Crabs

[Grim Reaper]

i am thinking off getting small crabs that i get am the LFS and i need some answers
do i need make some sort of special landscape ??? and what kind of fishes can i keep in there that they will not eat

 

[Paul_MTS]

I think the best set up for crabs is about a 10gallon tank stakes with stone, slate and maybe some wood with a out of water area. Mine is by stanbding on the wood or some cobbles on the side.

I use a sand substrate in which they bury in. I don't keep any fish with mine as they catch and kill what they can.

 

[CFC]

A ten gallon would only be suitable for a maximum of two crabs as they are territorial and fights can ensue if they are kept in small areas.

As said there should be somewhere for the crabs to get out of the water but this can just be a rock or piece of wood that protrudes the waters surface. If you keep them with fish they should be large enough that the crabs cannot over power them but not large enough to eat the crabs. I keep 6 redclaw crabs in a 80g brackish set up with mono's, scats, a shark cat, moray eels, archer fish, a siamese tiger, a toad fish and a sleaper goby.

 

[Grim Reaper]

i called my LFS and asked them what they need and this is what they told me
Me: do i need to have a special landscape if i want to keep crabs???

LFS staff: that depends what crabs u getting if u get a red crab then no because they dont need to get out of the water and u cant keep fishes that stay at the bottom (plecos or any kind of bottom feeder) u cant keep fishes that stay near the surface.

now is this true because i dont trust LFSs

 

[CFC]

I would estimate that my red crabs spend about half their time sitting on rocks and wood OUT of the water so IMO this is a pretty good telling point that red crabs should have some means of getting out onto dry land.

You can keep crabs with some bottom dwelling fish but i would agree that plecs would not be a good choice as they are not particularly fast movers. I would not advise keeping crabs with ANY fish under 4 inches in size.

 

[nomaddan]

I have 3 red clawed crabs in a 20g with two small plecs and some puffers which are being moved soon. I have used slate to build places for them to live. I have never seen them go after the plecs and the plecs don't have any injuries. Here are some pics so you can see my setup:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=73658

My crabs are never out of the water. I think one reason for low aggression is I have 2 females and one male so there are no testosterone disputes.

As far as I can tell they are doing great. They have each molted multiple times and are quite active.

Here is a site with some good info:

http/wrongcrowd.com/aquaria/crab/

 

[NickT]

if thers no dry land the redclaws will try to escape.... atleast thats what some folks on TFF have been kicking around.... i know mine wold make tehre way to the edge of teh tank up the airline and hang out there for hours (while i watche carfuly of corse) ive also seen sites that claim redclaws will only live for 2-3 months with out frequent trips to teh surface......

if i where to keep these crabs agan they wold have there own crab-a-tat....

 

[hondaguy01]

if you get thembe very sure every oraface is sealed on top of tank. I say this becouse years ago i had to and kept getting woken up at nite by the sound of them crwling on the tile floor in my bathroom i still dont know how the were doing it just be forwarned there no fun to catch either

 

[nomaddan]

My red claws are fully submersed and I have not had any problems with them. They have all recently molted and one of my females is carrying eggs .

I think some of the problem is that these crabs need some salt in their water, they are not strictly freshwater.

oops! i should have read the whole post. Looks like I've been here already.