Anyone Ever Had Crabs?

[reneg]

Hi there, I have a 90L fish tank, 2 cichlids 5 dwarf rainbows couple of tetras and a sucker. I had 3 vampire crabs which I loved. I had a large piece of tropical branch coming out of the water so they had a bit of time out of the water. After a few days one had been attacked either by the other crabs or fish, he lost a few legs and eventually died. Same happened to the 2nd and the third just died after around 2 weeks, didnt look like he had been attacked just died. I was feeding them bloodworm, plus they seemed to eat other bits and bobs at the bottom.Would love to have them again but cant afford to waste around £20 each! please some advice, do you even think crabs are a good add to a general tropical fish tank.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

 

[chickennuggets123]

I'd re-phrase the title if i was you!

I thought crabs required salt water... they have some in the pet strore round near us.
Sorry, I dont know...

 

[BLACK DOG]

Yea And they itched like hell!!!!

 

[Noahs ark6]

i've had them before but they ascaped and died, they need an arra out of the water where they can get air, which is a annoying. i would advise against it

 

[chickennuggets123]

Yea And they itched like hell!!!!

haha anyway, back to the original topic

 

[reneg]

Hahaha thanks I thought the title may get a few people to take notice. You can get freshwater crabs, its just a case of trying to understand how to care for them.

 

[Delloy12]

http/www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pubic-lice/Pages/Introduction.aspx o.0

 

[reneg]

 

[chickennuggets123]

ok ok everyone stop now!

I wish i hadnt mentioned it...
Back to the original topic!

 

[fishoholic]

Hi there, I have a 90L fish tank, 2 cichlids 5 dwarf rainbows couple of tetras and a sucker. I had 3 vampire crabs which I loved. I had a large piece of tropical branch coming out of the water so they had a bit of time out of the water. After a few days one had been attacked either by the other crabs or fish, he lost a few legs and eventually died. Same happened to the 2nd and the third just died after around 2 weeks, didnt look like he had been attacked just died. I was feeding them bloodworm, plus they seemed to eat other bits and bobs at the bottom.Would love to have them again but cant afford to waste around £20 each! please some advice, do you even think crabs are a good add to a general tropical fish tank.

Thanks in advance for your help!!!

Hi, I'm reposting a comment I made in another forum in case you find it useful:

Geosesarma crabs need similar high humidity conditions to dart frogs. G. sp red devil and G. sp bicolor could do with a 75%/25% land/water paludarium type setup (babies need water) while G. notophorum and G. krathing can be kept without a water feature, perhaps with just a water bowl. It's been said that all these crabs can't drown but are terrestrial crabs so should not be kept in a pure aquatic setup.

Some Geosesarma crabs can be highly territorial and aggressive. I think order of aggressiveness is red devil > bicolor > notophorum > krathing. But this is just based on separate accounts I've read online not a comparative study so don't quote me. Mixing species seems to almost guarantee casualties so these crabs must be kept in single species setups. Try to break lines of sight, provide burrows etc so any crabs who are moulting can hide while vulnerable.

Cuttlebone and iodine should increase the percentage of successful moults. ph between 7-8 and moderately hard water is probably best.

Check out my "wanted" thread on fishforums for pics and a potential ebay seller for G. sp bicolor (no endorsement of this seller from myself or other forum members is implied)
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/372951-vampire-crabs/page__p__3118664__hl__vampire__fromsearch__1#entry3118664

Perhaps this thread should be moved to other pets/inverts