Hermit Crab Substrate.& tank size

[hermityhannah]

I am currently using coco chips as substrate I have a medium sized hermit and I have 11cm of it.. I know thats too shallow and I am going to buy coco fiber. Is it ok to use a mix of coco fiber and coco chips as hermit crab substrate?
Also I have a 8 gallon tank... It's currently quite hard for me to purchase a bigger one.. Is it going to affect the hermit hugely??

[harry potter]

I wouldn't personally use a mixture of coco fiber and coco chips. Coco chips may me kind of hard for them to tunnel in. I would recommend a 5:1 ratio of play sand to eco earth. (you can get a 50lb bag of play sand at almost any hardware store for $5) As for the tank size, could you possibly measure how tall it is?

[hermityhannah]

It is 27 cm(10.6 inches)

[harry potter]

It is 27 cm(10.6 inches)

It should work for now. The HCA recommends a medium sized hermit crab have a minimum of a 10 gallon tank and 6.5 inches of substrate. So I would get a larger tank as soon as possible. And when you get a larger tank you could also get him a buddy because hermit crabs, despite their name, enjoy to have company.

If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

[hermityhannah]

ok thank you for educating me!

[curlysister]

Have you had a chance to look through the care sheets? You will find tons of info there. Start with the 'basics' care sheet, and then go from there.
You will find that the tank you have will very quickly become too small as you put everything in that he needs, and then as your crab grows. Substrate needs to be moistened to sand castle consistency, because they made tunnels. Chunks of coco won't allow them to do that. Your substrate should be at least three times as deep as your crab - so you might not need 6 inches. If you are unable to buy play sand but can get coco fiber, you can use all coco fiber (rather than a mix of the fiber and the chips).