HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I have noticed a almost slimmy feel to my bubbler hoses and stones. What do you use and how do you clean yours????

I rarely recommend this route but tubing and stones are so cheap i would probably just replace. I can get a 5 pack of stones and enough tubing for 2 bubblers for about $5

Soaking in white vinegar will clear some of the build-up on the stones and will get the tubes clean again. If you have hard water or use one in saltwater then you may have to replace it because the pores are too tiny and get completely blocked.

I agree with crabnewb. All that stuff is basically super cheap. You might even scope out Craigslist for local aquarium people getting out of the hobby and see if they have extra tubing and stones they'd let go of for dirt cheap. From what i can tell, fish people have a lot of extra stuff. ***Or maybe that's just the dude that happens to live near me. His garage and basement looks like a fish store. He might be a fish hoarder.


Crabbers unite!!!

ETA: some plastic plants might be made of or coated in something that makes the water extra slimey. I had these white plastic plants that used to help crabs in and out of the pools. I left them overnight in a tiny pool with a vigorous bubbler and the next morning the pool became a foam bath! I took everything out and washed it and noticed a slimey feeling all over, with no visible slime.

Slime is going to happen - that's bacterial and algae, and it will start growing overnight.

Aaand yeah, true fish people be like a pet store. I have tubs of parts upstairs. In a pinch I could set up three more tanks within an hour. All it takes is one emergency one time to learn to not throw anything that can be used away!

About how long does it take for the tubing to get into bad shape?

The tubing to my fresh that is submerged gets slimy in about a week; it is brown algae, pretty sure. I just wipe it with a dry paper towel on weekly changes, and change the bubbler when it gets clogged. The salt must discourage algae because it has much less of a problem.

This is a good point, I haven't had my bubblers for too long, but I should start cleaning them. I read about how cheap everyone is saying the supplies is, and I just have to brag that I got two airstones on sale at Petsmart for 1 cent each! They were Halloween themed, so I have one green scull and one purple bat.