Can you top up salt water?

[Snippy]

I'm a bit worried that by topping up the salt water dish with salt water, I'm making the water more salty? Should I empty the whole pool each time I need to top up?? Can you top up the salt water pool with out increasing the salt levels? Thanks

What is the volume of your main tank?
10 gal

How many hermit crabs do you currently have? How big are they?
2

How long have you had the hermit crab(s) that you are concerned about?
2 weeks

What substrate or combination of substrates are you using? How deep is it?
play sand 4 inches

What do you feed your hermit crabs?
dry grains and fresh veg

Do you use distilled, bottled, tap or other types of water?
filtered tap

If you are using a dechlorinator, what brand is it? Does it state to remove all heavy metals, chlorine and chloramines?
TYPE HERE

What brand of sea salt are you using to supply your hermit crabs with salt water?
red sea salt

What heat source are you using and where is it positioned?
UTH at one end of tank

Have you calibrated your thermometer(s) and hygrometer so that you can interpret accurate readings?
Not yet

What is the volume of your main tank?
10 gal

How many hermit crabs do you currently have? How big are they?
2, 1x lrg and 1x small

What is the highest temperature that the substrate near the heat source reaches?
27 deg Celsius

Do you have any photos of your tank or hermit crab(s) of concern? If yes, please attach them to your post.
TYPE HERE

[ladybug15057]

Welcome to HCP!

Can you top up the salt water pool with out increasing the salt levels?

Water will evaporate and leave many of the ocean/sea salt crystals behind. For this reason I would suggest not to top the ocean water pond more than 2-3 times without totally emptying it. But if in a real pinch for time…. If the hermies have a fresh water pond large enough they can dilute the ocean water with the fresh water.

What do you feed your hermit crabs?
dry grains and fresh veg

May I suggest to also add proteins and chitins to your hermies diet? Some chitin sources are also considered protein, but not all protein sources contain chitin. Please see HCP Sister site for the food groups:

http://hermitcrabcuisine.com/

Do you use distilled, bottled, tap or other types of water?
filtered tap

Wai would be better to reply to this I believe, but if it is a filter like a brita filter on your kitchen sink you may wish to use a dechlorinator.

Have you calibrated your thermometer(s) and hygrometer so that you can interpret accurate readings?
Not yet

This should be done ASAP because they depend on proper humidity level to breath through their modified gills.
If you do not have a cup of salt to spare, please use this method:

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=54

Some have found it easier to adjust their readings accordingly as opposed to adjusting the gauge due to how sensitive they are and easily broken.

[Snippy]

Thank you so much for the quick reply. My suspicions were on the right track then. I change the water completely every couple of days so that is all good. I will most defiantly get onto adding meat for the crabs. The calibration method link was great I will do that method it uses a lot less salt. Do you think Hermit crabs would be ok with eucalypt branches or are they too toxic? We have wattle on hand too.

Thanks

[ladybug15057]

Perhaps would you mean Eucalyptus?

The oils are used as an insect repellant. And there are a couple threads here at HCP regarding it:
viewtopic.php?f=94&t=4458&p=36548&hilit ... tus#p36548

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3596&p=29688&hilit ... tus#p29688

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=3298&p=29293&hilit ... tus#p29293

Personally I would not use it, or even take the chance.
Wattle? I am not familiar with this tree/plant?

[Snippy]

I thought that would be the case. I will try to get my hands on some chola. Im calibrating my hygrometer and I think it may be out by about 6% so lucky I calibrated. The tank has been at about 80% though so I think it will have been ok. Thanks