Fernando the Hermit Crap who should be dead...

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PriscillaB

New member
Hi everyone and HELP! ;p I have been an aquarium owner for about two hours and already I am panicked (off to a good start as always). I actually bought a used aquarium off Craig's list last weekend and then proceeded to let it sit for a week until I was prepared to start the daunting task of scraping and cleaning today. So I added a couple inches of water and started the gunk removal process and when the fiancee came over to help he asked what that was moving around on the bottom and lo and behold there was a little hermit crab. We watched him for a couple minutes and realized there actually is three! Now I feel awful because the poor things have had no water or food that I could discern over the last several weeks while this tank was drying out in the guys garage and it certainly wasn't climate controlled. So I guess... what do I do? lol How do I make it as comfortable as possible for these guys? Do I add more tap water or fill up the whole thing and start the sump running or add food or go out and buy a light plug the heater in? I am very unprepared for my unexpected aqua-motherhood. I was planning on easing into this fish nonsense and here I am thrust into reviving what I believe should be on their deathbeds...

<a href="http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h44/scacs/AquariumAll/?action=view&current=FishTank1108043.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h44/scacs/AquariumAll/FishTank1108043.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Any idea or thoughts? Should I be worried about them eating anyone when I do finally have fish? Should I take back his name so I'm not crushed when he dies overnight? lol Help, help, help please. And hi, I hope I get to know some of you over the next couple months while I figure out this aqua stuff. :)
 
It would be a good experience for you set up a quarantine tank. They'll be fine in there with a little food and simple shelter.
 
+1 on the QT idea. get a 20gal tank (search on QT setups), you can prob find what you need at local pet store, superstore for <$50 for the whole setup.

You could have the hermits back in water within the day.

Amazing stories of survival are always fun!
 
Thanks for the tips all! I have (one can hope successfully) setup a quarantine tank and transplanted my stow-aways. I made a late night trip to the pet store and bought some food and miscellaneous items I had not purchased yet (wow, it keeps adding up, doesn't it? lol). My 72 gallon is filtering now and I think the last big purchase I have to make before live rock or anything else is the light canopy and bulb. I'll be on a mission today. My running plan is to get the light in today, get the rock in maybe tomorrow (would today be okay too?), test the waters the following day, fix anything not chemically right and then wait another couple days and dump them in. I obviously have no idea what I am doing so any and all recommendations are appreciated.

Oh, Chris the fiance set this up and I haven't really figured out how the whole thing works but here are some more pictures of the setup: http://l2aquarium.blogspot.com/
 
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If you are new to aquariums (or even just new to saltwater aquariums) I would do 2 things:

1. Buy the Book - Conscientious Marine Aquarist

2. Read all the FAQ sections on this msg board
2.a - remember this is a message board... I read input from mulitple sources and assess for myself.

Having a solid understanding of the Nitrogen cycle (Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate) within your tank helps a lot. When you understand this cycle you will understand WHY you do certiain things AND WHY certain things happen (good and bad).

Test water parameters often (especially in the beginning). If you get a crazy reading, stop, breath, test again. If you still have a reading that indicates something undesirable then think about corrective action(s).

Patience, patience, patience..... you will be far happier with your tank if you take it slow. I actually have a yr 1, yr 2, yr 3-5 game plan (for my current tank). It will take yr 2 (at the earliest) till my tank will be they way I want it.

Resist impulse purchases at your LFS. If you do see something you just have to have put a deposit on the fish, GO HOME and do research (fish requirements, compatibility with fish you have/plan to have, etc). Unfortuately many LFS employees are NOT knowledgeable about they fish they sell. There ARE good LFS employees but some will sell you anything.

Keep using the QT setup you have. THIS WILL BE HARD, my wife bugs me all the time about... " the cute tang has been in QT for 2 weeks, when is he going in the tank?" - response NEEDS to be " 2 more weeks more as long as he stays healthy".

Finally, making high effort low reward chores (read waterchanges) as painless as possible will insure that you do them. Search this board on "waterchanges" and see what other people are doing and what could work for you.

my 0.02

If you already know all this then sorry for waisting space/time.
 
+1 with the excellent advice above. Read, read, read, read. Then ask questions before doing.
 
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