Idea For Cheap Pet
- Thread starter cokers
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Enable email notification of replies? i wanna raise a blue crab. but i dont know how. my area has alot of fish markets that have blue crabs anyone that know anything about them plz tell me
Are you speaking of http
/www.sc.gov/PhotoGalleryUploads/2005...l_bluecrab2.jpg ?
If that's what you're referring to, I have a related species. If the one I have is behaviorally like blue crabs (which it must be, since what I've read would mean that all swimming crabs are pretty similar), I can tell you that they're a handfull to care for. They are extremely moody depending on where they are time-wise in the shedding cycle and they are completely incompatable with any sort of "cleanup crew" animal that would normally help get rid of uneated food & such. They basically have the aquarium requirements of any large predatory fish with the same incompatabilities. Expect frequent water changes.
When you say "raise" a crab, if you're talking about getting a really young one, that's a bit more added difficulty because of the frequent shedding. The one I have had a carapace of just over dime-sized when I got it, and it proceeded to shed every 2 weeks without fail, doubling in size each time. The food requirements were higher than any other invert I've kept - early on that crab probably ate its own body mass in food every day and required feedings 2-3 times per day.
/www.sc.gov/PhotoGalleryUploads/2005...l_bluecrab2.jpg ?If that's what you're referring to, I have a related species. If the one I have is behaviorally like blue crabs (which it must be, since what I've read would mean that all swimming crabs are pretty similar), I can tell you that they're a handfull to care for. They are extremely moody depending on where they are time-wise in the shedding cycle and they are completely incompatable with any sort of "cleanup crew" animal that would normally help get rid of uneated food & such. They basically have the aquarium requirements of any large predatory fish with the same incompatabilities. Expect frequent water changes.
When you say "raise" a crab, if you're talking about getting a really young one, that's a bit more added difficulty because of the frequent shedding. The one I have had a carapace of just over dime-sized when I got it, and it proceeded to shed every 2 weeks without fail, doubling in size each time. The food requirements were higher than any other invert I've kept - early on that crab probably ate its own body mass in food every day and required feedings 2-3 times per day.
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Most crustaceans have high metabolisms. Cleaner shrimp in the Lysmata genus will feed 3 or 4 times a day without fail. Virtually every crab I have ever kept will also eat anytime food is offered. They don't need feeding that often but for maximum growth and optimum health they should be fed at least once a day. However, the more food being fed, the faster the water quality will deteriorate and the more water changes you will have to do to keep the water clean.
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Most crustaceans have high metabolisms. Cleaner shrimp in the Lysmata genus will feed 3 or 4 times a day without fail. Virtually every crab I have ever kept will also eat anytime food is offered. They don't need feeding that often but for maximum growth and optimum health they should be fed at least once a day. However, the more food being fed, the faster the water quality will deteriorate and the more water changes you will have to do to keep the water clean.
yes that was the crab i was talking about. and i will just keep one when my mom buys one to cook. its just for fun. and its grownup.
ps. the crab and crayfish i owned in my life none of them eat when offered food . they eat when im at school of sleeping
what kind of habitata should i use? that mean substrate, kind of water, and if i can mix it with oter inverts/fish
ps. the crab and crayfish i owned in my life none of them eat when offered food . they eat when im at school of sleeping
what kind of habitata should i use? that mean substrate, kind of water, and if i can mix it with oter inverts/fish
Reasearch marine tanks before you consider getting any marine animal. Look up some information online on live rock and marine aquariums in general. That will answer most of your questions for you - and most of the answers can be found in the stickies on this forum as well for seetting up new tanks. Other than the container that you choose for holding the water, you can't really cut any corners with setting up a marine tank for a crab vs. a fish, so you won't be saving cost on anything but the crab. For an adult blue crab you need to be looking at a minimum of 20 gallons of water. If you're not concerned about looks, you can make do with a plastic tub (what I use), but it's still going to need a lot of space, live rock, powerheads, etc. As for mixing with other fish/inverts with a crab of that size, the answer is a universal "no." Younger crabs can live in with certain other crustaceans sometimes, but as they grow to an adult size, the only things that should be put in with a swimming crab are things you plan on feeding it.
I wouldn't keep one in anything less than a 100gallons. They get big, over 10inches across the back of the shell. And they are messy and destructive. They normally hide in the sand during the day and come out to scavenge after dark. Their claws get long too, like 18inches on a big crab.
add mineral salts to make the water hard.
Your local fish shop should sell African Rift Lake water conditioner. It will contain calcium and magnesium, among other things, and this will increase the hardness quite significantly. It's in a powder form and you add X amount of this stuff per so many litres to raise the hardness by however many ppm.
You can have shell or limestone in the tank to help increase the hardness as well but it is slower than using the rift lake salts.
Your local fish shop should sell African Rift Lake water conditioner. It will contain calcium and magnesium, among other things, and this will increase the hardness quite significantly. It's in a powder form and you add X amount of this stuff per so many litres to raise the hardness by however many ppm.
You can have shell or limestone in the tank to help increase the hardness as well but it is slower than using the rift lake salts.
eschaton
Fishaholic
Also, I could be wrong, but you'll probably need a chiller in the summer at least, which will significantly add to the cost of the tank.
Agreed. Those grabs live down where it get pretty darned warm in the summer and extend all the way up to where it gets pretty darned cold.
What's the room temperature range? Ice is probably not a great solution, because that will make temperature swings over a short time period. The crabs have a wide temperature range, but seasonal changse take a long time.
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