Fiddler Crabs

[grayshark1956]

They are wrong.

Where in the wild would crabs bathe in pools of pure sodium chloride solution? The answer is nowhere; they naturally dip into pools of brackish water or seawater. Hence, you use marine aquarium salt mix.

Cheers, Neale

the pet store insisted I NOT add instant ocean to my tank, they insisted on aquarium salt to benefit fish,

I already knew that, but I see what you are saying about their water and know they like this type of water. I did read about people who kept them with fish, had crabs that lived fine in different salt types and know they need minerals. I did look for a marine mix but could not find one, so after reading about one person that said their crabs lived for years without marine salt I thought their answer was reasonable because I later read these crabs are hearty and are used to differences in water conditions like being in salt water or brackish or maybe even fresh water. They apparently can adapt to different kinds of water.

 

[grayshark1956]

Marine salt is not "stronger" than aquarium salt, marine salt has the necessary elements to support marine/brackish life, aquarium salt does not.

In nature Brackish water is encountered where the sea meets a river, the sea is salty, the river is not. If we start in the sea then we are at marine conditions, say SG1.022, as we enter the mouth of the river the sea water is "diluted", we then travel further into the river and the sea water is diluted further still, steadily decreasing, i.e. SG1.021-SG1.020....SG1.015-SG1.014...SG1.008-SG1.007....SG1.001-SG1.000.
SG1.000 is freshwater.

You can see from the above that at no time does the "marine" salt disappear and change into "aquarium" salt. If you want a Brackish tank add marine salt, if you want a reef tank add more marine salt.

Have you cycled your tank? If you haven't that may be why you have the bacteria bloom. You don't need to add ammonia safe if you have a cycled tank, you only need to add a tap water dechlorinater.

If you were writing to me I finally read about how hearty these crabs are to changing water conditions, as when they are in the wild. Also, I've read about owners that kept these crabs for years in salt other than the type you mentioned, so their advice sounded reasonable to me. I could not find a marine mix at the store so I went with natural sea salt that contains some minerals. I do see what you said about marine salt because it has more minerals and trace elements crabs need. Will still investigate this further if necessary

 

[grayshark1956]

Marine salt is not "stronger" than aquarium salt, marine salt has the necessary elements to support marine/brackish life, aquarium salt does not.

In nature Brackish water is encountered where the sea meets a river, the sea is salty, the river is not. If we start in the sea then we are at marine conditions, say SG1.022, as we enter the mouth of the river the sea water is "diluted", we then travel further into the river and the sea water is diluted further still, steadily decreasing, i.e. SG1.021-SG1.020....SG1.015-SG1.014...SG1.008-SG1.007....SG1.001-SG1.000.
SG1.000 is freshwater.

You can see from the above that at no time does the "marine" salt disappear and change into "aquarium" salt. If you want a Brackish tank add marine salt, if you want a reef tank add more marine salt.

Have you cycled your tank? If you haven't that may be why you have the bacteria bloom. You don't need to add ammonia safe if you have a cycled tank, you only need to add a tap water dechlorinater.

I always add de-chlorinator but as for marine salt being stronger: I meant it is probably more concentrated with salt and minerals. If you added too much of either salt, it could be too much for crabs to survive in. Yes I knew marine salt did not disappear into aquarium salt, was it someone else you were writing to? If it was me I know a marine mix is best but can't find one in the store. And I only want a brackish tank not a reef tank. I see the difference here is in the amount of salt added.

 

[grayshark1956]

Could be bacteria bloom. One of your earlier posts state that you are adding ammonia? High levels of waste such as ammonia will cause a bacteria bloom and burn the sensitive gills of your fish; in an uncycled tank a fish can die in days? You want no ammonia. What do you mean by cleaning the tank - you don't mean an entire strip-down do you? All you need to do is weekly water changes and scrape the algae off the glass with a tank scraper or a sponge, once a month you can rinse your filter media. If you have detectable levels of ammonia and nitrite then you will need to carry out large daily water changes until they are down to zero and remain at zero.

If you have a tank lid then you won't need an additional screen?

Oh heck no, I would not add ammonia. I have a product called Ammoniasafe if I need it. My tank has cycled and there is no bacteria bloom now. I know about ammonia's effects and would never add ammonia, would watch for it then add Ammoniasafe if necessary.

Could be bacteria bloom. One of your earlier posts state that you are adding ammonia? High levels of waste such as ammonia will cause a bacteria bloom and burn the sensitive gills of your fish; in an uncycled tank a fish can die in days? You want no ammonia. What do you mean by cleaning the tank - you don't mean an entire strip-down do you? All you need to do is weekly water changes and scrape the algae off the glass with a tank scraper or a sponge, once a month you can rinse your filter media. If you have detectable levels of ammonia and nitrite then you will need to carry out large daily water changes until they are down to zero and remain at zero.

If you have a tank lid then you won't need an additional screen?

Sorry if I confused anyone: my lid is heavy and screened so I don't need an additional screen.

 

[grayshark1956]

I'll do whatever it takes to make my crabs happy,...the pet store insisted I NOT add instant ocean to my tank, they insisted on aquarium salt to benefit fish, I know SG for crabs is 1.005 to 1.010 so I am trying to determine if this salt will work because the store absolutely insisted on it instead of instant ocean! Does instant ocean have a higher salt content? it did not say on the box, the aquarium salt does not list ingredients either. I want to fix this before tomorrow, I'm having a diagnostic test in AM and want to make sure my crabs and fish are okay. I'm home if anyone wants to write back, thanks for listening again, Grayshark1956

They are saying not to add instant ocean (marine salt) becuase of your fresh water fish which is correct because freshwater fish can't live in Brackish water. To make Brackish water necessary for your crabs you need marine salt and instant ocean will fit the bill nicely.

Where did you get SG1.005 to SG1.010? They will benefit from higher salinities up to marine conditions, approx SG1.005 - 1.021 although I would say that they are likely to do better SG1.010+. check out the Wikipedia page which gives a fairly good description: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiddler_crab

Thanks for letting me know about wiki, I can check that, too. I have fish and crabs separated so the fish are in FW and crabs are in brackish water. Now I have to figure out my live plants in crab tank being near heater enough to cause plant odor. I want my crabs to have live plants, not plastic, and I have no signs of algae and now must reconfigure how and where to keep plants so they are not moved close to submersible heater by crabs. I hate switching to plastic plants, would rather have live plants.

I just replied but don't see it on my screen....I have to look into fixing cloudiness of water today, plus get screen for top. I'm either going to clean the whole tank or start reading about bacteria! Can't do it now, I have to have a diagnostic test thismorning. Will check filter placement now, any advice is appreciated and welcome about cloudy water, its just white, no other color. All fish are acting fine, even my favorite betta! Thanks again for explaining.

Thanks for your reply, I have fish and crabs separated, tank has cycled and there is no bacteria bloom anymore, I know what caused cloudy water. I do have Pro Carb Z and it helps. Also have more filter cartridges if and when needed.