1.1.1997
On Christmas Eve, Jennifer bought hermit crabs. I thought it was sorta strange she wanted hermit crabs for pets but I guess she had some when she was little. It's already a zoo at home with all the fish and cats. Now this. Even more troubling to me was the feeling Jennifer wanted to surround herself with little creatures to love because our relationship is on the rocks. I was angry at having more critters to feed, and I also felt sorry for the hermit crabs. They don't seem too happy in a glass fishtank. They should be out running loose with all their compadres on a beach somewheres...
The three crabs are in a ten gallon fishtank I set up for them. The whole deal was like playing musical fishtanks for a day. I had a 30 gallon tank that my mom gave me for a birthday present a long time ago. I hadn't used it in years so it was real mangy inside. I cleaned the whole tank out and got brand new supplies like gravel, fake plants, and a nice piece of redwood for the future inhabitants to hide in. Then I ran it for weeks with a brand new filter system and had a fish store test the water before I moved Jennifer's fish from the ten gallon tank to their new, much larger home. I wanted to be sure the fish would be okay when I made the transfer. The fish people at the fish store told me the water tested perfectly. I knew what I was doing. When I started to move the fish I used a large plastic cup and a net to herd them into my trap. Then I covered the cup with the net to keep the little shits from jumping out. I didn't want any casualties during the move. At first all the fish were freaked out but after a few minutes in my 30 gallon tank I could tell they were like, hey, this is cool shit. Then they all calmed down and settled in to their own spots. It's funny to watch them stake their claim over territory.
After completely drying out the emptied 10 gallon tank I dumped in new gravel and put a single plastic plant inside. Hermit crabs need stuff to hide under so I gave them a piece of wood to dig around, and sloped the gravel down to one side of the tank. So that's the hermit crabs' new home. They are really low maintenance as far as pets go. All you have to do is put a jar lid full of water into the tank, a little bit of food, and use a desk lamp for a heater and they're good to go. They don't do much. Sometimes at night I catch them roaming around the tank but their eyesight is really good. As soon as I step into the room they see me and hide in their shells. It's got to suck being trapped in a glass box that small. I've been thinking it might be cool to go to the coast and fill up the bottom of a large rubbermaid container with beach sand and bring it home for them to run around in. Maybe I'll do that soon.
The three crabs are in a ten gallon fishtank I set up for them. The whole deal was like playing musical fishtanks for a day. I had a 30 gallon tank that my mom gave me for a birthday present a long time ago. I hadn't used it in years so it was real mangy inside. I cleaned the whole tank out and got brand new supplies like gravel, fake plants, and a nice piece of redwood for the future inhabitants to hide in. Then I ran it for weeks with a brand new filter system and had a fish store test the water before I moved Jennifer's fish from the ten gallon tank to their new, much larger home. I wanted to be sure the fish would be okay when I made the transfer. The fish people at the fish store told me the water tested perfectly. I knew what I was doing. When I started to move the fish I used a large plastic cup and a net to herd them into my trap. Then I covered the cup with the net to keep the little shits from jumping out. I didn't want any casualties during the move. At first all the fish were freaked out but after a few minutes in my 30 gallon tank I could tell they were like, hey, this is cool shit. Then they all calmed down and settled in to their own spots. It's funny to watch them stake their claim over territory.
After completely drying out the emptied 10 gallon tank I dumped in new gravel and put a single plastic plant inside. Hermit crabs need stuff to hide under so I gave them a piece of wood to dig around, and sloped the gravel down to one side of the tank. So that's the hermit crabs' new home. They are really low maintenance as far as pets go. All you have to do is put a jar lid full of water into the tank, a little bit of food, and use a desk lamp for a heater and they're good to go. They don't do much. Sometimes at night I catch them roaming around the tank but their eyesight is really good. As soon as I step into the room they see me and hide in their shells. It's got to suck being trapped in a glass box that small. I've been thinking it might be cool to go to the coast and fill up the bottom of a large rubbermaid container with beach sand and bring it home for them to run around in. Maybe I'll do that soon.
posted by factory_peasant at 6:31 PM
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