Alive and Growing Crabitat

This is the new 10 gallon glass crabitat. Clearly, it is a work in progress.

The Garden
 The 8" round saucer is the garden. It has been planted with a mixture of ryegrass and fescue, as well as a few seeds of green leafy lettuce. The substrate is coconut fiber from one of those Hermit Crab Soil pellets.

It has only been 24 hours and a few of the grass seeds have begun to germinate. I hope that by morning I will begin to see full-blown seedlings.

Behind the garden are two clippings of English Ivy in a 2" terracotta (clay) pot. The substrate for the clippings is Jiffy Organic Seed Starter Mix. Research tells me that if using a rooting hormone, the ivy will have roots within two weeks. It will be at least a month before the hermies make their home in this new crabitat.

The tank is currently receiving light 24hrs with a 13W compact fluorescent bulb. This is not the best light for a planted tank, but my grow lights are currently in use in the seed starter greenhouse. Thankfully, all plants chosen require only moderate lighting.

Why Choose Live Plants in the Crabitat?
There are many great reasons to opt for a living crabitat over artificial decor.

Natural Cleaning. As long as all damaged, dead or dying plant material is quickly removed, this will hold true. Living plants will remove harmful substances from the substrate, including natural waste from the hermies. This will reduce the risk of buildup of harmful gasses. Also, on this note, the plants will help keep the air fresh for the hermies. It will remove the gasses from respiration and convert them to usable oxygen for the hermies.

Humidity. The substrate for these plants alone will help keep the crabitat humidity up. Of course, the plant leaves will also help hold in and disperse moisture.

Food source. The crabs will love to nibble on the plants. This will cut down the cost of feeding your hermies commercial food as well as provide them with extra nutrients they would not get from dehydrated crab bites. You will have to supplement the vegetation diet with crab bites or nutrient blocks to ensure they get the proper amount of calcium.

Balanced ecosystem. With the exception of adding water and calcium supplements, it is very possible to establish a completely balanced ecosystem which will require far less cleaning and maintenance than an artificial crabitat.