DarkSide
Fish Crazy
Crabs:
Common name/s: Rainbow Crab
Scientific name: Armatum garcarrcims
Origin: Africa
Care: While young rainbow crabs may be kept in an aquarium set-up, while they get older it is essential that you move the crab to a vivarium BY ITSELF, do not keep more than one crab together, as they will fight to the death, the only time it would be safe to put more than one together, is while they are breeding.
Sand is encouraged, so that the crabs can burrow. It is also recommended that there are many piece of driftwood/rocks/rope/etc. for the crab to climb around on, you should also change around ornaments because crabs have been know to get bored quickly. Other ornaments should be a food dish, and a water dish. Weight everything down because crabs are very strong, and are able to move large ornaments around, which can result in something breaking or the crab being crushed.
While in an aquarium set-up, water temperature should be around, 75º F (24º C), while in a vivarium use a under tank heat mat, with the same temperature, also leave an area un-heated so that the crab can cool off.
Feeding: Lance fish, blood worm, apple, carrot, brine shrimp, lettuce, cucumber, grapes, cuttle fish, seeds, almonds, etc. (Your best chance is to try different food, and see if your crabs like them.)
Sexing: On the underneath of the crab there will be a flap, that protects the sexual organs of the crab, males will have a long narrow flap while females with have wide short flaps. Also males will a more developed, large claw, while females, will have both claws small and under developed.
Breeding: Crabs will readily breed in the aquarium, but it is impossible, to get the larvae to live past maturity, seeing as the larvae are microscopic, and need special foods, that are very hard to obtain.
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Common name/s: Land Hermit Crabs
Scientific name: Varies between species
Origin: Tropical regions around the world
Care: Temperatures should be no lower than 70º F in the tank and no higher than 78º F (24-2º C), there should be a 70% relative humidity in the crabitat (the aquariums hermit crabs are kept in are often called this)
The substrate in your crabitat should be sand as it is easy for the crabs to bury in and will re-create your hermit crabs natural habitat. Other substrates are mosses, and moist soil. DO NOT under any circumstances use gravel, as this will chip away at the crab’s chitin. Also it is common for crabs to eat the substrate, don’t be alarmed this is normal.
Unlike other crabs, hermit crabs readily enjoy having other crabs around, and it is essential that you supply him with at least one other friend. It is also important that you decorate the tank with things like rocks, driftwood, cholla wood, extra sea shells, fishing net walls, etc. DO NOT put evergreen woods in your crabitat, because just as it annoys insects it annoys hermit crabs as well.
Feeding: Hermit crabs are open to many different foods, and readily have different commercial food products on the market, like Hikari food pellets. Other foods they enjoy are fresh vegetables and fruits, dead insects, cuttle fish, dampened flake foods, cat/dog food (crushed), etc.
Your hermit crabs will also require a water dish; if some of the crabs are smaller make sure to line the bottom of the dish with gravel or glass so the crabs won’t drown also add a way for the hermit crabs to get in and out of the water dish.
IMPORTANT: Do not use any water that you wouldn’t use for your own fish, this means always de-chlorinate the water before you give it to your hermit crabs.
Sexing: To sex a hermit crab, you crab has to be willing to almost entirely come out of its shell. If your crab is a female, it will have what looks like tiny black dots, on the first segment of the back pair of walking legs, these are called gonopores.
Breeding: It is impossible to breed hermit crabs, because a hermit crab lays its eggs in the ocean, you would have to re-create the current, area, ect.
Notes: I know hermit crabs are technically not freshwater, etc; but I had to put them down here because I have been seeing questions about hermit crabs. Also some hermit crab species (Like Ecuadorians) need salt and freshwater drink bowls, because of the area that they were brought from. Thirdly you will need to give you hermit crabs a bath every 1 or 2 weeks to flush dirt and such out of the hermit crabs shell and to dampen there specialized gills.
________________________________________________________________
Common name/s: Fiddler Crab
Scientific name: Uca _________ (blank depends on species)
Origin: The inter-tidal zone of beaches, and brackish swamps.
Max. size: 2” across
Care: Fiddler crabs are brackish crabs and need an amount of salt in there water. Fiddler crabs are also recommended to have a large area of which they can get out of the water and breathe air. Fiddler crabs like to have a salt gravity of around 1.005 - 1.010. The temperature in the tank should be 75-85 F (24-29 C).
Feeding: Like most other crabs, fiddlers will take a variety of foods which have also been listed on the other species so far, if housed with fish, they will eat smaller fish, and left over food and decaying plants.
Sexing: Females have small claws, while males have one large claw.
Breeding: Same information as rainbow crabs.
________________________________________________________________
Common name/s: Red Clawed Crab, Red Crab, Mangrove Crab
Scientific name: Sesarma Bidens
Origin: Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore
Max. size: 2.7”
Care: Like Fiddler crabs RCC’s need brackish water, and air to reach, so it is essential to have land or driftwood breaking the surface of the water. Temperatures are 72-82°F
Feeding: Like other crab species, it will eat almost anything it can get its claws on.
Sexing: Once again females have small claws, while males have large more developed claws.
Breeding: Raising the larvae is extremely difficult, and is similar to how rainbow crabs, and fiddler crabs breed.
________________________________________________________________
Common name: Purple Moon Crab
Scientific name: Gecarcinus quadratus
Origin: Costa Rica
Max. size: 2” to 4” body width
Care: Moon crabs should not be housed in fully aquatic set-ups, and should be housed, in the same way as hermit crabs.
Feeding: Scavenger, will eat almost anything, like the other species.
