Post by Sach-Crabministrator on Jul 11, 2010 19:15:40 GMT -5
{I will cover each, one at a time}
It is important that you clean anything that is going into your crabitat. This includes not just dishes, but hides, climbing things, shells, second level things like soap dishes, etc.
There are several ways to clean things for your tank. Boiling is a good way to kill germs, but not everything can be boiled. (Anything that will absorb any of the water you boil in needs to be boiled only in dechlorinated water.) You can boil in (hermie-safe, like they kind they drink)salt water too, to help prevent the growth of things like mold in the future (such as on a coconut shell hide).
You can also soak things in a mix of vinegar and water. I haven't gotten a precise estimate on the ratio, but I think a little goes a long way when it comes to vinegar.
You may also bake things like sand, coconuts, sticks, cork, cholla to help kill any germs. (Cholla, especially, should not be soaked or boiled. It is a cactus wood and will absorb all the water; turning it to mush. )
When I made a "tree" out of sticks from my yard (no pesticides), I baked them, as well as doing a soak each in salt water and vinegar water.
The important things to remember are to not use soap, and to use dechlorinated water if any of the water will stay on or in what you are cleaning.
DEEP TANK CLEANING When you clean out substrate and everything in the tank, essentially. Depending on tank size, (unless you get a bad pest problem) this is only done once or twice a year.
{I have not had to do any deep tank cleans yet in the time I have had my crabs (though I did one when I changed my substrate), so I'm gonna leave this one to the floor. }
REGULAR CLEANING Stuff you do more often than your deep clean.
It is important that you keep an eye out for stashed food bits or crabby poo in the tank, so you can clean that out.
How often you will need to change out food dishes depend on what you are feeding them. Fresh foods really shouldn't be in there for much more than a day, but many dry foods are fine to leave in there.
How often you will need to clean out your water dishes will depend on how fast your crabs drink, bathe or trash it up.
You can clean your dishes in plain old hot water.
Unless you get mold or something, you shouldn't need to clean your hides and decorations very often at all. You will however need to move, unbury or re-stick things now & then because happy crabs tend to throw things all over the tank.
{Important Note You generally do not need to bathe or clean your crabs; they handle it themselves.}
CLEANING EMPTY TANKS I will just give a little bit on cleaning your tank when it is new to you or after a deep tank clean.
I use burning hot water to flush out as much as I can, but this involves hauling buckets and not everyone is into that,hh. I'm sure you could just use a hose and blast out as much as you can. Depending on tank size, it may be best (if you can) to tip your tank on it's end; this makes rinsing easier. I use a sponge to wipe it down, inside & out. I then do the same thing with hot vinegar water (P-U) and then more hot water for rinsing. This is all you really have to do to clean an empty tank.
*Note, while some people say they use diluted bleach for tank cleaning; I don't and SCP doesn't advocate the use of bleach for cleaning your tanks or supplies.
It is important that you clean anything that is going into your crabitat. This includes not just dishes, but hides, climbing things, shells, second level things like soap dishes, etc.
There are several ways to clean things for your tank. Boiling is a good way to kill germs, but not everything can be boiled. (Anything that will absorb any of the water you boil in needs to be boiled only in dechlorinated water.) You can boil in (hermie-safe, like they kind they drink)salt water too, to help prevent the growth of things like mold in the future (such as on a coconut shell hide).
You can also soak things in a mix of vinegar and water. I haven't gotten a precise estimate on the ratio, but I think a little goes a long way when it comes to vinegar.
You may also bake things like sand, coconuts, sticks, cork, cholla to help kill any germs. (Cholla, especially, should not be soaked or boiled. It is a cactus wood and will absorb all the water; turning it to mush. )
When I made a "tree" out of sticks from my yard (no pesticides), I baked them, as well as doing a soak each in salt water and vinegar water.
The important things to remember are to not use soap, and to use dechlorinated water if any of the water will stay on or in what you are cleaning.
DEEP TANK CLEANING When you clean out substrate and everything in the tank, essentially. Depending on tank size, (unless you get a bad pest problem) this is only done once or twice a year.
{I have not had to do any deep tank cleans yet in the time I have had my crabs (though I did one when I changed my substrate), so I'm gonna leave this one to the floor. }
REGULAR CLEANING Stuff you do more often than your deep clean.
It is important that you keep an eye out for stashed food bits or crabby poo in the tank, so you can clean that out.
How often you will need to change out food dishes depend on what you are feeding them. Fresh foods really shouldn't be in there for much more than a day, but many dry foods are fine to leave in there.
How often you will need to clean out your water dishes will depend on how fast your crabs drink, bathe or trash it up.
You can clean your dishes in plain old hot water.
Unless you get mold or something, you shouldn't need to clean your hides and decorations very often at all. You will however need to move, unbury or re-stick things now & then because happy crabs tend to throw things all over the tank.
{Important Note You generally do not need to bathe or clean your crabs; they handle it themselves.}
CLEANING EMPTY TANKS I will just give a little bit on cleaning your tank when it is new to you or after a deep tank clean.
I use burning hot water to flush out as much as I can, but this involves hauling buckets and not everyone is into that,hh. I'm sure you could just use a hose and blast out as much as you can. Depending on tank size, it may be best (if you can) to tip your tank on it's end; this makes rinsing easier. I use a sponge to wipe it down, inside & out. I then do the same thing with hot vinegar water (P-U) and then more hot water for rinsing. This is all you really have to do to clean an empty tank.
*Note, while some people say they use diluted bleach for tank cleaning; I don't and SCP doesn't advocate the use of bleach for cleaning your tanks or supplies.
FOR CLEAN UPS DUE TO ILLNESS OR PESTS, PLEASE LOOK IN THOSE BOARDS