Sand Depth?

[dterrell]

My son is 10 years old and has 2 1-1.5" hermit crabs. He has a 10-gallon tank and we are using play sand for the substrate. We had been using about 2" of sand in the bottom but then read that maybe it should be deeper. Does anyone know what the optimal depth would be for this situation? We had been cleaning out the entire tank and throwing away all the sand every month but then read that maybe we don't need to do it that often. Does anyone know if it should be completely cleaned out every month or if it can go longer? If so, how long can we let it go and what kind of clean-up should be done in between times?

[CrabbyLover77]

My son is 10 years old and has 2 1-1.5" hermit crabs. He has a 10-gallon tank and we are using play sand for the substrate. We had been using about 2" of sand in the bottom but then read that maybe it should be deeper. Does anyone know what the optimal depth would be for this situation? We had been cleaning out the entire tank and throwing away all the sand every month but then read that maybe we don't need to do it that often. Does anyone know if it should be completely cleaned out every month or if it can go longer? If so, how long can we let it go and what kind of clean-up should be done in between times?

Hi!

Your sand depth should be 3x the height of your biggest crab or 6", whichever is deeper. There's no need to completely change out the substrate unless there's an emergency, like a flood or bacterial bloom. Doing so can disrupt and stress digging/molting crabs. I just look for thrown about food bits and dispose of them daily. I also add more sand on top when the rest starts to settle. I never pack it down or move large objects though because I always have crabs that are under.
If you haven't seen this yet, def check it out. It has lots of good start up info:
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 378c297a37

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[Hermielover121]

Your sub should be at least six inches or 3x as more then your biggest crab to be able to properly molt. Changing sub is not necessary unless there is a bacterial bloom or flood. You will only really need to spot clean food and poop Whenever you change food and water. Also it should be sand castle consistency so they can make proper tunnels. Please change it immediately since they will most likely want to molt right away. Hope this helped


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[dterrell]

Thank you so very much for the link and all your information! Because this site is a forum, I have had a difficult time finding all the great resources that we needed. Going to that part of the site has answered so many of our questions. I have it marked now for reference.

Both crabs are under the sand right now so we will wait for them to come up before we add more substrate. Thank you again!!

[CrabbyLover77]

Thank you so very much for the link and all your information! Because this site is a forum, I have had a difficult time finding all the great resources that we needed. Going to that part of the site has answered so many of our questions. I have it marked now for reference.

Both crabs are under the sand right now so we will wait for them to come up before we add more substrate. Thank you again!!

You're welcome!
If you need to, you can add 1" of substrate per day when you have crabs under. Just don't pack it down, or move large/buried objects that could disturb tunnels.

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[aussieJJDude]

merged both posts

Since its so shallow, if any crabs are 'under' I wouldn't worry about digging them up and just adding all sand needed in one go! It be a lot easier, quicker and somewhat safer for them to do so.

[CrabbyLover77]

merged both posts

Since its so shallow, if any crabs are 'under' I wouldn't worry about digging them up and just adding all sand needed in one go! It be a lot easier, quicker and somewhat safer for them to do so.

It's ok to do that? Add all the sand at once? I always go by the 1" per day rule I learned here, but that would be awesome to be able to do more. When I clean up leftover food, a lot of sand always comes out with it, so I'm always having to replace it where the dishes are. Thanks!

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[aussieJJDude]

It's ok to do that? Add all the sand at once? I always go by the 1" per day rule I learned here, but that would be awesome to be able to do more. When I clean up leftover food, a lot of sand always comes out with it, so I'm always having to replace it where the dishes are. Thanks!

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Ah, my translation fail (from brain to keyboard).... was meant to say I wouldn't worry about digging them up, since its so shallow, it be easy to spot where they are. Dig them up, and add as much substrate as needed.

Even then, the 1 inch per day is more of a precaution to stop newer crabbers from just dumping in the whole lot (they forced to add little by little, therefore will not all be dumped in). If you were to go about it carefully, you could easily add more than an inch providing its done carefully and slowly IMO.

[CrabbyLover77]

Ah, my translation fail (from brain to keyboard).... was meant to say I wouldn't worry about digging them up, since its so shallow, it be easy to spot where they are. Dig them up, and add as much substrate as needed.

Even then, the 1 inch per day is more of a precaution to stop newer crabbers from just dumping in the whole lot (they forced to add little by little, therefore will not all be dumped in). If you were to go about it carefully, you could easily add more than an inch providing its done carefully and slowly IMO.

No worries, thanks for the explanation!

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