Tank cover and humidity

[IsolatedShadow]

Hello. I'm a bit new to hermit crab care (specifically, PP's. 5) and i seem to be having slight trouble keeping my humidity up. Right at the moment it is slightly below 70. I have an old aquarium tank and the top has an open back for air filters. I currently have the top taped over on the back, but I was wondering if there is possibly a different way I should deal with this? I am unable to get a new top because they're out of my price range, so that's out of the question. I have moss, sponges, and about 3 inches of eco earth (going to add more once dwebble resurfaces. I think its molting).

Thanks in advance!

[Xenocrab]

How big is your tank? Where do you have the UTH placed? Need more info. Do you have dechlorinated fresh water and dechlorinated salt water (instant ocean, for example)?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[IsolatedShadow]

The tank is my grandmother's old tank, and she said it is 30 gal. The UTH is fairly small, about 4 inches length and 3 inches wide, and placed on the side of the tank, towards the top. The freshwater is from waterbottles, and the salt water is from a gallon of spring water + aquarium salt. Is there any more information you need?

[Xenocrab]

Please check out the care sheets and links. They are filled with all the information you need.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[Hermiesguardian]

You can safely add an inch of substrate, playsand, which will eventually mix with the eco earth you have, every 24hrs, just don't pat ot down. Make sure it's mixed with dechlorinated fresh or saltwater to sandcastle consistancy. It needs to eventually be a minimum of 6inches or 3 times the height of your largest crab. Whichever is deeper. It also will help with the humidity.

[IsolatedShadow]

right. I don't have playsand, but I do have more eco earth bricks. Just bought some today, actually. Will the eco earth substrate be just fine to add?

[Scarletfire]

It's recmonneded to have 5:1 ratio of sand to ee. Ee retains moisture very well, but if you have too much, theres. Risk for a flood and/or oversaturation. The sand helps to prevent tunnels from collapsing and thus suffocating your hermes.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

[curlysister]

I would take the aquarium lid off of the tank and just cover the top with Saran wrap. I didn't have any kind of lid on my first two tank, I just used Saran wrap.

You will need to treat even bottled spring water with a dechlorinator such as Prime - it's cheaper to use tap water and treat that, though. Is your salt a marine salt, like Instant Ocean?

What's the temp in your tank?

[IsolatedShadow]

The temperature is about 75-85, depending how hot it becomes. And I use aquarium salt.

I'll dechlorinate my spring water in the morning, and see if I'll be able to use saran wrap instead later on. Though, I'm unsure if I'll be able to do so. I'm living with my grandmother as she is my guardian, and I don't know if she'll allow me to do this. Though, it is worth a shot. Thanks for the help!

[Eggster]

I would say get a bigger UTH but your temp is good. Using straight eco earth is fine and I personally use just it as my substrate since it holds moisture easier.

I had the same problem with a tank lid that isn't solid either. Laying an old bath towel over the lid is easy and works great for keeping humidity in, plus your crabs are more comfortable under a closed sky. Also upgrading the size of my water bowls and placing them close to the UTH helped immensely with maintaining humidity. Deep bowls take a long time to evaporate too so you don't have to worry about then running dry.

[curlysister]

Saran wrap works better than a towel for keeping humidity in.
Some people have had issues with all EE, flooding seems to be more of a problem than with the play sand EE mix.

[Scarletfire]

Make sure you put something on to of saran wrap because the crab can get under the wrap. Put moss pits around. They hold a lot of water, and can slowly release moisture to air.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

[The Crab Maid]

You can buy plexiglass for really cheap for a more permanent fix over saranwrap. But saranwrap works really well though if a crab can reach it they may tear it up.

[IsolatedShadow]

Thanks for all the tips! I think I'll see if I can use Saran wrap on the top of my tank for now, i'll need to discuss it with my aunt and grandma, but Thank you all!