Red Clawed Crabs

[FishFanatic13]

Hi i have a community tank with 5 platy 4 zebra danio 4 penguin tetra 4 pentazona barbs 1 cory
And i am hoping on getting a red clawed crab but need to know some of the basic needs of them (what they eat, how they need to get to the surface to bask, what sort of borrow they need to hide)and if they need to be kept in groups or not.

 

[three-fingers]

Unfortunatly your tank is totally unsuitable.

1. They really should have a large land area, like 1/2 - 2/3 of the tank to do best, they spend most of thier time above water.

2. The water is required tom be at least mildly brackish, otherwise they will die after shedding after weeks to a couple of months if your lucky.

3. All of your fish are small enough to be potentially caught and eaten by the crab, though if you keep them in the setup, the crab will probably die first.

Never listen to LFS advice on things like crabs, most lfs are bad enough when it comes to advice on fish, but crabs are even more specialist (though by no means hard to keep).

If you want them, ideally you'll need space for a 2'x1'x1' or similar sized tank, some marine salt mix (the stuff used for marine aquariums NOT freshwater aquarium salt, which is useless), a small filter/heater and some sand/rocks.

 

[FishFanatic13]

oh right ok thanks i will change my mind and go for cherry shrimp will they be ok with my set up and would they need any special requiments

 

[Bebobb]

I'm not sure on the tempermant of the barbs, if they are peaceful, or mildy aggressive, but the Cherry Shrimp should be fine with all of the other fish.

I am not saying you CAN'T have the Cherry Shrimp, I'm just saying that I know nothing about the barbs to give you a deffinate answer.

 

[FishFanatic13]

Right ok thanks and the barbs are very peaceful so the cherry shrimps should be fine in my tanks

 

[three-fingers]

They will mainly hide though, those barbs are likely to eat the shrimp when they shed skin, so make sure there's plenty of hiding spaces.

 

[FishFanatic13]

right ok thanks

 

[bae1994]

also you need atleast 5 corys really but bigger grroup the better