Transitioning

[crabby33]

I have gone from using play sand, EE and “live sand” to Fluker’s Beach Sand and Hermit Soil, now I am finally changing to regular play sand. I finally decided to break down and buy play sand and just avoid the aquarium sands and the sands marketed towards reptiles such as the Exo Terra Riverbed Sand. I realized it wasn’t worth the risk. A lot of the aquarium sands had bacteria in them and I did not think that was good for land based tank.

I ended up ordering a 20 lb bag off of Amazon. I am going to wait until I change out the substrate I have now to determine if I will need another bag later on.

[The Crab Maid]

Honestly buy your sand at a hardware store, Amazon charges A LOT in shipping because of the weight of the shipment so you can't get big bags. And mix some Eco Earth in to help retain moisture. And yeah, aquarium sand is bad because you can get some pretty nasty bacterial blooms from it, it's designed to be in a filtered tank of water.

[crabby33]

The sand is going to be delivered tomorrow. EE is next on the list. I am glad you agree with my decision to avoid the aquarium sands and get play sand. I understand it’s a lot cheaper to buy from a hardware store but I don’t drive and there is no one available to take me at the place where I live. The people at my place don’t care about hermit crabs.

[The Crab Maid]

It sounds like you're doing the best to your ability. How big is the tank? We could probably predict how many bags you need.

[Motörcrab]

For guessing the amount of sand you will need 50 pounds per 10 gallons of aquarium will get you 6 or more inchesof substrate.

[crabby33]

Motorcrab, my tank is 20 Gallons. I’m suspecting I might end up needing another bag but I want to wait until I have it in there to see how much sub it gives me.

[Motörcrab]

Two bags would be plenty. Chances are you may have a about 1/4 of a bag left over. The substrate usually settles over time so you can add that in a few months.

[crabby33]

I just ordered another 19 lbs of play sand after realizing that the sand that came in was enough to cover the bottom of the tank, but not enough for the crabs to dig down to molt. For the 5:1, do I need just one brick of EE or 1/2?

Update: I just ordered the Eco Earth. It will be delivered tomorrow. I’m going to hold off on mixing it in until the next shipment of sand arrives. I’m so excited to finally have my crabs on the correct substrate!