Red Crab Compatibility

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

I was wondering about the compatibility of red crabs, i know they dont get very big, are they ok for a community aquarium? I've seen loads of them kept with guppys, platys, mollies, swordtails etc in my local fish shop.

 

[raptorrex]

they can and do live in communitys. BUT. they need a brackish tank and land, or they will not last long. a well secure lid is also a must, its a shock to see a crab crawling up the chair arm, when your watching telly.

 

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

they can and do live in communitys. BUT. they need a brackish tank and land, or they will not last long. a well secure lid is also a must, its a shock to see a crab crawling up the chair arm, when your watching telly.

Thanks for your reply boboboy, i think i'll go for a crab as the first thing to go into my tank which should be next week.

Do they cause any problems with other fish, such as eating them or anything.

I think i'd rather go for a crab rather than a blue lobster as the crab would probably be more compatible with the fish i am having.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

I have Succesfully kept Red Claw crabs with fish before, I however have never successfully kept them in an aquarium full time. I am embarrassed to admit they are just smarter then I am . I even glued netting around all little nooks and crannys. Very fun to keep tho scary on the kitchen floor at six a.m.

 

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

I need some help on this, i know that the crabs need access to dry land, how am i going to do this? also i will be having sand and not gravel in my tank, the only thing that would worry me is them getting out, but i need to sort something out regarding the dry land area.

Cheers...

 

[smooth_bourbon]

Usually just large rock, or Bogwood. I like this with some plants added this would look really nice and you still have some swim room for fish. Just keep in mind the water level is lower so you really reduce the fish you will be able to have, and tho crabs are usually ok with fish it is not recomended you put them with anything with large flowing fins like Bettas.

http/images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%3D10%26hl%3Den


oh scroll down on the page has a pic of a full tank.

 

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated.

There's still alot i need to know, i will be keeping the crab with angels, clown loach's, neons, zebra danios, dwarf gouramis, candy striped pleco etc etc.

What i may consider doing is getting a divider and split my tank up so that the crab or crabs have their own space.

The things that worry me are how can i have the water brackish when there are going to be alot of other types of fish in the tank that dont like brackish water?

I may also not fill the tank right up so that the crab has access to dry land, I just want to get everything sorted out and planned before i got one or two of these crabs.

 

[raptorrex]

though not all crabs are the same, the Redclaw crab, seems to work in an community. they grow to around 2 inches across, looking very impressive, but unless the fish is very sick or dead they seem to be ok. even corys and wood shrimp go unmolested. but take care they all have their own distinct personality's!

 

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

Thanks for the reply boboboy, what would be the best thing to do regarding the brackish water as it would be kept in a community tank with other fish that probably would not appreciate brackish water, also i still dont know what to do regarding giving it access to dry land and i want to do everything possible to stop it from getting out of my tank as my missus and kids would be terrified of seeing it out of the tank.

 

[dizzied]

You wouldn't be able to keep the crab together with those fish, since they're pure freshwater. Crabs don't really belong in aquariums anyways.

 

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

I've decided that i'm going to buy a 50 litre tank and put 3 or 4 crabs in there on their own, can anyone tell me how much salt i need to put into the tank to make it brackish etc.

I'm going to have angels, gouramis, danios, dwarf frogs, bolivian rams, euro rams, candy striped pleco, corys etc in my 200 litre tank.

Also what would be the best thing to do to give the crabs access to land? thanks.

 

[The_Dude]

1 teaspoon per 5 gallons is what the aquarium salt box says. The thing is though, if you're going to do a vivarium for these guys, I'd suggest finding out how much water it will take. Thinkfish has a great volume calculator. It's accurate within .2 of the amount.

EDIT: Forgot to mention how much a teaspoon is in the US..
US Teaspoon = 5 ml

5 ml of Aquarium Salt is enough for 5 Gallons US (20 l)

To give the crabs access to land, you could take some sand and make a fairly big island in something of 50 l. If I'm not mistaken, that's somewhere along the lines of 12.5 gallons right?

 

[Southyorkshirefishkeeper]

What do you mean make a big island?

 

[dizzied]

The easiest way would be to just slope the sand to one side where it'll rise out of the water. You can also use a mass of driftwood and rocks instead since red crabs don't actually use sandbeds like fiddler crabs do.

 

[three-fingers]

5 ml of Aquarium Salt is enough for 5 Gallons US (20 l)

Nooo!

Aquarium salt will not work. You need marine salt for marine aquariums to make brackish water. Aquarium salt is just Sodium chloride, and provides none of the minerals that the crabs need for their shells and proper growth. Marine aquarium salt is only around 70% sodium chloride if I remember rightly.

Secondly,you will need a lot more than '5ml' per 5 gallons. You could safely put that dosage in a completely freshwater tank and it would still be freshwater, the pH wouldn't even be affected and it would no effect (positive or negative) on the fish.

To reach the very low end brackish salinity of just SG 1.004, you will need 100 grams of marine salt per 5 US gallons.

For more info on brackish water, and other possible inhabitants, visit the brackish forum .