Crab Substrate!!

[Welsh]

OK............So I've finally emptied the vampire crab tank and I'm about ready to start my very basic paludarium. I'm not doing the whole, expanding foam thing like most I've come across because I don't trust myself to do a good job and not kill my crabs lol so I'm going to use acrylic as a divider and do one side water, rocks,wood,etc and the other substrate but I don't know what substrate to use. My local LFS has Orchid bark but i'm not sure what else to use. I can't find eco complete or that coco fiber stuff I hear people talking about, so I'm stumped with what to do lol. I was also thinking normal soil; the kind you get from a hardware store but I'm again, not sure if this is a good idea. Is there anything in soil that could harm vampire crabs?

Thanks

 

[mudraker]

I don't think it would hurt a vampire, but I don't have any yet, just done a lot of research.

I think it would depend on the contents and source of the soil. Many recommend baking soil before using with aquatics. You could also try an equal layer of sand on top of the soil like they do with regular planted aquariums that use dirt.

 

[Welsh]

I was thinking about using the bark on top of the soil, rather than the sand as its a nightmare to maintain but I've never maintained bark or soil before, so I don't know how they compare lol

On a bad note, one of my vampires got out last night I have no idea how, because the tank was sealed with no gaps :s so she's done a Houdini on me and I can't find her 2am this morning I was up trying to find her, pulling cupboards out and looking under my bed, unfortunately I didn't find her which I am devastated about. I think she may have gone down a floorboard or something