HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I think the last time I was here my crabs were still hanging out in the bathroom in a 10g while I got my 30g relocated and took care of the issue of the faulty thermostat / hygrometer which ran my mist pump all night and flooded everything.

New tank inside: http://imgur.com/a/S8al2

It's a 30g with a 30g birch-wood hood (it's the same dimensions as the tank). There are two 1 1/2 gallon water tubs that have bulkheads through the sides for doing water changes. This used to be pump-driven, but I messed up the positioning of the bulkheads (didn't take into account the way the taper of the tubs made the front lower than the back when I hung them on the sides) so I have to do it by hand to keep the flow rate low enough that it's not a flood risk. Oh well, I'll fix that for CrabTank 3.0.

Three of the four glass sides were covered with insulation behind the heat mats, and I just had to cover over the front of the tank with insulation last night. House is just too cold, and it was creating too much of a temperature differential between the bottom and top of the tank having an exposed side, so they were constantly standing around on top of the water tub and I rarely saw them come down for days. They were all walking around on the ground again a few hours after the temp hit 27.5-27.8 evenly throughout the tank (instead of the 23.5 to 29 gradient I was getting with the exposed glass side), so I'm assuming they're happier now. One of the disadvantages of having such a tall environment.

Fortunately, I can still look in on them with the IP cam mounted to the inside of the door, and all the tank electronics (lighting, misting, etc) are controlled via Ubiquiti mPower Pro power strip, so I can log in from anywhere and tweak things a bit if I see things are getting too far off kilter.

Now to plan out CrabTank 3.0 for next summer...

It's looking really cool! The only thing I can worry about is all that bare wire exposed in one pic! I heard of crabs pinching their way through the wire and causing electrical shocks. It's unknown if it does any permanent damages; but it's best to play it safe and cover them. Even getting them wrapped in some thick aquarium tubing would do the trick or inside a cholla wood piece.

aussieJJDude wrote:It's looking really cool! The only thing I can worry about is all that bare wire exposed in one pic!

Yeah, I just kind of chucked it in there to begin with to figure out the best spots to measure humidity from (the temp probes and wires have their own shielding, the hygrometer is the one exposed). I've since wrapped them in tape and tidied up the wiring a bit so it's not in their usual walking paths. They had actually done a bit of damage to the insulation on one wire beforehand by climbing it (I don't think anyone got hurt, and it still works fine, but definitely lesson learned).

Oh, btw, there's a livestream I have set up for it, too. http://hermitcrabs.no-ip.org Username and password are both guest (might have to use IE, Chrome disabled the plugin support...). There isn't always much activity, but they show up from time to time. Today I forgot to switch the light fixture from night to day before I left for work so it's kinda dark in there, but it's an IR camera at least. Their ordinary lighting cycle was fully automatic and the nightlight came in from the side, but since I covered all the glass with insulation I bought a nightlight and I've been swapping the fixtures since I only have one hole on top of the enclosure. I bought a space-heater with thermostat to keep the ambient temperature in the tank room warmer so maybe I can uncover and automate things properly again.

...those dratted itsy-bitsy flies are back. Must've hitched a ride on a piece of fruit.