feeding red crabs???

[chad1989]

i jus got them....what should i feed them???

charlie

 

[SirMinion]

Go to your local fish store, there you will find that several food manufacturers such as JMC and Hikari make sinking pellets specifically for freswater crabs. I think one of them is called 'Crab Dinner'

Also you can offer small peices of )thawed) frozen prawn, cockle, mussel & lance fish.
They may also enjoy algae wafers, courgette (zucchini) and bloodworm

 

[chad1989]

thanks...i jus defrosting some bloodworm

charlie

 

[CFC]

Call me mean but i dont ever feed my crabs anything especially for them, they seem quite content and healthy just scavenging bits of mussel, fish and lettuce that are thrown about the tank by the messy eating scats and monos.

 

[SirMinion]

Call me mean but i dont ever feed my crabs anything especially for them, they seem quite content and healthy just scavenging bits of mussel, fish and lettuce that are thrown about the tank by the messy eating scats and monos.

Yes indeed, if kept with fish, the crabs will usually eat whatever the fish are eating, but if kept alone, they need feeding!

 

[WILDER]

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=112

 

[OohFeeshy]

Out of interest, can you keep red crabs with platies? And do they require land as a rule? Because I cant really give them any.
EDIT-spleelin

 

[WILDER]

According to that link they will eat small fish, but dosn't say how small.

 

[chad1989]

i keep mine with black widow tetras and the tetras are so bossy they force the crabs under the bogwood

charlie

 

[SirMinion]

They'll eat anything they can catch, so you might occasionally lose a platy, but not very often.

The prefer to be able to climb out of the water, but can survive without it. A small piece of floating wood would suffice, but make sure your tank is secure as they are experts at escaping.

Remember that red crabs grow quite big so make sure you have enough room!

 

[OohFeeshy]

The shop said they grow to 5 cm.. I will probably get one when the platys are bigger, they will only be babies when i get them so I'd rather wait for a crab. Also, will some shrimp be fine? Not for fish food(they are too big) but decoration. What do you feed them?

 

[WILDER]

http/species.fishindex.com/85

 

[SirMinion]

http/species.fishindex.com/85

That's a list of marine shrimp.

Something like Camaroon Amoured Shrimp, Amano Shrimp or Bamboo shrimp would be fine.

 

[damia713]

I had about 10 glass shrimp when i got my fiddler crabs and by morning i just had two very full crabs. So you might have difficulty with keeping shrimp with crabs as the might also descide that shrimp sound good. but feeder shrimp can be bought cheaply.

 

[oscar_lover2005]

These crabs eat pretty much anything that settles to the bottom of the tank. I feed Hikari loach wafers, Wardley shrimp pellets, and dried tubifex worms, but they will probably eat anything your fish do. In my own experience they do not care for veggies, but many readers have told me that their crabs have torn up some plants, so be warned. Some crabs need access to the air to survive. Freshwater fiddlers are like this. The red claw crab apparently does not need to get out of the water to survive, though it will if it can. There is no harm in allowing this, if the critter cannot get out of the tank, or get too close to hot lights. If you aren't comfortable with your crab climbing out of the water, make sure he can't use plants or equipment to aid his exploration. For example, you may have to shorten the filter intake tube.These critters can also swim a little, so leaving a small space between the gravel and an "escape ladder" might not be enough. My crabs appears to be able to swim up at least 6" from the bottom of the aquarium, so be careful how you arrange your tank.This species is very fast and very strong for its size. Be very careful when netting it; it will try to climb the mesh and escape. In fact, when I bought mine, the first one they scooped up climbed out of the net, jumped onto the floor, and ran under the rack of tanks. They probably never got it back. Red clawed crabs seem to molt every few months. I have seen it happen as often as every 2 months, or as long as 6 months.The old exoskeleton looks just like the crab, only transparent. The more they molt, the faster they are growing, and presumably the healthier they are. Reportedly this species breeds in brackish water but then returns to fresh water to live. If you wanted to try breeding them, I would vary the temperature and/or salinity of the water to simulate natural conditions changing with the seasons. Exactly how to vary conditions, I couldn't say! Some keepers have told me that their crabs bred, with the female carrying a clutch of red eggs. I haven't heard of any actually surviving and growing up in the home aquarium though.