Hermit crab ONLY tank

[Noah 123]

Ok. Mbingha, I know you want me to stop asking this question. But how much would it cost to just do hermit crabs and an emerald crab? No coral or fish or anything else.

 

[frkysl]

Hey,

I am pretty new so I don't know much but I just set up a new tank which only has a scarlet harmit crap now. If you want to look at it

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2421255

 

[bfin3]

$57.72

Just kidding. Your fw setup with aragonite sand, live rock and a proper cycle would be adequate

If you want something cooler put them in a fluval edge.

 

[reepher315]

Crabs are pretty cheap I got 10 herms for 10 bucks at my LFS. Emerald crabs the same not too expensive. Id say you could start a small one under 100 bucks. Depending on how fancy you want your crabs living.

 

[mbingha]

Ok. Mbingha, I know you want me to stop asking this question. But how much would it cost to just do hermit crabs and an emerald crab? No coral or fish or anything else.

No, I don't want you to stop asking questions. Quite the opposite actually. I want you to succeed in this hobby, I really do.

I actually think you could pull off a hermit crab only tank. You could even get a few interesting hermits such as the Halloween hermit. I just want you to know what you're getting into. A crab only tank will be much simpler and cheaper than any tank with fish. The bio load will be miniscule so weekly water changes would be enough and you wouldn't need a skimmer. You would only have to feed once every two or three days.You could even add some easy macro algae. For that setup I think you could do it for around $250 with livestock. A simple hob filter, a little bit of rock and sand, a heater, small korillia pump for water movement, and a cheap light.

One thing I strongly suggest though, is to get some sort of auto top off when you can. If you ever go out of town, you don't want to worry about too much evaporation.

Please understand, we are here to help, you just have to be willing to learn.

 

[Muttling]

A crab tank is about the least expensive and easiest to keep tank that I can imagine.

There are a number of crabs that are interesting as well, in addition to the typical hermits used in cleaner crews consider emerald and decorator crabs. All inexpensive and easy to keep critters.

I would set up such a tank with dry (e.g. dead) rock and 1 small piece of live rock then cycle it with a raw shrimp from the grocery story. (Search the forum for how to properly cycle a tank, tons of info on it.) This will give you the ammonia filtration you need and give your crabs plenty of stuff to climb on for a nice presentation.

I have seen your other posts and understand what you're trying to do, this post is a very reasonable question and a tank that can be done on a tight budget.

 

[Noah 123]

A crab tank is about the least expensive and easiest to keep tank that I can imagine.

There are a number of crabs that are interesting as well, in addition to the typical hermits used in cleaner crews consider emerald and decorator crabs. All inexpensive and easy to keep critters.

I would set up such a tank with dry (e.g. dead) rock and 1 small piece of live rock then cycle it with a raw shrimp from the grocery story. (Search the forum for how to properly cycle a tank, tons of info on it.) This will give you the ammonia filtration you need and give your crabs plenty of stuff to climb on for a nice presentation.

I have seen your other posts and understand what you're trying to do, this post is a very reasonable question and a tank that can be done on a tight budget.

I can't bring raw shrimp into the house. My mom is allergic to shrimp. Anything else to help start the cycle?

 

[AdamNC]

Try a pinch of flake food everyday til your ammonia spikes, then stop ghost feeding and let your ammonia drop to 0.

 

[Windirmere]

If your mom is that sensitive to shellfish a saltwater tank is probably a very bad idea. Im sure fish and invert foods are full of shrimp and other thinks she could have a reaction to.

 

[Muttling]

A small piece of raw fish will do the trick as well.