Luna Tail

My under the tank heater came yesterday. Yay! So now I can start getting the temp right. Well, I need to get the sand in there, first. maybe today I can stop at Home Depot and get some play sand. I wonder if I’m supposed to boil all of it to sanitize it. Boiling a lot of sand is not my idea of fun…

Hopefully my temp and humidity guages will come soon, too, so I can really get those two things going, they are most critical!

Okay! I have a DIY humidifier made. Simple simple. I bought a whisper air pump for $12.99 at Petco (Sonny got to came with and he had fun). And some tubing, and an air stone. I hooked up the tubing to the pump and the airstone on the end, and plopped it into a Mountain Dew 2 Litre bottle from my husband (oh, filled with water not Dew).

So now it is bubbling away next to me. My tank is at work, so I’ll have to bring this to work on Tuesday. Actually, I need to seal up the tubing that goes in and comes out so the humid air only goes into the tank. I’ll do that later today.

I need to go buy some play sand, too. I think I’ll do that this weekend.

Well I finally measured the tank all three ways and figured out it’s a 20 gallon tank. I think it’s a nice size. It might be a 20 gallon tall but I’m not sure.

I ordered a couple more things the other day. I glass hood for the top, and a humidity gage from this place. I hope the top fits. It should, as I measured, but as my husband knows sometimes I’m not the best at measuring things. Oh well.

The crushed coral deal seems to be falling through, so I’m thinking of getting some play sand at Home Depot instead. And mixing it with some of the other substrate stuff that is good for Hermit Crabs.

I measured the tank today… to see what size of plastic lid I will need. It measures 23″ long and just over 12″ wide. Those are the opening measurements for the lid. One that will fit inside… though maybe lids fit outside? I will have to check on that.

The outside measurements are 23.5″ long, just under 12.5″ wide, and … oh crap, I didn’t get tall, because I thought I wouldn’t need it for the lid. But I’ll need it to know how many gallons it will hold. I’ll get that a bit later.

This is the Cholla Wood I bought off of a local paper. Only $10, too. I like the look of it! The crabbies should like it. It has been recommended on the various sites I’ve been reading about Hermit Crabs. They can climb up it. Not sure I will use all of it, but probably most of it. Depends on what else I get for their crabitat. I’m going super budget and finding cheap things, so we’ll see!

I don’t know if this wood is driftwood or dry wood, and if I can boil it or not. Hrm… anyone know?

Well I was able to clean out my new (freecycle used really) tank today. Here is a picture of the tank before the cleaning. It wasn’t really bad. And I’m not sure what type of cleaner I can use on the inside that is safe. I’ll have to go and post about it on the hermit crab forums I joined. Lots of knowledgeable people over there.

And here is the tank after the cleaning. Didn’t take me too long, and i ended up cleaning the backyard patio afterwards. Man, that patio needed a good cleaning.

It still needs a plastic lid. If I actually decide I want to get out to a store and buy a lid, I probably can get one at a local Petsmart or Petco. But if I’m lazy, and not in a hurry (which I am in both counts) then maybe I’ll just order one off the internet.

Anyway… the steps are coming along. Crap.. forgot to call the guy about substrate. I hope it’s not too late.