sand sinking, losing an inch

[mjjluver]

hi, so I'm new to crabbing and when I set up the substrate which is maybe 50% playsand and 50% coco fiber and made it sandcastle, it was about 5-5.5 inches. a month later, it looks like it's shrunk down by 1/2 to 3/4 inch. is this from water loss? should I spray it down? I hadn't been doing that because I heard there could be issues with flooding and I have 2 molters. I have the water bowls sunk down a little bit like a halfway in-ground pool and it seems to maintain the shape.
maybe it's just settling like how a house settles after a while?

[AleyedtoBuggie]

It does settle after you put it in. As long it's sand castle consistentency you're good.

They also do eat some, but I've never noticed a decline from that, just settling. I usually add sand if necessary and areate(stir your sand from bottom to top, really mix it up) after all hermits are surfaced. I tend to rearrange and add new decorations then too.

Oh, and you can poke a chopstick or something similar down to the bottom of your tank, where you're sure no hermits are and pull it out. It the hole stays, you're at sand castle cons. If not, mist and stir your sub if you can till it's back good. If not, it won't support caves and digging.

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[C_fiesta]

Yep, it settles! If you want to add more sub, you can add up to an inch every 24hours even with molters if you don't press down.

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[wodesorel]

When it's first mixed up a lot of air pockets are added into it, which makes it light and fluffy and that means it fills up more space. Over time the grains of substrate will start falling into those air pockets which condenses the overall mass and makes it fit into a smaller space. (Normal interaction with the tank, the crabs walking on the surface, and just the vibrations of people walking around and the TV and things will cause it to compact.) Expect to lose at least an inch or two of height in the first couple of months, more if there's a large volume of substrate, or if there's a lot of EE to a little bit of sand.