Thinking Of Having A Tank Of Small Crabs

[mikedeaders]

ive seen a set up with lots of crabs at a garden center and think i would like to get a tank and get a few diff crabs. Anyone know of any good websites on how to get one set up thanks

 

[GoldLenny]

Are you talking FW, BW or SW crabs?

 

[mikedeaders]

i dont know sorry what does that mean?

 

[three-fingers]

He means freshwater, brackish water or salt water.

I assume that since you have seen them at your lfs, they are brackish water crabs (no matter what the people there say).
You would have limited success with them in freshwater...

Do you know what type of crabs they were?
Fiddler crabs maybe? Or did they look like this?

 

[mikedeaders]

sorry i do get what u mean, i dont know what to keep yet the ones i saw were red crabs i think they were only small and didnt grow much

 

[Invader Xan]

Red claw crabs are quite common and easy to find. They tend to grow to around 4-5cm in length and I think they're just adorable!

Apparently, they're quite easy to keep. You just need to remember two things -- they like brackish water, and they need some place to climb out of the water. If you don't provide these things for them, they'll constantly try to escape and suffer from ill health (eventually, they'll start dropping legs).

This site has some good tank setups. Another option is to have some mangrove roots partially out of the water. Unless I'm mistaken, red claws live in mangrove swamps in the wild.

Good luck, anyway!

 

[raptorrex]

Red claw crabs are quite common and easy to find. They tend to grow to around 4-5cm in length and I think they're just adorable!

Apparently, they're quite easy to keep. You just need to remember two things -- they like brackish water, and they need some place to climb out of the water. If you don't provide these things for them, they'll constantly try to escape and suffer from ill health (eventually, they'll start dropping legs).

This site has some good tank setups. Another option is to have some mangrove roots partially out of the water. Unless I'm mistaken, red claws live in mangrove swamps in the wild.

Good luck, anyway!

lol beat me to it!!! all the info you need in this post! but be warned the stats for some of the critters listed are way out! but the ideas on tanks and things are second to none.

 

[Invader Xan]

Hehe...

I wish I had the money/time to set up a tank for some redclaws. Actually, with a load of roots/driftwood, I think you could quite successfully turn a biorb into a little crabitat.

 

[raptorrex]

Hehe...

I wish I had the money/time to set up a tank for some redclaws. Actually, with a load of roots/driftwood, I think you could quite successfully turn a biorb into a little crabitat.

go for it man. people trying things is how the hobby moves forward.

 

[Invader Xan]

Just as soon as I have the cash, dude.

 

[three-fingers]

Red claw crabs are so tempting for me...I can get them 80p each...and a lot of the people who buy them are actually buying them as food for other critters.

I really can't look after them right now though, I am going to try a couple in my bigger community tank later on during the holidays .
I'm going to provide some dry land with a decent sized piece of protruding bogwood, and a floating brackish pool.
My worry is the pH in the main tank, I'm expecting it to be around 6.5-6.8 as my tank is now, however It's going to have a rather large piece of mopaini bogwood, which could possibly lower the pH to ~6 for a good length of time (despite soaking it).
Hopefully the brackish pool should mean that the pH in the main tank wont be much o a big deal.

Although at least they stand a good chance in my tank, they sell relativity fast, and there's like a 60% chance they would be a puffer snack.
So trying it out shouldent be a problem.

 

[mikedeaders]

I've found a place that will make me a 16" cube tank, how many crabs will i be able to keep in that I only want crabs that dont grow very big. What else will i need for the tank ??? any good places that sell things for keeping crabs?

 

[Invader Xan]

My worry is the pH in the main tank, I'm expecting it to be around 6.5-6.8 as my tank is now, however It's going to have a rather large piece of mopaini bogwood, which could possibly lower the pH to ~6 for a good length of time (despite soaking it).

Seashells dude. Marvellous things for buffering your water, raising your pH and giving lots of nice calcium for crustaceans. My tank has a biiig piece of mopani and about 3 or 4 seashells (~4cm each) nestled in the substrate. pH seems to hold steady around 7.2

I've found a place that will make me a 16" cube tank, how many crabs will i be able to keep in that I only want crabs that dont grow very big. What else will i need for the tank ??? any good places that sell things for keeping crabs?

16" cube... so that's what... about 15 gallons? Like I was saying, Red Claw crabs are small. You could probably keep at least 5-8 in a tank that size. Also like I was saying, just make sure they have a place to sit that's out of the water. Crabs also like to climb, so a pile of rocks or (ideally) a big hunk of bogwood should keep life interesting for them. Try and keep your heater/filter out of their reach though -- they can be escape artists.
As for food, Hikari Crab Cuisine is pretty good stuff. At least if you're a crustacean.

 

[three-fingers]

Seashells dude. Marvellous things for buffering your water, raising your pH and giving lots of nice calcium for crustaceans. My tank has a biiig piece of mopani and about 3 or 4 seashells (~4cm each) nestled in the substrate. pH seems to hold steady around 7.2

I've never had much luck with sea shells...but I have actually got quite a few I collected in the past lying around that I think I'll use now .
Although I don't want a pH over 7...I have rams, angelfish, various tetras, hatchet fish and I intend on keeping halfbeaks and silver dollars.
But this piece of wood is just releasing SO MUCH tannins that I'm worried about the pH being too low .
Hopefully the shells will keep it around 6.8 if I get it right though, thanks .

 

[Invader Xan]

Hey, no worries.
Me, I picked up a bag of 'decorative' murex shells from Hobbycraft. They seem to work a treat, seeing as they're mostly just calcium carbonate. And they are, indeed, rather decorative.