Introducing Myself + Some Questions
Nov 30, 2014 16:55:00 GMT -5
Sach-Crabministrator and doctorblue like this
Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2014 16:55:00 GMT -5
o I've been skulking around these boards for quite a while, just absorbing all the information available. My girls - G (12) and R (7) - and I started our crabby journey last June while on vacation on the PNW coast. We came home with three medium/large PPs, Castiel, Galoshes, and Sebastion. We started with a 10 gal tank, and despite reading everything I could while on vacation, before we made our purchase, we made a lot of mistakes - aquarium rocks, dial gauge, fresh water only, and using ZooMed conditioner, etc. A few days after getting them home, Sebastion went streaking and never did get back in his shell. That's when I found these boards. I tried to help him, but he didn't make it. We slowly began improving conditions for our remaining crabbies. We got them deeper substrate - 7' of EE and Calci-sand (don't crucify me - I went to the hardware store to get playsand, and when I did a quick search on my phone of "quickrete playsand + hermit crabs," the info I read said that was a bad brand. There is a LOT of conflicting info out there! And sometimes you don't know who to trust!). We also got them fresh and saltwater dishes, but continued with ZooMed because I couldn't find the conditioners recommended in my town. Since then, though, both Cas and Gally have molted and seem to be doing pretty well:
Gally says "I'm the Queen of this here castle!"
Cas has been spending quite a bit of time buried though, and Gally seems restless without her friend. She climbs all over the place, and digs incessantly, burying food and water without any thought to the consequences. So on Friday, I decided to add more crabs to our hoard. R and I went to Goodwill and found a 30 gal tank. We set it up with 7" of EE and playsand, invested in a digital gauge, and got some bigger dishes for water and food. We also put in a lily that I had around the house (we'll see how it works). I also added a bubbler ala Sach's tutorial, but it seems to be working too well and I turned it off this morning (94% humidity when I woke up!). Then we switched Cas and Gally into it. They were ECSTATIC! They checked everything out. Cas even went shell shopping, though he didn't change. Gally hasn't buried food or water (yet!), but had a grand time exploring and climbing.
I then set up our 10 gallon as an ISO, with its own digital gauge (I'm proud of that investment!), and about 3" of EE/Calcisand (I'll fix it, I promise). R and I picked out three new crabbies at Petco (I know - bad, evil, painted shells and deplorable conditions... BUT the gal that takes care of the animals there seems genuinely interested in doing what's best for the crabs and after several conversations with both G and I over the last few months, we have seen improvements in the hermie crab tank there. And a little effort goes a long way in my book!). We got two tiny/small E's, Seashell and Sebastion II, and another tiny/small something (When he comes up from destressing, I will get a pic and you guys can help me figure it out, though I'm pretty sure he is another E) - I can't think of a name for him, so he'll probably be NoName, because I'm creative like that!
NoName and Sebastion both dug under as soon as I got them in there, but Seashell promptly switched into one of the two new shells I had for them in their size (working on getting more - I have a few that need to be boiled today, and I'm debating buying some more from Sach). She explored quite a bit and ate and drank. Then she finally buried under last night.
Saturday, G decided that she wanted to pick out a new crab too since she wasn't with us the day before. I wanted to get more supplies anyway (bubbler mentioned above + I FINALLY found API tap water conditioner and Instant Ocean salt. YAY!! So now we've got the right water), so we made another trip. Of course she had to pick the biggest PP, bigger than the two we've had since June, and named him Dean. I put him in the ISO tank with the smaller E's that we had gotten the day before, but he seems very unhappy there. The sub really isn't deep enough for him and I hear his claws scraping against the glass all the time. My main question is how long do I keep him in there? I checked him out and he seems free of mites, but I'm still afraid to add him in with Galoshes and Castiel. I don't want them to attack him. I'm also afraid of bathing my crabs - not sure how to do it or if I should. Any helpful advice/guidelines for me?
Also - I would like to, at some point, put the E's in the big tank. When should I do this? Of course, I plan on letting them come up on their own before moving them, but is it a bad idea to put them in there too? I mean, the whole point was to get Gally some friends since Cas is, well, a hermit!
