Hermit crab newbie, help?

[beepboop]

My younger sister and I had two hermit crabs five or so years ago, and knew literally nothing about them. I was 8, don't judge me for my stupidity :/ I know now, after two weeks' worth of online research, that we did everything wrong; tap water, commercial food, substrate, humidity, and just about anything else you can think of, because we didn't even have a book on them. So, I've been reading about them and decided that I want some. We previously had a turtle, who outgrew his tank and was recently given to a neighbor who wanted a turtle anyway, leaving us with a 40 gallon tank. I'm assuming that's big enough for my preferred number, four, and I have convinced my mom (I'm only 13, so, naturally, I had to ask her ) that I can take care of them, which actually wasn't too hard seeing as I already take care of two spoiled rats and a flock of three parakeets, a sun conure, and a button quail on my own, and I'm going this coming weekend to purchase supplies, and the weekend after to actually buy the hermies.
Now, I have a few questions. I only have three choices on where to get hermit crabs. Petco, PetSmart, and Earthbound Trading Co. I really want Ecuadorian Hermit Crabs, and I'm under the impression that Earthbound Trading Co. is best, but I'm not sure what species any of them have and I need opinions. I also would like to know if there is any one kind of commercial food that does not contain the harmful preservatives, and your opinions on the best brand of de-chlorinator and aquarium salt brands.
Thanks!

[ladybug15057]

There is not one commercial food sold on the market that has all the vitamins and minerals hermies need to remain healthy. Hermies are also known not to eat the same food for over a week, sometimes 2 once they eat it. Variety is the key. (from the pyramid of foods)
Regardless of which dechlorinator you use, it will not remove fluoride from tap water. (fluoride is known to cause defects in zoea but no testing to date to my knowledge as to if any harm is done to adult hermies) But if one opts to use a dechlorinator it should remove chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals from tap water, but does not have a slime coating to it. Please do read through the Crab care section, there is a lot of info that will answer most of your questions.
http://www.hermitcrabparadise.com/crabcare/
There is also a search box in the upper right corner of the page that can also find loads of information.
If you still have questions after reading it please use this posting.

[beepboop]

Thanks, I'm reading the Crab Care page right now
I've also been randomly reading other posts and have bookmarked a couple of websites, including hermitcrabcuisine.com, to look at later. I'll probably end up using Instant Ocean for salt, but what de-chlorinator would you recommend?

[Emeraldroots]

Could Fleabuskitty use distilled water and skip the dechlorinating phase altogether with that? I am curious on it too. Just seems easier then going through the process of treating all the water all the time.

[ladybug15057]

They could and would be better to use the distilled/pure water rather than all the guessing of mixing with the dechlor. A proper diet is needed to make up for what is lacking in the distilled water as well as a proper ocean/sea mix. But one can use a dechlor for washing and rinsing items as opposed to lugging all the bought distilled water bottles.

[snicsnacmama]

That is exactly what I've been doing. Cleaning with water treated with dechlor and then I used distilled water to mix up the marine salt water as well as fill their fresh water. It has made it much easier to do daily maintenance.

[beepboop]

Snicsnacmama; you get bottled distilled water, right? So, you can get it at grocery stores, or... what?
Sorry, I often get myself confused
So, when I go to get the supplies, my shopping list is:
Substrate
Food and water dishes
distilled water or dechlorinator (still need to decide which )
sea salt
climbing toys
hiding places
an under-tank heater
Is this correct?
I already have a 40 gallon tank (that's ok for 4 crabs, right?) and a 10 gallon isolation tank, and lids for both. I also already have food, seeing as they'll be eating bananas, apples, and other fruit. Would shrimp (there is a farmers market nearby and everything is organic, so there probably isn't anything toxic in them, I'm assuming.) be ok, too? Also, my mom's boyfriend hunts deer and boar, and, because I know they won't have any preservatives, I was wondering if that would be ok. And, would I just give them bits of raw meat, or maybe dehydrate it?

Sorry I have so many questions , but it's better than asking after I get them and mess something up, right? I want to have the whole tank perfect by the time I bring them home

[ladybug15057]

Have you read the Crab Care section Fleabuskitty?
Seems you have forgotten a humidity gauge and thermometers to monitor the substrate and air temp of the tank.
There are numerous postings about food in the nutrition section.

[beepboop]

I read the Crab Care section last night
-facepalm- I knew I was forgetting something
I was planning on looking at nutrition right now.
It seems like distilled water would be more expensive, and it would be limited because it is bottled, so I've decided to use a tap water conditioner. API seems like a good brand because online it says it "Removes chlorine and detoxifies heavy metals in tap water", plus they also make aquarium salt
I'll actually be going to a different pet store that I forgot to list as one of my options (again, -facepalm-) called PetSupermarket. I haven't seen it discussed anywhere, and I'm pretty sure it's a bit smaller of a chain than Petco or PetSmart, but still a chain. It's where my family gets all our other pet supplies, it's cheaper that the others, has the same brands, and is closer, but I haven't gone in a while, and I've never payed much attention to the hermit crabs. I know they do have hermit crabs, though. Anyway, to my point, I'm going to check it out on Wednesday to see the conditions of the crabs.

[beepboop]

I convinced my mom to take me to PetSupermarket this afternoon (we needed cat food anyway :p)
and... well, I'm really frustrated. The substrate for the crabs isn't even an inch and it was just "hermit crab sand", they only have commercial food, only one water bowl which is at least an inch deep, and has two huge sponges in it. There is one cocohut for all ten or more crabs (all PPs), who were all in painted shells. There were no extra shells. They had a shelf that supposedly had "everything hermit crabs need", which included some bowls, three kinds of commercial food, "hermit crab sand", "calcium blocks", and very small plastic "tanks". I asked the guy what kind they were, and he said "they're just regular tree crabs", to which I replied:
"there is no such thing as 'regular tree crabs'. Are they Eccuadorians or Purple Pinchers or..." and he just shrugged.
I then told him that the food they had had copper sulfate and would kill them, and that they needed salt water, and he just looked at me like I was either an idiot or trying to confuse him.
One of the crabs came out of it's shell, though, and they're PPs.
But I've decided that as soon as I'm old enough I'm going to try to get a job there. They also have ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, sun conures, cockatiels, green cheek conures, parakeets, sometimes finches, and hamsters, almost all of which (excluding ferrets, green cheeks, and finches), I have had as a pet at one point. These people know absolutely nothing, and I'm thinking about writing a complaint.
Sorry if I'm flooding the forum with random rants and stupidity, I'm just really frustrated right now. >[ >[ >[