HELP! New to Salt water

[kelsyleyendecker]

Hey so my husband LOVES the ocean and we came back from a beach vacation with the kids. The last night there, they all went fishing. A man there was crabbing and found a really cool conch shell in his net and gave it to my 8 year old. Well about 24 hours later and back home by then, my daughter freaked. Her she'll was moving. Long story short, we accidentally brought home a thin striped hermie. I panicked and ran to the pet store and bought a 10 gal tank, live sand? some premade salt water, thermometer and some other meter. I was hoping we hadn't signed a death warrant for this poor creature now named Barney because of the barnacles on his shell. I can't believe he survived that long.

Problem is, we have lizards and tarantulas, birds, dogs and cats. Never done fish. In fact, I've lost a few goldfish in my day thanks to my inability to figure them out. So my question is, now what? What should I change or add? More hermies? Can I add fish? If so what do I do before that? I know nothing of lights or filters or anything. Our PPT/S.G. gauge keeps dropping. It was really high yesterday and now it's getting too low. I attached some pics. I'm sure I'm messing some things up over here but I needed something so it didn't die!

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[DaveK]

Keeping a live conch would be a big undertaking for an experienced reef keeper. The feed in and on the sandbed. This makes feeding them in a tank very difficult. This is not something easy to keep.

In addition SW tanks need time to set them up and become established.

I recommend that you either put the animals back in the ocean at the exact same place you got them from, or see if your local store will take them. I know that sounds harsh, and it's not what your looking to hear, but it really is what is best for the animals.

If your still interested in SW tanks after all that, we'll be happy to help you with livestock and equipment selection so that you can have something really great.

 

[cracker]

Kelsy, that is a " huge" hermit! They are very tough animals. But very difficult to keep . It really needs to go back to the sea. Is it possible to return it ? Dave K is right, Maybe take it to a local shop that deals in saltwater critters. I see another salt keeper in the making!

 

[kelsyleyendecker]

The beach is 4 hours away. The only pet store I have access to is a Petco and they knew nothing hardly.

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[kelsyleyendecker]

I don't know what to do but I don't want it to die. I can't believe it survived 24 hours without water.

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[Oxylebius]

I'm confused. You mentioned that you were given a conch shell from a net. But then you also have this hermit that is in a shell w/barnacles. I see two shells in the tank. I also see the hermit. But, is the conch also alive? Did the hermit inhabit the conch shell that came from the net? But, then moved into this other shell. Just trying to get the story straight.

The cycling of the tank can kill both these critters, that is one reason why many are recommending taking them back to the ocean. And I agree w/ others that the conch is very hard to keep fed, it can slowly starve to death. Conches are for the more experienced to have. Hermits are easier to keep. And yes, they can stay out of water for long periods of time as long as their gills stay wet. If the gills dry out, they die. This is how the hermit survived.

If the beach is four hours away, perhaps you can find a pet store that keeps salt tanks closer then the four hour drive and see if they can take the critters. Otherwise, they may die while in your care.

You will have a lot of reading to keep a salt tank, you need to get a hold of a book that provides the basics. There is too much to convey online. Plus, online you may get little bits of info and not the whole picture on how to keep salt tanks.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[cracker]

I" think" Miss Kelsy was given a conch shell while vacationing on the coast. When they got home she realized there was a large hermit in the shell. Hermits are always looking for bigger houses. I bet this one moved into a new shell that was a little too big. That's why nobody saw him in there.

 

[Pat24601]

I" think" Miss Kelsy was given a conch shell while vacationing on the coast. When they got home she realized there was a large hermit in the shell. Hermits are always looking for bigger houses. I bet this one moved into a new shell that was a little too big. That's why nobody saw him in there.

That's a little better than I originally thought as crabs are pretty tough. I'm still not sure how one would take care without a cycled tank. But maybe more experienced folks have thoughts.

BTW, I love that Kelsey's heart is in the right place. It sounds she's doing everything she can for the crab. A lot of people wouldnt

 

[cracker]

That's a little better than I originally thought as crabs are pretty tough. I'm still not sure how one would take care without a cycled tank. But maybe more experienced folks have thoughts.

BTW, I love that Kelsey's heart is in the right place. It sounds she's doing everything she can for the crab. A lot of people wouldnt

 

[kelsyleyendecker]

Yes what cracker said. It was handed to us not knowing there was a crab in it. We put it in the tank and the other shell is empty now.

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[kelsyleyendecker]

I'm so worried but I can't find a store that will take it! And I'm too far to take it back. I have 10 kids. No matter how well meaning I can't just spend the day to take a little grab home. Anything I can do to cycle the tank faster?

