hermit crabitat redo... with pics

[beckdg]

i found all my crabs above ground so i took the chance to fix their substrate issue.

first i put the cocofiber into a homer bucket with 5 pints of water (1 more than a gallon). i made me and the kids lunch... swelling takes a couple minutes.

i broke up the dry pieces and mixed them in a little better. then i started removing everything from the tank including the crabs...
100_2062.jpg

as you can see as i was pulling things out i was still discovering what messes they made...
100_2063.jpg

including ripping straight through the screen to turn over the soil (and leca) a little better lol...
100_2064.jpg

once i had everything out i started replacing the coco at what was to be the lower end under the water bowl. notice the uth pads and the foil tape...
100_2065.jpg

water bowl placed neatly...
100_2066.jpg

at that point everything is standard procedure so i just kept moving along with(out) pics...

[beckdg]

decorations, coco croutons, shells, sea sponge and water later...
100_2070.jpg

full tank shot with cocofiber in front...
100_2077.jpg

ahhh... the fun part... how to separate leca from soi? so i figure leca will roll better than soil right? ...
100_2079.jpg

as you can see some folding of the soil on a tilted plate seems to work quite well...
100_2081.jpg

flip, fold, flick, repeat... and then at this point it's about time to start removing the rest by hand (almost).
100_2085.jpg

i think it was pretty easy and saved me a trip to the store probably. as for the croutons they blend in a little better now that they've been sprayed down today.

thanks for looking folks. comments welcome.

[Nefertiti]

Keep this post up please please please... I'm still learning! :P

[beckdg]

hahahaha... i still have to change the date on my camera back... i'd be quite the procrastinator if i did this in march 2004 and i'm just now posting it.

sorry nefertiti... i was already done... and then noticed the date on my camera again.

[Nighsliv]

Nice little post, are your uth pads taped with foil tape due to re usage and the sticky wearing off or another reason?

[stimpy]

Crabs are so cool
Nice job on the redo !
I had a shameface crab in my mini reef for almost 5 years,
can your's live that long?

[beckdg]

the one has been reused probably 5 times and although i store them with wax paper stuck to them and wash them with dish soap they still fall off after a certain amount of uses... like 2 or 3.

the second one is brand new... i was looking for the size up from that to do away with the other one but couldn't find it.

anyway my primary reasons for the tape are even heat distribution and to avoid adhesive failure from peeling back over time... which of course collects everything under the sun.

stimpy... hopefully, lol. they should be able to. except they were not in the best shape when i got them so who knows.

actually i just picked up some more shells for them that are a little different and less... WHITE.