Hermits THOW (or COW)

[avenuegirl]

Hey all!
So here's what's going on.

Crabs have been living pleasantly over a year now. And while I already double decked tanks it has been frustrating to get into the tanks for quick feeding and maintenance.

Realizing my friends could be a 20-30 year commitment I want the best for them.

I need to give you a bit more background on the situation. I live in a small apartment, A mere 450 square feet. I'm a big Tiny House Fan. And while I would like to get my own tiny house one day that I would actually have cemented down, anything in my apartment really has to go on Wheels and be easy for me to move around. So I present to you, the crabitat on wheels or COW.

I've been searching around yard sales and places now for a few months looking at already made furniture that can possibly be modified into the crabitat. Finally had a big realization at a yard sale just over a month ago and was able to get wire shelving racks for $20 that came with the wheels on them.

I have a list of other preferences as well that I needed to address. I had held onto a lot of glass and was going to make a bunch of glass tanks, but I really don't like glass or that much of it. Not to mention the weight issue. The the heaviest thing that really should be in the crabitat is the sand. I needed to build something that was going to be mobile, easily accessible, easy to clean, and while a lot of things I could find, a lot of things that I wanted I could not find so I'm having to do some additional custom work that does cost a bit more money.

I'm actually very close to finishing. But I thought before I do that while I'm going through deconstructing the crabitat I should probably start sharing because there are so many details involved.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I don't own the apartment that I live in right now, so I also needed something I could completely breakdown on my own and move on my own. As you know if you get 30 gallon tanks and larger they are just so cumbersome to deal with. My entire crabitat can be completely disassembled and lay down completely flat if I ever have to move. With the exception of whatever I put the sand in in the bottom.

*Mobile
*More space for crabs to climb
*More space to dig unobstructed
*Easy to access
*Easy to clean
*Decent size salt and fresh water tanks
*Safe from escape
*Aesthetically pleasing to look at
*Expandable
*Can be broken down and moved in my small car by one person.
*Plenty of storage space included for all maintenance equipment including the vacation home I stick them in sometimes.
*Able to support live plants

Those were some of my main concerns on doing this build.

Here hopefully are some starter pics. I'll be back with more later today.


http://imgur.com/gallery/8W16Vvs

[JoeHermits]

Now there’s an interesting project. Are you adding glass sides? How are they secured?


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[avenuegirl]

I have custom acrylic cut. It attaches with the locking 3m Velcro stuff which is amazing and a huge step above Velcro.

At Lowe's you can buy the sheet and they cut snap it FREE. As many times as you need.

Cut one giant sheet. I'll have more pics as I reassemble.

[RiNiKy506]

That is such an amazing crabitat. You are very creative, I can’t wait to see it finished.


♡ Rod ♡ Salty ♡ Bob ♡ Squirt ♡ Crabina ♡
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers »-♡->

[GotButterflies]

Very interesting! They only thing I don't recommend is the green reptile carpet. Whatever you put into the tank is going to be eaten by the crabs.

Do you think that the velcro and the acrylic will hold the sand? That would be a lot of weight.

[RiNiKy506]

Very interesting! They only thing I don't recommend is the green reptile carpet. Whatever you put into the tank is going to be eaten by the crabs.

Do you think that the velcro and the acrylic will hold the sand? That would be a lot of weight.

She’s going to use a tank at the bottom for the sand.


♡ Rod ♡ Salty ♡ Bob ♡ Squirt ♡ Crabina ♡
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers »-♡->

[GotButterflies]

Do you think that the velcro and the acrylic will hold the sand? That would be a lot of weight.

She’s going to use a tank at the bottom for the sand.

Gotcha! That makes sense!

[ciaraalston]

This sounds interesting! Following to see the amazing end result! Good luck!!!

[avenuegirl]

Crabs got moved tonight into the quote unquote vacation tank. So I'm getting very close. Also found some more things at a yard sale today that I think you're going to be spectacular.

