Preparing For a Crab!?!?

My dad today was at Walmart and he saw freshwater crabs for sale. When he came home he told me about them and really wants me to get them.
I have only a 10gal tank. It is very overstocked due to platy fry (I'll be getting rid of them soon) and has no cover. I've done a bit of research, and I have no worries on the crab getting fed, but my tank is lidless and there's nowhere for a crab to surface. I'm very worried my dad might come home with a surprise crab (He's done stuff like this before!) so is there any way I could prepare for a crab buddy?
Oh, and the reason there is no lid on the tank (And that I can't get one) is because I have pothos in it that HAS to have it's leaves out of the water and roots inside, so I have no way to keep a secure lid on.
Please help, my dad is more stubborn than a mule, and since he's not home right now, I could have a crab within the next hour.
Fish Lords help!!!!

 

What kind of filter do you have? I've seen pictures of people having their pathos growing in the filter. I don't see why you couldn't get a hood and still be able to grow your pathos. There's often space around the filter after you remove the cutout for it. There's a cutout for the heater too which leaves more than enough space needed for the cord. Could always leave the feeding hatch open too and have pathos growing from there. . . Maybe a screen lid with some areas cut out?

 

Alright so he came back and luckily there is no crab. My filter is a HOB. The reason I can't put the pothos in the cutout or feeding hatch is because there's so much of it. I have a whole bush growing out of my tank, and it has to stay near the edge because it's also rooted in a pot. And I can't just leave it in the pot because there's a million healthy water roots that would take months to regrow, and even then they wouldn't be as full.
Thx for the help tho

 

Sure you can have a lid and have the plants. Here are some pictures.

 

My plants are really, really long, and as said before, are also attached to a pot, so they need room to bend without snapping, and my lid just doesn't provide that. Crisis has been averted, though, no crabs, so I can keep my tank lidless for another day
Beautiful tank, btw.

 

Thank you that's my sons tank. This is my tank.

 

Oh wow. I wish I could post pictures of mine (Though it's not nearly as impressive) My tank is small, so because of my breeder net in it, some of the tank is covered and it kind of ruins the aesthetic.
Also, do you have any tips for keeping pothos alive? I've researched everything under the sun about them, but leaves are constantly dropping on the plants I keep in my aquarium. It's still a pretty bushy and healthy plant, but it's losing more than it's growing. The roots and leaves will sometimes dissolve randomly. I've been told it's possibly because my temperature is too high (78-80F) and I think it may be because my baby BN pleco isn't getting enough to eat, to which i've started feeding him about every other day, cucumber slices with algae wafers stuck inside them. I dose 4ml of API Leaf Zone every week and a half or so, slightly less often than they say so I don't overdose or anything. Any ideas?

 

Not sure. My tank is usually at 76-78F. I have albino catfish, ottos, guppies, Rasboras, Molly, skirt tetra and one mystery snail and one nerite snail. Non of them bother the plant I have floating in there. I also don't put anything in the water for the plants(just water and fish in tank) most of my plants are just at the top coming out and the roots in the tank. I have a led light strip I leave on for 6 hours every day then shut off. I also leave my curtains open all day for natural sun light and the tank is away from any direct sunlight as it will kill the plant. Not sure but here are a few pictures of how mine is setup.

 

My tank is directly next to a window, but the blinds are shut all day. None the less, it's extremely bright because my room has to be the one the sun faces all. day. long. Anyways, there's plenty of natural light from there, and I have LEDs as well, I keep them on for about... 12-14 hours a day? That sounds about right. They come on at 10am or so when I wake up and are turned off about 2am when I finally sleep.
Do you think the plants are dying due to low nitrates? I'm really obsessive over water changes, and I do at least 50% a week, usually more. There's just something really satisfying about almost no nitrates . One last thing, do you think an apple snail would eat my plants or climb out? I know anything may climb (or leap!) out of it's tank, but is any type of snail less likely?