Tank in major dissoray, please help

[Vlad]

So, I went on a trip for approximately 2 days, left saturday night, arrived this tuesday morning, and I forgot to leave my light on, and my tank is hectic. So when I left. Two of my hermit crabs were molting, one big one was left alone and was just doing his own thing, but now that I am back, the big one is gone but one of the small ones is done molting. And dirt is everywhere. The photo doesn’t do it justice, but there is dirt on top of the driftwood, on the sode of the tank,
In the water. And all of the water is gone! I don’t even know how, but not a single trace of water is left in either my salt water nor my freshwater dish. The moss I had is overturned, and I had climbing stuff attatched to the wall, but it looks like it’s been ripped off a little bit, but this could just be because of time. Also, there is mold. Everywhere. Somebody told me that this mold was relatively harmless, but I cannot agree. It is everywhere. Shells, wood, dirt, food, water, it all goes and touches it, and I think my hermit crabs have stopped eating because of it! I left a food block (that lasts up to 3 days) and my (one non molting crab) didn’t eat it! It doesn’t seem to be touched. Please help me, I have no idea what happened, this mold is killing my crabs and I think one of them went insane! Here’s a picture of the tank, it doesnt seem that bad, but the depth perception does alot.

[soilentgringa]

1. The mold is not killing your crabs.
2. Welcome to life with crabs. They can trash a tank within minutes. This is pretty normal.



What size is your tank? Are you only using cocofiber?

If you take the wood out, soak it in marine salt water and allow it to air dry, that will help inhibit mold growth.

I can't tell how large your tank is or what kind of crabs you have from the photo but I can tell you that they're quite active and can make huge messes in a short period of time. This is perfectly normal and nothing to be worried about.

[CrabHappens]

Agreed. ^ The fuzzy white mold, which is what I'm assuming it is, is not harmful to crabs; my wood molds sometimes and I have seen no problems with it. They are messy little buggers.
You may need to check and see if the substrate is over saturated, though. With the water being gone out of the pools it is possible a crab tipped the bowl and it could cause a flood, which is a Very Bad Thing. Pick up the substrate and squeeze, and if water oozes out, it is too wet.

[curlysister]

My crabs regularly trash the tank!

[Vlad]

Okay, so Iguess it kinda sucks that they trash the tank, but I guess i’ll just have to deal with it, but what about them not eating? I give them different types of food and I never see them eat, I think they ate corn though? The bowl’s never finished though. Also, The saltwater solution is pretty expensive and Idon’t want to use alot of it if I don’t have to, but I’ve baked the wood multiple times and it didn’t help, any other ideas?

[soilentgringa]

Okay, so Iguess it kinda sucks that they trash the tank, but I guess i’ll just have to deal with it, but what about them not eating? I give them different types of food and I never see them eat, I think they ate corn though? The bowl’s never finished though. Also, The saltwater solution is pretty expensive and Idon’t want to use alot of it if I don’t have to, but I’ve baked the wood multiple times and it didn’t help, any other ideas?

They don't eat a lot and since they're typically active at night you may not notice them eating.

Are you using Instant Ocean? A box of IO is less than $10 and 1/2 a cup makes a gallon of saltwater. The box lasts for a long time especially if you don't have large pools.

We don't recommend any other salt water solution unless it is specifically for marine tank setups.

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[Vlad]

I use zoomed water treatment, is that not good? I’ll buy some online when my paycheck come in, thank you for the tip!

[curlysister]

Do you use a dechlorinator? If so, what brand?

I don't think Zoomed is good, Instant Ocean is what most of us use. I mix it up a pint at a time. They need to have pools of both dechlorinated fresh water and marine salt water available at all times, with the pools deep enough that they can submerge but with a way to climb in and out so they don't drown.

What kinds of food are you offering?

[JoeHermits]

I use zoomed water treatment, is that not good? I’ll buy some online when my paycheck come in, thank you for the tip!

Zoo Med water treatment supplies aren’t the greatest. Their Reptisafe dechlorinator isn’t too bad, but it’s kind of expensive.

Supplies for fish are cheaper and more effective. Seachem makes a great dechlorinator called Prime, and Instant Ocean makes a very good marine salt.


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