Keeping Shore Crabs?

[Kevin_D]

Is it possible to keep native Shore Crabs? if so, what conditions are best to keep them, SG, temperature etc..

Thanks

 

[nmonks]

Carcinus maenas is about as close to indestructible as any marine crab can be, and is very easy to keep.

It will do well in anything from about 25% seawater through to normal marine. Temperature tolerance is very broad, and will certainly do well at room temperature, even tropical temperatures. Eats anything, including tankmates, but its prime diet in the wild is carrion and small molluscs of various types.

Extremely aggressive -- large specimens will destroy anything smaller than they are. Also great escape artists. They are amphibious to some degree, especially when warm, and hide under seaweed to cool down. In the aquarium, expect to see them climbing up pipes and wires in a bid for freedom!

Cheers, Neale

Is it possible to keep native Shore Crabs? if so, what conditions are best to keep them, SG, temperature etc..

Thanks

 

[Kevin_D]

They sound much easier to keep than I imagined. I'll probably collect one in a few weeks then, once I have a tank set up.

 

[nmonks]

"Easy" doesn't begin to describe it! They are a great example of why the idea "marine organisms are delicate" is utter rubbish. While it may be true for coral reef invertebrates, it isn't even close to true for a lot of other marine animals, especially temperate zone intertidal organisms.

Do read the BMLSS site, here:

http/www.glaucus.org.uk/wetthumb.htm
http/www.glaucus.org.uk/c-maenas.htm

Cheers,

Neale

They sound much easier to keep than I imagined. I'll probably collect one in a few weeks then, once I have a tank set up.

 

[Marine/Freshwater?]

Blue Crabs in Florida are great, they eat your fish, pinch you, and you cannot kill them! Shore Crabs are less agressive but they are still very destructive. Hermit Crabs are the safest crabs and even they make fish disapear. I ve always thought a crab only tank would be a neat idea, but crabs and fish do not do well together. Mt favorite crabs are the ones found floating in sargassum rafts.