Red-Clawed Crab?

[Assaye]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but a Google search found it. I saw these little cute red-clawed crabs in the lfs on Fri, £2 each and was going to buy a couple this next week to go in my tank of 10 neons and cories. LFS owner says they're absolutely fine with even small fish. Glad I discovered otherwise here!!! BTW the lfs guy says he feeds his on fish that have died in other tanks, just tosses them in and they have a right feast.

Glad you now know not to get them! Anyone who feeds dead fish (that could have died from a disease or parasites) to another animal isn't someone I would ever want to be selling fish or giving advice to people. My old manager was happy for them to be sold into any old tank and it was heartbreaking to have those people bringing the crabs back after a few weeks because the "evil" crabs had killed a load of their fish. I even know someone who killed their crab because it was attacking their fish

Always do your own research and never trust what one person says

 

[flapperjack128]

I have to say I have kept RCC's with loads of different fish ovr the last few years, plecos, tetras, cories, angels etc etc and have never lost a fish to one of my crabs. They are opportunistic, and if a half dead fish floats near them, they may take a swipe.

From my experience, when the crabs are stressed and half starved as they usually are in a pet shop, they will act aggressively. They need proper feeding, they are not suited to scavenging leftovers. Hikari wafers for corydoras, bloodworm and brine shrimp are good food for them, once they are well fed and have hiding places, they may settle down.

Crabs really need a well thought out tank, they need land areas that wont allow them to escape and places to hide during the day. They will come out more often if they know there is a safe haven for them.

I would still advise bringing it back, unless you want to change the foucus of the tank from the fish to the crab

Ken

Crabs, What else can they eat apart from Hikari wafers for corydoras, bloodworm and brine shrimp ??

Appreciate any reply ASAP

 

[three-fingers]

They can eat most things. Crab pellets (or anything else meant for crustaceans) would be the best food, but any fish food should be fine. Also bits of prawn, bits of fish, blanched vegetables (cucumber, peas etc) can supplement their diet.

 

[raptorrex]

first off. crabs should never be in a aquarium with tetras, neons or cory, they are brackish!
not only that, but they need land, and lots of it.

 

[chrisodapz]

i know its an old thread but hey, i know someone who has a big tank in their office and a what i call a tank doctor from a LFS visits every fortnight i think to maintain the tank. In the last month they have introduced about 8 red claw crabs to the tank with other fish already in there. It is a tropical set up with no where for the crabs to come out of the water. I think they going to have problems soon.

Just goes to show that these people who meant to be experts are jus money hungry, I said that its not good to put crabs in that environment but they were told they are fine.

I wanted to put a couple in my tank but i read up about it on here 1st, thank god i did.

chriso

 

[cantsay39]

I was searching through google and i found this thread~
I found it fascinating how their fish got eaten~
honestly i own 2 Rcc but they quite menace when they try to pull my plants and eat it~ or bullying my apple snail~ using its feet to turn over the snail~
but the rest seems fine~ no dead fish~

 

[raptorrex]

i know its an old thread but hey, i know someone who has a big tank in their office and a what i call a tank doctor from a LFS visits every fortnight i think to maintain the tank. In the last month they have introduced about 8 red claw crabs to the tank with other fish already in there. It is a tropical set up with no where for the crabs to come out of the water. I think they going to have problems soon.

Just goes to show that these people who meant to be experts are jus money hungry, I said that its not good to put crabs in that environment but they were told they are fine.

I wanted to put a couple in my tank but i read up about it on here 1st, thank god i did.

chriso

this is bad, as you say. the only good thing is the Crabs dont eat the fish. they prefer rotted veg and detritus. is it worth talking to your line manager, or do you think they wont care?

 

[Tuxyu3]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

 

[raptorrex]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

they need land, as well as brackish water.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

they need land, as well as brackish water.

How much land? At the moment i just have a big rock with three ramps with one above water they can get on top of and they can get to the very top of my heater which is poking out of the water, they can also scale the pipes for my air rock, heater, and filter but there is definitely no way they can get out.

