adding a new speceis

[Tonys Hermits]

Im adding a new hermit crab species to my tank im wanting to change into ecquadorian crab ere theu easy as the purple pincher type do they need more space and I heard they can be lonley with only one of their type and easily mistaken with indios is there a way you can tell I got saltwater and a 20 gallon tank with 6 crabs I am getting micros is it okay to get one on monday and then that next saturday get another need advice

[Crabber85]

Unless you have a thirty gallon tank for the main tank and a ten gallon iso I would not recommend getting the E's if you can find them.All newly purchased hermitcrabs need to be isolated for four weeks regardless of species you can read more about Iso and why its important here. E's are definitely not as easy as Purple Pinchers to take care of because they have certain care requirements that the PP just doesn't have like the absolute need for constant 24/7 access to sea water, they need to have the temp and humidity kept at a constant stable 80/80 for both values, they tend to drop their shells on their way back up from a molt because they are too weak to carry the shell back up with them after it has become loaded down with substrate which will inevitably lead to the crab surfacing naked which makes them easy prey for the other tank mates.E's are extremely active in comparison to the more in-active PP so a bigger tank is must because they need plenty of climbing decor, space to run and space for their water dishes, E's like to fully submerge themselves in their water dishes when bathing or filling their shells with water.E's are by no means as hard to care for as Strawberries or Blueberries but they aren't as easy as the PP. I've been crabbing since I was seven years old and I'm about to turn 29 this year and have only had E's for four years because I didn't feel I could properly take care of them until I had enough time with the much easier PP to learn what works best for me and what doesn't in regards to tank sizes and so forth.I'm now using a 121 gallon aquarium and my E's are flourishing in it but they likely would have died if I'd started them off in a basic ten gallon like I used years ago so my advice is work with the PP for a little while longer and when you've gotten up to the thirty to forty gallon range on tank sizes then give the E's a try you'll do much better this way I know I did.