Red Claw Crabs

[estrutter]

I recently saw these and instantly wanted to get one or two but the salesperson didn't seem to know much about them. Does anyone have these? If so what is you imrpession of them?

thanks

 

[The-Wolf]

a good rule of thumb is
if it has claws/pincers then it is not suitable for most community tanks.

Red claw crabs will eat any fish it can catch starting by holding the fish and eating the fins, then proceeding to the outer body parts. all the time the fish is still alive.

having said that, in tanks with fish larger than say neons they are ok.
they do need to be able to bask, so an area out of the water is required.
they are very good at getting out of the tank so a good tight fitting lid with no holes is a must.

 

[nmonks]

A very good rule of thumb!

Basically, crabs and fish don't mix. Crabs eat anything, and fish can fall prey. Conversely, when they moult their shells (as they do periodically) crabs are vulnerable to predation by the fish.

In addition, virtually all the crabs sold as aquarium beasts are amphibious, as The-Wolf says, and it isn't really fair on the crabs to keep them under water all the time. They are great fun pets kept in their own vivarium though, and some people have even managed to breed them (in brackish water). The baby crabs are very cute! So if you like them, consider setting up a small tank just for them. Read up on keeping things like frogs, and that's essentially what you need to do here.

Cheers,

Neale

a good rule of thumb is
if it has claws/pincers then it is not suitable for most community tanks.