Vampire Crabs

[Wudchip]

Hello everyone! I am completely new to this forum and am justing posting because I have a tank setup and I want to make sure it is safe for my new crave! Recently just browsing fish world I came across these magnificent vampire crabs and instantly fell in love with them so after saving up and doing research I prepared a tank! I am posting to ask those with experience if my tank set up is a good one and how many crabs I should get (I'm only thinking 3 atm even tho it is a 15 gallon mainly cause inexperience and that I have a smaller land portion???) please anyone help and all feedback is wanted even if it is the tank isn't good ( I want to know so I don't kill some crabs when my setup was all wrong...

So for starters I do have a humidifier hidden in the rocks plus a spray bottle so that the humidity is not a problem

I am also getting a different light so that I can better control the intensity with since the crabs are mostly nocturnal.

Any other tips or suggestions I should know about these guys?! In the meantime I will be looking at other forums on the vampire crabs but plz again help me out so I can have some enjoyment with the vampire crabs!

 

[eatyourpeas]

Welcome!

That setup looks nice. I am looking into vampire shrimp so I will be following your thread, but unfortunately can’t offer any advice atm.

 

[eatyourpeas]

Which humidifier did you go with?

 

[mcordelia]

@Herpin Man I know you are into the terrestrial type of animals, I don't know if this is in your wheelhouse?

 

[eatyourpeas]

The reason I am asking about the humidifier is because I am working on a design where there is water flow from the top of the land area to the bottom of the pool, where it goes through filtration. This should bypass the need for humidifier, I hope.

 

[Wudchip]

Which humidifier did you go with?

It is actually a mister^ but does the same job but underwater and I can hide it better... But I bought it off amazon it is the AGPTEK aluminum mister

 

[Wudchip]

The reason I am asking about the humidifier is because I am working on a design where there is water flow from the top of the land area to the bottom of the pool, where it goes through filtration. This should bypass the need for humidifier, I hope.

So I am using it to add moisture in the air... you can just use a cheap spray bottle to do that and with a lid your moisture should be relatively high anyways

 

[eatyourpeas]

Thank you!

Yes, the lid will be an essential component and I will be making it since I want it to be a certain way to work with the light. I am looking at the Fluval Aquasky 2.0 because of how easy it is to program. The tank is going to be a long version, so height will not be an issue with plants getting enough light.

I am waiting for Covid-19 restrictions to ease so I can make a trip to LFS to look at hardscape. It is a $30 two-hour trip each way, so I want to maximize the visit.

Plant wise, they will follow the hardscape.

I can’t quite tell from your pictures, but do you have enough nooks and crannies for them to hide? My experience with crabs in the wild is they like any little bit they can use to hide inside or under.

 

[Wudchip]

Thank you!

Yes, the lid will be an essential component and I will be making it since I want it to be a certain way to work with the light. I am looking at the Fluval Aquasky 2.0 because of how easy it is to program. The tank is going to be a long version, so height will not be an issue with plants getting enough light.

I am waiting for Covid-19 restrictions to ease so I can make a trip to LFS to look at hardscape. It is a $30 two-hour trip each way, so I want to maximize the visit.

Plant wise, they will follow the hardscape.

I can’t quite tell from your pictures, but do you have enough nooks and crannies for them to hide? My experience with crabs in the wild is they like any little bit they can use to hide inside or under.

Yes I made sure between the rocks and all they have plenty of spaces to hide most are on the back side of the tank so that when looking into the tank u do not see al the cracks but thank you for the advice

and from my experience everything fluval is very well made all my heaters are from them and that includes the compact one that is currently in the paludarium tank

 

[eatyourpeas]

I agree. My dream of having vampire shrimp had to change due to the difficulty of getting them, so I switched to vampire crab. They look amazing!

 

[eatyourpeas]

Wanted to share what I am striving for. Being one who is always afraid of commitment, I will not be gluing the filter and hardscape so I have the option of easy cleaning, and changing the scape. I always like heavily planted environments and going vertical solves my space restrictions and the moisture being provided by a waterfall.

 

[Retired Viking]

I tried crabs years ago before there was a lot of information on them. I had several that lived for a year or so. Had a large one that escaped and scared my wife when he ran across the kitchen floor, he made it safely back into the tank. I have been thinking of setting up a 10 gallon tank and trying again. They are interesting to watch.