Sexing: Couldn’t find
info
Breeding: Couldn’t find info
Common name/s: Rainbow Crab
Scientific name: Armatum garcarrcims
Origin: Africa
Care: While young rainbow crabs may be kept in an aquarium set-up, while they get older it is essential that you move the crab to a vivarium BY ITSELF, do not keep more than one crab together, as they will fight to the death, the only time it would be safe to put more than one together, is while they are breeding.
Sand is encouraged, so that the crabs can burrow. It is also recommended that there are many piece of driftwood/rocks/rope/etc. for the crab to climb around on, you should also change around ornaments because crabs have been know to get bored quickly. Other ornaments should be a food dish, and a water dish. Weight everything down because crabs are very strong, and are able to move large ornaments around, which can result in something breaking or the crab being crushed.
While in an aquarium set-up, water temperature should be around, 75º F (24º C), while in a vivarium use a under tank heat mat, with the same temperature, also leave an area un-heated so that the crab can cool off.
Feeding: Lance fish, blood worm, apple, carrot, brine shrimp, lettuce, cucumber, grapes, cuttle fish, seeds, almonds, etc. (Your best chance is to try different food, and see if your crabs like them.)
Sexing: On the underneath of the crab there will be a flap, that protects the sexual organs of the crab, males will have a long narrow flap while females with have wide short flaps. Also males will a more developed, large claw, while females, will have both claws small and under developed.
Breeding: Crabs will readily breed in the aquarium, but it is impossible, to get the larvae to live past maturity, seeing as the larvae are microscopic, and need special foods, that are very hard to obtain.
________________________________________________________________
Common name/s: Land Hermit Crabs
Scientific name: Varies between species
Origin: Tropical regions around the world
Care: Temperatures should be no lower than 70º F in the tank and no higher than 78º F (24-2º C), there should be a 70% relative humidity in the crabitat (the aquariums hermit crabs are kept in are often called this)
The substrate in your crabitat should be sand as it is easy for the crabs to bury in and will re-create your hermit crabs natural habitat. Other substrates are mosses, and moist soil. DO NOT under any circumstances use gravel, as this will chip away at the crab’s chitin. Also it is common for crabs to eat the substrate, don’t be alarmed this is normal.
Unlike other crabs, hermit crabs readily enjoy having other crabs around, and it is essential that you supply him with at least one other friend. It is also important that you decorate the tank with things like rocks, driftwood, cholla wood, extra sea shells, fishing net walls, etc. DO NOT put evergreen woods in your crabitat, because just as it annoys insects it annoys hermit crabs as well.
Feeding: Hermit crabs are open to many different foods, and readily have different commercial food products on the market, like Hikari food pellets. Other foods they enjoy are fresh vegetables and fruits, dead insects, cuttle fish, dampened flake foods, cat/dog food (crushed), etc.
Your hermit crabs will also require a water dish; if some of the crabs are smaller make sure to line the bottom of the dish with gravel or glass so the crabs won’t drown also add a way for the hermit crabs to get in and out of the water dish.
IMPORTANT: Do not use any water that you wouldn’t use for your own fish, this means always de-chlorinate the water before you give it to your hermit crabs.
Sexing: To sex a hermit crab, you crab has to be willing to almost entirely come out of its shell. If your crab is a female, it will have what looks like tiny black dots, on the first segment of the back pair of walking legs, these are called gonopores.
Breeding: It is impossible to breed hermit crabs, because a hermit crab lays its eggs in the ocean, you would have to re-create the current, area, ect.
Notes: I know hermit crabs are technically not freshwater, etc; but I had to put them down here because I have been seeing questions about hermit crabs. Also some hermit crab species (Like Ecuadorians) need salt and freshwater drink bowls, because of the area that they were brought from. Thirdly you will need to give you hermit crabs a bath every 1 or 2 weeks to flush dirt and such out of the hermit crabs shell and to dampen there specialized gills.
________________________________________________________________
Common name/s: Fiddler Crab
Scientific name: Uca _________ (blank depends on species)
Origin: The inter-tidal zone of beaches, and brackish swamps.
Max. size: 2” across
Care: Fiddler crabs are brackish crabs and need an amount of salt in there water. Fiddler crabs are also recommended to have a large area of which they can get out of the water and breathe air. Fiddler crabs like to have a salt gravity of around 1.005 - 1.010. The temperature in the tank should be 75-85 F (24-29 C).
Feeding: Like most other crabs, fiddlers will take a variety of foods which have also been listed on the other species so far, if housed with fish, they will eat smaller fish, and left over food and decaying plants.
Sexing: Females have small claws, while males have one large claw.
Breeding: Same information as rainbow crabs.
________________________________________________________________
Common name/s: Red Clawed Crab, Red Crab, Mangrove Crab
Scientific name: Sesarma Bidens
Origin: Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore
Max. size: 2.7”
Care: Like Fiddler crabs RCC’s need brackish water, and air to reach, so it is essential to have land or driftwood breaking the surface of the water. Temperatures are 72-82°F
Feeding: Like other crab species, it will eat almost anything it can get its claws on.
Sexing: Once again females have small claws, while males have large more developed claws.
Breeding: Raising the larvae is extremely difficult, and is similar to how rainbow crabs, and fiddler crabs breed.
________________________________________________________________
Common name: Purple Moon Crab
Scientific name: Gecarcinus quadratus
Origin: Costa Rica
Max. size: 2” to 4” body width
Care: Moon crabs should not be housed in fully aquatic set-ups, and should be housed, in the same way as hermit crabs.
Feeding: Scavenger, will eat almost anything, like the other species.
Sexing: Couldn’t find
info
Breeding: Couldn’t find info