And another side note, I would take any suggestions for tank improvement/decor. I want to get some kind of net because Gally is SUCH a climber! I like the look of plants but I despise fake plants... My tanks are both in my living room and I would like them to not just be functional but pretty as well. My colors in here are light and navy blue, grass green and yellow, so I'd like my tanks to kind of blend in with that scheme...
So far, I have some plans:
We got a coconut yesterday and started making it into two huts - one for each tank. I plan to boil and bake them today as well as some driftwood that we picked up at the beach on our vacation just for this purpose. I have more of the lily that I *could* add in as well, I just don't know how well it will fair. I also have my mom on the lookout for someone with a spider plant with babies (I was kind of shocked she didn't already have one).
Gally says "I'm the Queen of this here castle!"
Cas has been spending quite a bit of time buried though, and Gally seems restless without her friend. She climbs all over the place, and digs incessantly, burying food and water without any thought to the consequences. So on Friday, I decided to add more crabs to our hoard. R and I went to Goodwill and found a 30 gal tank. We set it up with 7" of EE and playsand, invested in a digital gauge, and got some bigger dishes for water and food. We also put in a lily that I had around the house (we'll see how it works). I also added a bubbler ala Sach's tutorial, but it seems to be working too well and I turned it off this morning (94% humidity when I woke up!). Then we switched Cas and Gally into it. They were ECSTATIC! They checked everything out. Cas even went shell shopping, though he didn't change. Gally hasn't buried food or water (yet!), but had a grand time exploring and climbing.
I then set up our 10 gallon as an ISO, with its own digital gauge (I'm proud of that investment!), and about 3" of EE/Calcisand (I'll fix it, I promise). R and I picked out three new crabbies at Petco (I know - bad, evil, painted shells and deplorable conditions... BUT the gal that takes care of the animals there seems genuinely interested in doing what's best for the crabs and after several conversations with both G and I over the last few months, we have seen improvements in the hermie crab tank there. And a little effort goes a long way in my book!). We got two tiny/small E's, Seashell and Sebastion II, and another tiny/small something (When he comes up from destressing, I will get a pic and you guys can help me figure it out, though I'm pretty sure he is another E) - I can't think of a name for him, so he'll probably be NoName, because I'm creative like that!
NoName and Sebastion both dug under as soon as I got them in there, but Seashell promptly switched into one of the two new shells I had for them in their size (working on getting more - I have a few that need to be boiled today, and I'm debating buying some more from Sach). She explored quite a bit and ate and drank. Then she finally buried under last night.
Saturday, G decided that she wanted to pick out a new crab too since she wasn't with us the day before. I wanted to get more supplies anyway (bubbler mentioned above + I FINALLY found API tap water conditioner and Instant Ocean salt. YAY!! So now we've got the right water), so we made another trip. Of course she had to pick the biggest PP, bigger than the two we've had since June, and named him Dean. I put him in the ISO tank with the smaller E's that we had gotten the day before, but he seems very unhappy there. The sub really isn't deep enough for him and I hear his claws scraping against the glass all the time. My main question is how long do I keep him in there? I checked him out and he seems free of mites, but I'm still afraid to add him in with Galoshes and Castiel. I don't want them to attack him. I'm also afraid of bathing my crabs - not sure how to do it or if I should. Any helpful advice/guidelines for me?
Also - I would like to, at some point, put the E's in the big tank. When should I do this? Of course, I plan on letting them come up on their own before moving them, but is it a bad idea to put them in there too? I mean, the whole point was to get Gally some friends since Cas is, well, a hermit!
And another side note, I would take any suggestions for tank improvement/decor. I want to get some kind of net because Gally is SUCH a climber! I like the look of plants but I despise fake plants... My tanks are both in my living room and I would like them to not just be functional but pretty as well. My colors in here are light and navy blue, grass green and yellow, so I'd like my tanks to kind of blend in with that scheme...
So far, I have some plans:
We got a coconut yesterday and started making it into two huts - one for each tank. I plan to boil and bake them today as well as some driftwood that we picked up at the beach on our vacation just for this purpose. I have more of the lily that I *could* add in as well, I just don't know how well it will fair. I also have my mom on the lookout for someone with a spider plant with babies (I was kind of shocked she didn't already have one).