or select size grain. I've got it on order with a small local shop, but not sure when it will show up. I do clean the sand that I put in, and yes, it helps with the moisture/humidity...

Thanks for all your help... reading the forums, I'm learning a lot!

[CrabbyJo]

Sugar grain only comes wet actually. It is absolutely fine to use the moist sand, just bake it before you put it in the tank. It is what Marie (Ladybug) uses in her tanks all the time.

I have some on order with my pet store, and it could be a month or more before it's here. As of now, I just have fiji pink, which is the same size as the select grain, but is not Oolitic, so I do want to replace it.

I recommend you go ahead and get the Sugar grain live sand.

[raginggnome]

I will be getting some new sand soon and am a little confused - I know I need to bake it, but do I moisten it after I bake it, before it goes in the tank?

also, how long and at what temp should I bake it?

[emmac350]

If you want to have moist sand, then yes, you need to wet it again. I had dry sand once, and by now it's back to damp again, what with the crabs dragging water all over and the humidity level. If you do dry sand, you'll have to use more humidity-raising measures, like an air stone or glass votive candle holders with glass pebbles and water in them.

I bake my sand for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir two or three times during the baking to make sure it all gets exposed to the 350 degree temps.

[raginggnome]

thanks! and just so I'm straight on this - what exactly is "live" sand? and how is it different from ... uh, dead sand?