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[DianaKay]

If you keep it, and it sounds like that is the plan for right now....
You will need to change out a good part of the water to keep it from being killed by the rise of ammonia & then rise of nitrites. Not sure one hermit crab in a 10gal tank is worth the expense of buying the test kits and doing all the water changes that's going to be needed to keep it alive while the tank cycles.
It can be done but honestly, tiny SW tanks are STILL expensive and harder to have success with than tanks with lots more volume.
You will need filtration and water flow...just going to be more expense than I could imagine anyone wanting to put out to save 1 hermit crab.

That's just my 2cents....But I not a crab fan either

 

[Blue Space]

If this is simply to save the hermit I'd suggest buying 10 lbs. of cured live rock from your closest LFS (Not Petco...) and placing it in the tank with a heater and a sponge filter. Perhaps run a Aqueon power filter 10 as well. Buy a cheap ammonia test kit and test in the morning and afternoon. The only way to know if you need to do a water change is by testing but plan on doing two 10% water changes each week until you know for sure. Read a book on starting a saltwater tank, keep up with water changes (buy the premix for now... buy a little heater you can put into the container to bring it up to temp before adding it to your aquarium), hopefully after a couple months or so your hermit will have survived and you will have learned something along the way. Now you've spent entirely too much money just to stop now. Before you know it you're a reef junkie like the rest of us!

 

[cracker]

I agree with Miss Diana ,it's not worth buying test kits and all. Constant water changes until such a time You can find a home. Miss Kelsy Do You face book.or tweet sorry if my terminology isn't correct. Anyway If You do social media there surely is someone local who has a tank or even maybe somebody local going to the coast soon maybe? If not. It's " OK ' !! You honestly did Your best to save the critter. ! There are a lot of hermit crabs in the sea! It's OK if You can't save it. If You are determined, then keep changing the water often as possible. Those hermits are very tough,they can take all kinds of changes in the water temp,salinity etc. You need to give it a little piece of raw shrimp. see if it will eat. Just a little chunk. It's already stressed out, if it eats it's a good sign. All You need is a cheap garbage can and maybe a little pond pump to move the water around. All from Home depot.

 

[Pat24601]

If this is simply to save the hermit I'd suggest buying 10 lbs. of cured live rock from your closest LFS (Not Petco...) and placing it in the tank with a heater and a sponge filter. Perhaps run a Aqueon power filter 10 as well. Buy a cheap ammonia test kit and test in the morning and afternoon. The only way to know if you need to do a water change is by testing but plan on doing two 10% water changes each week until you know for sure. Read a book on starting a saltwater tank, keep up with water changes (buy the premix for now... buy a little heater you can put into the container to bring it up to temp before adding it to your aquarium), hopefully after a couple months or so your hermit will have survived and you will have learned something along the way. Now you've spent entirely too much money just to stop now. Before you know it you're a reef junkie like the rest of us!

This seems like good advice to me if you want to keep it. Great advice on how to try to work around an uncycled tank.


The only thing I'd probably say a little different is I think buying live rock from Petco is fine...certainly fine enough to try to keep a crab alive in a 10 gallon tank. Many here have bad local Petcos and yours may be bad too, but you aren't trying to do anything that advanced if it's the only store around.

Totally agree about spending too much money to stop now and becoming a reed junkie.

 

[newo11]

I'm not sure where you live but another option is to google to see if there is a local salt water club or website in your area. You may be able to find a couple of pounds of live rock for free or close to free considering it's only a small tank. If it's cured live rock, it may keep you from having a cycle at all and keep that hermit crab alive.

And thank you for trying so hard to keep it alive! You certainly are trying to do the right thing!

 

[kelsyleyendecker]

My daughter is very attached to Barney now. Oh geez. She's my critter lover. She has a bearded dragon, a rose haired tarantula and now a hermit crab. Ack. Ok I'm going to see if I can make sense of the advice above. How much water should I change out and how often?

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[kelsyleyendecker]

We have the filter that's moving the water around. It's this one.

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[kelsyleyendecker]

I agree with Miss Diana ,it's not worth buying test kits and all. Constant water changes until such a time You can find a home. Miss Kelsy Do You face book.or tweet sorry if my terminology isn't correct. Anyway If You do social media there surely is someone local who has a tank or even maybe somebody local going to the coast soon maybe? If not. It's " OK ' !! You honestly did Your best to save the critter. ! There are a lot of hermit crabs in the sea! It's OK if You can't save it. If You are determined, then keep changing the water often as possible. Those hermits are very tough,they can take all kinds of changes in the water temp,salinity etc. You need to give it a little piece of raw shrimp. see if it will eat. Just a little chunk. It's already stressed out, if it eats it's a good sign. All You need is a cheap garbage can and maybe a little pond pump to move the water around. All from Home depot.

Do I just drop a little piece of shrimp in?

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[kelsyleyendecker]

Petco has live cured rock. So I can grab a few lbs of that which is better than nothing, right? And my husband is on his way to get a water test kit. If ammonia or nitrites are high, what do I do?

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