Bought another 50 lb bag of sand, got some more coconut bricks that are soaking in some purified water. Was able to retrieve a giant piece of Driftwood I have from the main tank after getting the crabs moved out and it lines up so beautifully with their space. Let me see if I can get a pic uploaded to share here on what I'm looking at right now. Still very rough but have all of the external closures for already created it's a matter of the details on the inside at this point. Also realized the shelving rack that's under the sand tank got a little bent when getting moved around and might be compromised and want to swap it with the bottom shelf just so I have a really strong shelf support for the sand.

Actually had to kind of work a few hours today, lol, but tomorrow is going to be a good solid few hours of getting the tank completely disassembled, racks rearrange, and then reassembled in the right order.

While I had sketched out some initial planning, things arise as you're actually creating something and sometimes some adjustments need to be made.

I'm not worrying about the frog carpet layer, it's going to be covered in live moss mat. Totally made from purely recycled plastic. There's a lot of plastic going on in here already.there will be so many goodies for them to eat I'm not going to bother with it. Also thinking I'm actually going to be putting food in various places so that they can crawl around and find it like little treats on a regular basis as opposed to having one solid food dish.

[avenuegirl]

so for anyone who may have not realized before, the first post in this thread has a picture, right below it is a link to the actual Gallery with descriptions of what's going on in more pictures. Here is a new Fresh post with more pictures for the evening.

http://imgur.com/gallery/DpY1f2y

[JoeHermits]

Making progress!

Watch out for the wheel, the forum frowns on them because they can trap legs.

Not sure how safe a copper candlestick would be, since copper is usually avoided with crustaceans. I’ll let someone with a better knack for metals chime in on that.


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[avenuegirl]

Yeah, about the wheel. I can line it. Put some carpet inside or plastic mesh. Had been thinking about that.



I'll order some more coconut fiber today.

[aussieJJDude]

The wheel traps legs more due to the 'pole' that runs across the wheel, not the mesh itself. It can be a potential pinching point as it turns.

As for the copper candlesticks .. i would also try to avoid if possible and get something make out of resin or plastic. But thats me, since copper can cause a premature death of invertebrates.

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[avenuegirl]

The wheel traps legs more due to the 'pole' that runs across the wheel, not the mesh itself. It can be a potential pinching point as it turns.

I'm unclear about what you're referring to. There is no middle attachment. The wheel is attached upside down? There is no contact point from the ground, only the wheel to climb up on.

Please if you could circle or illustrate what you are referring to I am very interested. The axis point is way above and beyond them to get stuck in. I do thank you for your advisement.

I got busy this past few weeks but tomorrow I'll share the unveiling.

I already have some longer term expansion and modified plans, but I will say they will have plenty of room to grow.

The custom water tanks still need to be assembled but the parts are all ready. I cut some tile for the meantime to cover the holes cut out for the tanks.

Will have some temporary water sources set up while I fuse the Plexi and give time to fully cure.

The crew has been holding up in vacation tank but I can tell they are ready to go home.

Got some air plants to hang inside. Lots of fresh moss, shells, a humidifier (gets a little dry in Florida in the winter), lots more shells, and 12 inches of substrate to dig. I currently have 3 sides of Plexi and the back is screening, but after seeing the 3 clear sides today I almost want to have the back cut as a Plexi piece too, but want to make sure there is plenty of air flow.

I showed a couple of friends today who really liked the ease of moving the house around.

[aussieJJDude]

I look forward to the update pics! This project sounds amazing, and glad to hear that some progress has been made.

I'm unclear about what you're referring to. There is no middle attachment. The wheel is attached upside down? There is no contact point from the ground, only the wheel to climb up on.

Please if you could circle or illustrate what you are referring to I am very interested. The axis point is way above and beyond them to get stuck in. I do thank you for your advisement.

This is particularly one of the major issues - other is paint, its been known to peel off....


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