Sanitising decor tank etc

[hermitsrus1966]

I already know that alot of crabbers never change sub but, don't you have to at least sanitize cholla wood, other wood, coco huts, shells or just decor in general? My biggest questions are now sanitization. Like how often, and what items should I use to clean water dishes and food dishes? None of my shells have been washed, my cholla wood is partly buried to keep it steady and will eventually mold, so I am gonna need to know how long to soak in salt water, and how long to bake it. Oh, I noticed if I look very closely that there almost appears to be this frost substances growing on the inside glass of my aquarium. I have wiped it with a vinegar solution and it comes back every time, does anyone have a clue as to what it is or if I should be worried? My suction cups get mold on them, how can I keep those clean? Lastly, I have crab cookies, and squirrel kidneys that I recently feed the crabs, and of course hey drug it off. Should I go searching for missing chucks of food? Again, just worried of a bacterial bloom just in case it gets buried, and just mold in general. Sorry for so many questions, but these are all things I am a bit clueless on and could use some help with, to help me and others now and for future.

[curlysister]

I am one of the people who doesn't change my sub at all, I just add more as needed and spot clean as needed.
I am a bit of a lazy/ laid back crab owner, I don't do a lot of maintenance, and don't panic about many things.
I don't go looking for food they have dragged off - eventually it will get fuzzy white mold on it and I can easily remove it from the surface. I don't feed anything in big chunks, so don't worry too much about them burying a huge amount of anything.
I don't regularly clean the shells, although some people do. If I am adding new shells, I will take out the old and boil all of them in my tap (well) water for a few minutes.
I also just use tap water for rinsing/ washing water and food dishes. I rinse them every time I change the water (once a week-ish) and the food (twice a week-ish). Every now and then I use a toothbrush that hasn't been used for anything else, to give them a scrub if I think they need it LOL.
When I got mold, I just scrub the item in my same tap (well) water and let it dry and put it back in. I know Wode has a formula for a lot of salt and soaking and boiling etc that works well, but I haven't tried it yet.

[hermitsrus1966]

I am one of the people who doesn't change my sub at all, I just add more as needed and spot clean as needed.
I am a bit of a lazy/ laid back crab owner, I don't do a lot of maintenance, and don't panic about many things.
I don't go looking for food they have dragged off - eventually it will get fuzzy white mold on it and I can easily remove it from the surface. I don't feed anything in big chunks, so don't worry too much about them burying a huge amount of anything.
I don't regularly clean the shells, although some people do. If I am adding new shells, I will take out the old and boil all of them in my tap (well) water for a few minutes.
I also just use tap water for rinsing/ washing water and food dishes. I rinse them every time I change the water (once a week-ish) and the food (twice a week-ish). Every now and then I use a toothbrush that hasn't been used for anything else, to give them a scrub if I think they need it LOL.
When I got mold, I just scrub the item in my same tap (well) water and let it dry and put it back in. I know Wode has a formula for a lot of salt and soaking and boiling etc that works well, but I haven't tried it yet.

Ok, that sounds about right. What about my suction cups molding? Just clean them every now and then? And also me too, I am so lazy when it comes to their care sometimes. Though I do have 1 issue. I have a couple items I cant really feed in small chunks they are just kinda the way they are. And they tend to hide it in spots that I dont ever go in (due to it being covered by a hammock, plants etc. So far I have Mary Akers crab cookie floating around somewhere in the tank, fresh squirrel kidneys, and crawfish pincher (the whole limb in all). That is all floating around the tank somewhere whether they buried it or not I have no idea. I am going to be cleaning my cholla wood, cork bark, and moldy climbable background that is in the tank right now as well as some coco huts. The crabs could care less about the mold, but I wanna get rid of it. And I think I am gonna boil all of my shells just to say I cleaned them once.

[hermitsrus1966]

I am one of the people who doesn't change my sub at all, I just add more as needed and spot clean as needed.
I am a bit of a lazy/ laid back crab owner, I don't do a lot of maintenance, and don't panic about many things.
I don't go looking for food they have dragged off - eventually it will get fuzzy white mold on it and I can easily remove it from the surface. I don't feed anything in big chunks, so don't worry too much about them burying a huge amount of anything.
I don't regularly clean the shells, although some people do. If I am adding new shells, I will take out the old and boil all of them in my tap (well) water for a few minutes.
I also just use tap water for rinsing/ washing water and food dishes. I rinse them every time I change the water (once a week-ish) and the food (twice a week-ish). Every now and then I use a toothbrush that hasn't been used for anything else, to give them a scrub if I think they need it LOL.
When I got mold, I just scrub the item in my same tap (well) water and let it dry and put it back in. I know Wode has a formula for a lot of salt and soaking and boiling etc that works well, but I haven't tried it yet.

I found what looked like Mary Akers crab cookies but it was covered in dirt and mold. Also I found the crawfish pincher and it has been destroyed! They ripped apart the exo and ate it as well as the the meat inside. I still have not found the fresh squirrel kidney.

[mool]

I have a very similar crab-keeping style to curlysister. I don't do much tank maintenance at all. I've had the same sub in my tank since 2010. I have added more to it. I'm getting ready to go from a 40B to a 75, so I'll be mixing a lot more sub, but I don't plan on "sterilizing" any of the decor. I might bang it against the ground to dislodge some old gunk and air dry it in the sun (if it's sunny).

I do boil out my shells every few years. I throw their food dishes into the dishwasher and I hand wash their water bowls once in a while. I top off the fresh water due to bubbler evaporation once a week and wash out both bowls once or twice a month.

The inside glass is all fogged due to condensation and probably salt accumulation, but I haven't wiped it clear in years.

[curlysister]

Yay! Another lazy....I mean laid back....crab owner!

[mool]

That's me!

[hermitsrus1966]

I have a very similar crab-keeping style to curlysister. I don't do much tank maintenance at all. I've had the same sub in my tank since 2010. I have added more to it. I'm getting ready to go from a 40B to a 75, so I'll be mixing a lot more sub, but I don't plan on "sterilizing" any of the decor. I might bang it against the ground to dislodge some old gunk and air dry it in the sun (if it's sunny).

I do boil out my shells every few years. I throw their food dishes into the dishwasher and I hand wash their water bowls once in a while. I top off the fresh water due to bubbler evaporation once a week and wash out both bowls once or twice a month.

The inside glass is all fogged due to condensation and probably salt accumulation, but I haven't wiped it clear in years.

Yea, thats me as well up until this last month. As I was scared that, that might not be how we are supposed to do it. I am now learning it is fine to be laid back as they dont require, as much as I thought they did. I just boiled the crabs shells that were in the tank because some, smelled wet and musty, they smelled like the substrate. I have never sanitized them and a couple came from Walmart so, I thought I would boil them with some tap water. I was also hoping to entice some crabs to change shells. I also will be boiling some cholla wood in salt water just because, they are growing mold and were submerged in sub.