Something I always wanted to do was try shedding soft crabs. I final”y did it. And it is working out fine. My primary concern was where to put the operation. Outside raccoons would be a problem. Since I had access to peelers for free I decided on setting things up in the garage. I had the tank and sawhorses and pump. The initial pain was hauling water from the river. I have to come up a steep hill and can only fill the buckets half way. It took several trips. I did elect to buy two aquarium filters. One would have probably been sufficient.
If my supply of peelers holds up for another two weeks I should have enough softies to get the family thru the winter.
Being retired and readily available to check the operation around the clock is necessary. Seems the crabs like to shed between one and three am. I’ve had two shed and eaten by the other crabs and two that got hard because I fell asleep. Some die during the shed. I’ve been told this is normal. Some shed fast and some take a couple of hours..
things I’ve noticed. The crabs are not aggressive to one another. Some even sit on top of another crab. Sometimes they already out individually and sometimes they cluster together.
My biggest shed so far is a seven inches. All are over five.
Make it easier on yourself and use dechlorinated tap water and kosher salt. Waters cleaner( dirty water is number 1 reason for stills and hangers) just make sure your filter system is cycled ( performs nitrogen cycle) and you'll have lots less stills. I could shed 12-15 crabs at a time in a 29gal closed system ( fish aquarium) with great success.
