Thinking(Just Did it) about downsizing to my forty gallon breeder.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:03 am

I've had my 121 gallon up and running since around the summer of 2012 and it has slowly begun to overwhelm me.I'm only 5'7 and the tank is getting harder and harder to maintain because I require a step ladder just to be able to reach inside the tank to move the food and water bowls around which has become a hassle to say the least.A tip for anyone who is looking for a tank over fifty gallons in size, think about it before you just jump in like I did, I'm now looking at going back to my smaller forty gallon breeder because it was so much easier to do up-keep on and to maintain a steady climate in.For tanks over fifty gallons you start to run into an issue with the lids when they need to be replaced they can be hard to find and in my situation impossible to obtain unless you want to have lids custom cut to the size you need.Both of the lids on my tank fell apart because they were so old by the time I got them and the tank, so if I decide to keep the tank running I'm going to need to put out about $500 just to get new lids cut to fit which I can't do for a while.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:10 am

A 55 is the same issue, although it's a great size for crabs..it's a costly thing to have when parts break down or needs completely cleaned. I'm short to and my shoulders are starting to hurt now reaching in the tank.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:57 pm

@Laurie, yeah I never thought I would regret taking the 121 gallon as it was free and I was looking at it being my eleven hermitcrabs permanent home but the up-keep has gotten super expensive and while my hermitcrabs are enjoying the extra space it has become more of a hassle to keep the humidity up in than its worth.I've got joint issues and I have to essentially climb in and out of the tank with a step ladder to change their food out on a regular basis and to keep their waters freshened.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 10:39 am

Do you have it on a stand or directly on the floor? Maybe just move it to the floor would make cleanup easier. Or on like a coffee table type stand that was short/close to the ground.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Apr 03, 2015 1:41 pm

@jenok, its on the custom built cabinet stand that came with it, the major issue is the fact that the glass lids that came with it fell apart so I'm having to use makeshift lids that aren't ideal for humidity retention but were the best I could manage on my low budget this has caused a plethora of other issues with the temp and humidity.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:11 am

While I was doing my spring cleaning in my room this past week I decided to go on ahead and just put the forty gallon back together because the 121 gallon has been having serious stability issues with the temp and humidity because both lids have completely fallen apart and are sitting in my garage waiting to be taken to the recycling center.Because I couldn't keep the humidity stable and the temps kept bouncing around I decided to just move everybody while they were topside to the old forty gallon.They seem to be liking it better as the temp and humidity have been staying very stable.I was supposed to have eleven hermitcrabs but unfortunately I seem to have lost three of them over the last six months to bad molts the substrate was way too wet on the unheated end of the tank and was bone dry on the heated end one of the deceased hermits was on the heated side its molting pocket had clearly collapsed and caused it to become trapped underground, the others that were on the soggy end of the tank were under the water dishes and had failed to properly harden due to the excessive moisture in the substrate.All three were Purple Pinchers, I still have my three E's and five PP's so I'm still doing fairly well as far as it goes but the loss of three of my PP's is still hard to take and what makes it worse is one of them was one of my big baseball sized boy's, I had two of them at that size they both went down for their molts at the same time and one survived while the other did not.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:56 am

That's terrible, but why didn't the dry substrate pull the extra moisture from the wet end?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Apr 16, 2015 3:12 pm

@jenok, I'm not sure and yes it is very sad because I'd had my big boys with me since 2011 and now I've lost one, like Crabby Abby once said it always seems to hurt worse with the larger ones because of the time you've spent with them getting them to that size and getting to know their personalities.