 

[raptorrex]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

they need land, as well as brackish water.

How much land? At the moment i just have a big rock with three ramps with one above water they can get on top of and they can get to the very top of my heater which is poking out of the water, they can also scale the pipes for my air rock, heater, and filter but there is definitely no way they can get out.

ideally, 2/3 land and 1/3 water.
land should be of sand with rocks and deccor to suite.
sand needs to be damp.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

they need land, as well as brackish water.

How much land? At the moment i just have a big rock with three ramps with one above water they can get on top of and they can get to the very top of my heater which is poking out of the water, they can also scale the pipes for my air rock, heater, and filter but there is definitely no way they can get out.

ideally, 2/3 land and 1/3 water.
land should be of sand with rocks and deccor to suite.
sand needs to be damp.

Yea, the last time i had crabs i tried having a sand beach but it did not really work because it got very dirty very quickly.
By the way, one of my RCC is female and today it has gone very pale but seems healthy otherwise, is this a sign she is going to shed her skin? If so, what can I do to help her?

 

[raptorrex]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

they need land, as well as brackish water.

How much land? At the moment i just have a big rock with three ramps with one above water they can get on top of and they can get to the very top of my heater which is poking out of the water, they can also scale the pipes for my air rock, heater, and filter but there is definitely no way they can get out.

ideally, 2/3 land and 1/3 water.
land should be of sand with rocks and deccor to suite.
sand needs to be damp.

Yea, the last time i had crabs i tried having a sand beach but it did not really work because it got very dirty very quickly.
By the way, one of my RCC is female and today it has gone very pale but seems healthy otherwise, is this a sign she is going to shed her skin? If so, what can I do to help her?

unfortunately, its a bit more complicated than just having sand, to make land.

pale shells are, normally, a sign of bad health. as far as my experience goes anyway.i dont recognise it as a sign of moulting. unless the moult is failing. and the crab can not shed.
there is not much you can do to help. appart from keeping them in the correct environment.

 

[Tuxyu3]

Hey guys, this showed up on a google search and i thought would comment-
i have had RCC before with several different fish (red-eye tetra, neon tetra, diamond tetra and black phantom tetra) and they all got along fine with absolutely no problems however my one problem was with the crabs themselves- they died fairly quickly. after about three seperate lots i gave up but have recently decided to try again but with no fish and slowly adding marine salt as I have heard they like slightly brackish water but do not really know whether to add plants or anything else, any advice?

they need land, as well as brackish water.

How much land? At the moment i just have a big rock with three ramps with one above water they can get on top of and they can get to the very top of my heater which is poking out of the water, they can also scale the pipes for my air rock, heater, and filter but there is definitely no way they can get out.

ideally, 2/3 land and 1/3 water.
land should be of sand with rocks and deccor to suite.
sand needs to be damp.

Yea, the last time i had crabs i tried having a sand beach but it did not really work because it got very dirty very quickly.
By the way, one of my RCC is female and today it has gone very pale but seems healthy otherwise, is this a sign she is going to shed her skin? If so, what can I do to help her?

unfortunately, its a bit more complicated than just having sand, to make land.

pale shells are, normally, a sign of bad health. as far as my experience goes anyway.i dont recognise it as a sign of moulting. unless the moult is failing. and the crab can not shed.
there is not much you can do to help. appart from keeping them in the correct environment.

i was worried about that
I only bought them two days ago from the shop and she does appear to be getting a little bit darker, maybe there is a chance she is just feeling a bit ill because of previous poor treatment, because as great as that shop is the crabs are not in the best enviroment (They are kept in a very small, very cramped tank with lots of crabs with extremely little if any access to land, just the filter and heater pipe above water- not to mention it is completely frshwater).

By the way this is a Shortened URL to a picture of my set-up, does it look okay to you?:

 

[Paylor]

Good job i read this first.. Was going to get one of these guys but wont now.. dont think my frogs would last long