what water is safe for hermit crabs

[MotleyMusicana]

Hey! I don't have hermit crabs right now, I'm still working out the kinks in my setup. I was going to use distilled water (treated with seachem prime) for wetting the substrate and filling water dishes, but I'm having trouble finding it in my area right now. Is spring water okay to use? I looked at the list of things that prime treats for, and it seems like it would be safe.

[hermitsinnc]

Distilled or other bottled water won't have the nutrients that crabs need. Prime only removes/neutralizes harmful chemicals, it doesn't add the necessary ones. So unless you're in a unique situation where your water is undrinkable, it's better to use dechlorinated tap water.

[MotleyMusicana]

what are the essential nutrients? if I knew, then I could know whether bottled spring water specifically has them. if tap water has them, I'd assume spring water would be fine.

edit: also, when cleaning the decorations or water bowls, is there a certain kind of soap I should use? I can clean them in treated water, I just want to know if I should be putting soap on the tank items or not.

[Jlmills525]

Here's the water care sheet for reference

https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 56#p852656

[MotleyMusicana]

okay so if I understand this correctly, both spring water and tap water are okay for crabs, provided they are treated with a dechlorinator and something that removes heavy metals. I have seachem prime and what I've read online supports that it does both of those things. so I guess certain minerals in the water are good for crabs which is why it's good to use a spring water or tap water base instead of basic distilled water when making freshwater for your crab tank. and seachem prime should be enough to treat the water. pls correct me if I'm wrong about this.

[Jlmills525]

seachem prime is the recommended brand i believe so you should be good

[aussieJJDude]

seachem prime is the recommended brand i believe so you should be good

I do want to add, its one of them. By far the most popular - good fan group haha - but other conditioner's can be used without problem! As long as it treats heavy metals and chlorine/chloramine, you're good to go!

okay so if I understand this correctly, both spring water and tap water are okay for crabs, provided they are treated with a dechlorinator and something that removes heavy metals. I have seachem prime and what I've read online supports that it does both of those things. so I guess certain minerals in the water are good for crabs which is why it's good to use a spring water or tap water base instead of basic distilled water when making freshwater for your crab tank. and seachem prime should be enough to treat the water. pls correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Yep.
- spring and tap generally the same thing. Many bottled spring water sources surprisingly are from the tap!
- good dechlorinator to use, and yes, use it on either spring or tap
- distilled can be used, as the crabs should be getting the bulk of their nutrients from the food. Keep in mind, a marine salt mix will also contain minerals, so any 'loss' of mineral drinking freshwater thats distilled, is made up by saltwater that is comprised from distilled