Crab drinking alot of salt water

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cheeba1980
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Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by cheeba1980 » Sun Jun 02, 2019 5:49 pm

Hello all,

I have a medium to large Aussie crab. He is drinking his salt dish sometimes in a day. The dish is approx 1cm deep and 10 cm across. Is this normal? My other baby crabs that died after their first molt did not drink that much. Is this a sign of an oncoming molt?

CHEERS

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GotButterflies
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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by GotButterflies » Sun Jun 02, 2019 6:13 pm

Hello :) What kind of salt are you using? I just want to make sure that you are using a product such as Instant Ocean or Red Sea (products used to make saltwater for fishtanks).

Edit: I also wanted to state that pools should be deep enough for crabs to fully submerge themselves in and safely get out of by themselves. A lot of us use tupperware containers. :)
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cheeba1980
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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by cheeba1980 » Sun Jun 02, 2019 9:27 pm

I am using blue planet brand hermit crab salt. I have been looking at a deeper bowl for him but also i have read if its too deep they can drown. Getting back to the original question, is it normal for a crab to drink this much salt water? thanks

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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by curlysister » Sun Jun 02, 2019 11:27 pm

I don't think that is a proper marine salt. The mixing directions don't seem right, and neither do the instructions about giving a weekly bath nor the claim that it helps with molting or preventing soft shell.
Do you use a dechlorinator for your water? If so, what brand?
Water bowl need to be deep enough that crabs can fully submerge, but have a way that they can climb out. Some people use shells, rocks, or craft mesh.
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cheeba1980
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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by cheeba1980 » Mon Jun 03, 2019 12:29 am

Declorinator is standard API declorinator with no extra bells and whistles. I have changed over from fish to crabs for something different after on and off fish for over 20 years. I have a marine fish shop nearby, i will purchase a proper marine salt water product for fish from them.

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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by curlysister » Mon Jun 03, 2019 9:27 am

Here's the link to the HCA page about water, dechlorinator, salt, etc. Lots of good info:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 27&t=92553
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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by Scarletfire » Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:23 pm

cheeba1980 wrote:Declorinator is standard API declorinator with no extra bells and whistles. I have changed over from fish to crabs for something different after on and off fish for over 20 years. I have a marine fish shop nearby, i will purchase a proper marine salt water product for fish from them.
Looks like blue planet is an Australian brand. If your local marine shop uses that brand also for their fish, it may be okay. Not sure as it's not mainstream. . All local fish stores, at least in NA, carries Instant Ocean.

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Re: Crab drinking alot of salt water

Post by JoeHermits » Tue Jun 04, 2019 7:27 pm

Scarletfire wrote:Looks like blue planet is an Australian brand. If your local marine shop uses that brand also for their fish, it may be okay. Not sure as it's not mainstream. . All local fish stores, at least in NA, carries Instant Ocean.

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The marine salt marketed for fish is fine. The salt marketed for hermit crabs is not.


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