Air Pumps, Air Stones, and Humidifiers in Hermit Crab Tanks
A few months ago I visited another crabber, MaryChristmas. She had beautiful hermit crabs and crabitats. One of the things that I was really impressed with was the fact that her glass was so clear and she had great humidity. I asked her how she did it and she told me that she used the Tropic Aire Humidifiers. I was so impressed!
I came home and wiped down the wet glass on my 55 gallon; that would give me a couple of hours to watch my hermit crabs before it started to fog again. I hopped on-line and ordered the Tropic Aire Humidifier.
About a week later it arrived. First lesson learned, read the entire item description before you order. It was kind of like a Christmas present, batteries not included, but in this case the air pump that runs the Tropic Air was not included. I ran down to Petco and picked up an air pump. I made sure to bring the humidifier directions with me so that I would get the right pump (it needs to be rated for the size of the tank you have). I got my pump, some extra air hosing and came home. I hooked everything up and it worked, woohoo! A humid hermit crab tank and clear glass, life was good.
A week or two later I decided to add some bubbler bowls to the crabitat. Wow, these were the bomb. They combined a standard reptile bowl along with air hosing and air stones that connected to air pumps. The air stones pump fresh air into the pools and cause the water to bubble and circulate. They help to keep water fresh and help to boost the humidity in the tank. Some people worry about hermit crabs being scared by the bubbles, but mine haven’t been, in fact I even find my Indo sitting in the saltwater pool. The other nice thing about the constant water circulation is that depending on the brand of saltwater you use it may separate after a few days, leaving the salt crystals settled on the bottom of the pool. This does not happen with air stones. The biggest plus was I went from changing my water in the pools every couple of days to once a week. Yay me, less work!
When I setup the 29 gallon tank for the straws, I decided to use a similar setup. I added a Tropic Air and an air pump. Instead of getting bubbler bowls I got a regular reptile bowl and used the extra tubing I had. I purchased a few extra air stones and got my pool bubbling!
The only problem that I had was that the pool was bubbling too much, I needed a way to turn down the bubbles. I also wanted to setup a second pool with an air stone. So I went back to the pet store and found some valves. I was able to use a T-valve to split the hose so I could run two pools from the same pump. I also got some shut off valves (it was a combo package of valves). The shut off valves allow me to dial down the air flow to the air stones.
The combination of the humidifier, the air stones in the pools, and my lighting, has really helped to maintain good humidity in both my crabitats. It’s also lowered my maintenance time.
