My crabitat smells... damp?

[hummingbird008]

I'm not sure how to describe it - it's like a wet towel. I have play six inches of playsand in a ten gallon tank. I mixed it with water before I put it in because some websites said it needs to be "sandcastle" consistency... maybe that's why? I spot clean, replace food, and replace water daily. Do I need to do a deep clean? I have two crabs living in it right now, and I really don't have a good temporary crabitat right now. If I even need to do a deep clean, I'm not sure whether to wait a couple of days until I can set up a good temporary crabitat for them or just put them in a sub-par one while I clean it.

[soilentgringa]

Deep cleans aren't necessary unless you have a flood or bacterial bloom. If your sub smells like damp sand that is fine. You want to be able to mold it and have the sand hold shape (sandcastle consistency) so their caves don't collapse on them when they dig down to molt.


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[hummingbird008]

Well, I think it smells like damp sand. It's very strong and smells almost... I don't know, sour? When I opened the top this morning, my dad could smell it from across the room. Should it be that strong? If it's okay that it's that strong, is there anything I can do about it? My dad told me if we start to smell it even when the lid is closed, I have to find them a new home.

[megmaholm]

It really shouldn't smell that strong. Have you checked to see if there's any food that they've stashed away somewhere that may be stinky?

[hummingbird008]

I checked today and yesterday, and couldn't find anything. Yesterday I even took everything out, including the crabs, and just removed the top layer of sand. It didn't help.

[megmaholm]

I'm honestly not sure what would be causing the smell! How long has your tank been set up? Has it had the smell since day one? Do you have any decor like a fishnet that could have gotten wet and mildewy?

Do you have any crabs buried right now? If not, I would take them out and give the sand a good stir to see if that helps.

I know you said you use playsand - what brand is it? Was it stored outdoors and possibly got wet before you got it?

[hummingbird008]

The tank's been set up for about a week, and it started smelling about three to four days ago. I don't think I have anything that could be mildewy, but here's a picture:



One of my two crabs is buried. I just asked my mom to get some more playsand in case we need to just replace everything. I don't know what brand is in there right now, but when I get the new bag, I'll tell you what it is.

[hummingbird008]

Oh, and I also found another thread kind of like this one where someone was having the same problem. Someone suggested they dig a hole at the edge of the glass and wait ad see if it fills with water to be able to know if the sand is over-saturated, so I did that.

[megmaholm]

Nope, looks like nothing in your tank should be contributing to the smell.

With such a new setup I doubt your tank would have flooded unless you initially used too much water setting it up. Always good to check, though! I'd suggest taking a drinking straw and sticking it in a few different spots throughout the tank - it'll fill with sand and you can sniff it. Good way to check if the sour smell is just on the surface or all the way through the sand. If you have a bacterial bloom starting, it'll have a really distinctive rotten egg smell. I had a small patch of black sand in my 55 when I did a deep clean a month or so ago, and the smell was unmistakable.

[hummingbird008]

So here's an update: I took everything out of the tank and washed all the sand off. Then I took a hose sprayed all the remaining sand out of the tank. I put new playsand in - this kind is much denser and only filled about four inches of the tank, but they can dig in it better. I put everything back and put the crabs back in. Also, I'm not as scared to pick them up! I wore gloves so I wouldn't be as scared, but I let both of them crawl around on my hand for a minute.

[hummingbird008]

So how often am I going to need to do a cleaning like that? It was kind of exhausting

[CallaLily]

What kind of sand was it? Calcium-type sands tend to stink after a short time.

Deep cleans like that are not necessary unless there's an issue with the substrate, like flooding or bacterial bloom.

[hummingbird008]

This type just said it was "great for sand boxes." I don't think it said anything about calcium.

[CallaLily]

Hhmm. Odd. I mean it will smell like damp sand or earthy if you use moss and cocofiber. But the way you describe it sounds like it was more musty? Was the sand dry when you purchased it?

[hummingbird008]

It was, but we mixed the sand with coconut substrate. We didn't do that this time. I also found some food when I did the cleaning, so that probably contributed to it. The new sand has been in for two days now, and we've cleaned and replaced food and water carefully, and so far, the smell isn't back.