Freshwater Crabs

[crackmonkey]

Do freshwater crabs clean the tank by eating fish crap like Marine Crabs do?

 

[SirMinion]

No.
Crabs -fresh or salt water- do not eat fish crap, they eat uneaten food and organic fragments called detritus.

Even if crabs did eat fish crap, they'd simply turn it into crab crap (did you know that crabs crap through their eyes?) and it'd still be in your tank.

The only way to remove crap from your tank is for bacteria to break it down into soluble compounds which are removed with water changes, and by manual removal with a gravel vac.

 

[crackmonkey]

so getting around 5 freshwater crabs will help the tank?

 

[SirMinion]

so getting around 5 freshwater crabs will help the tank?

[snapback]895288[/snapback]​

Depends on the tank, the fish and the crabs.

All of the commonly available freshwater crabs are not fully aquatic and therefore need to be able to climb out of the water. Infact most of them may spend more time out of the water than in.

The four most commonly available in the UK are Rainbow crabs get which big and will hunt fish and Red crabs which can only live a short while in freshwater.

The 'freshwater' hermit crab is a land crab and will drown if it cannot get out of the water and the fiddler crab is brackish.

Crabs are most suited to crab-only setups.

 

[crackmonkey]

Do redcrabs need land? I had two but they climbed out a tiny gap in the lid, found it 2 weeks later next to the wall, wondered what the stench was.

 

[SirMinion]

Do redcrabs need land? I had two but they climbed out a tiny gap in the lid, found it 2 weeks later next to the wall, wondered what the stench was.

[snapback]895305[/snapback]​

Yes Red Crabs need land, that's why they climbed out of your tank, but they need to be able to keep their gills wet so must be able to return to the water from time to time or they will dry out and die.

 

[tishygirl]

Even if crabs did eat fish crap, they'd simply turn it into crab crap (did you know that crabs crap through their eyes?)

[snapback]895286[/snapback]​

ROFL.... I'm glad I voted against crabs....

 

[crackmonkey]

Which freshwater crabs live totally underwater?