HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I recently switched to a digital Acurite hydrometer and I’m a bit concerned about its readings.

It was reading 75-80% with my old junk one an 89-96% with the acurite so I looked upthread and saw the table salt calibration test. Yesterday I did the test with the acurite and after 4 hours it read 75% and at 8 hours it read 71% humidity. So, it’s reading 4% lower than it actually is.

This morning before work it said 92%. That’s too high right? How do I get it lower without hurting the crabs? I have 2 down, substrate is eco earth and doesn’t look flooded. I have 2 water dishes (de and sw instant ocean) and mist once every 1-2 days as needed (or so I thought). Do I just stop listing and hope it’ll gradually dry out a bit?


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There's no such thing as too high humidity.

Creating and maintaining humidity - Hermit Crab Association
www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pages/humidity.html



***High humidity isn't going to hurt your crabs but it will end up being more work for you, I read in an article about hermit crab humitity (sorry for spelling) that a humitity higher that 80% can cause mold and fungi to grow a lot more quickly in a crabitat. I usually keep the humitity in my tank around 75% and it seems to be working well. There is no musty smell and no growing mold

Are you concerned about mold? It won’t harm the crabs. I’d just leave things be unless things get really bad.


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The crabbies seem to be doing fine, I’m glad this isn’t hurting them!

I have noticed their food molds really fast recently and the tank smells a little bit more than usual (damp earth smell, not fishy). I am allergic to mold so it would be nice to get it back to where it was in the 80% range. I’m not sure what I’ve changed doing,.. maybe it’s because I turned on the heat / humidifier in our home? It’s across the apartment but still.


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Since you have allergies, then yes, I would advise to be cautious with the amount you're misting the tank. Holding off like you said would be a good starting point.

Another thing you can do is allowing the tank to 'air out' a bit and allow some of the moisture to escape. It's important if you do allow the tank to air out, you have a reminder so you don't forget and allow the crabs to escape - a alarm for example is a good idea, or just keeping a watchful eye every time you do allow it to air out. Plus air circulation is a great way of decreasing the likelihood of mould from becoming a problem, since it prefers damp moist areas. Drying out the tank for short amount of times will do the opposite of that.

Great ideas thanks!


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