Red-Clawed Crab?

[GlennLikesFish]

Does anyone else own a red-clawed crab? (i think thats what theyre called, it certainly fits their description!) If so have you had any problems with it attacking other fish? I bought mine a few months ago cos the guy at the lfs said it would be absolutely fine, even with other bottom feeders etc. Anyway, these past few months ive had 2 or 3 fish disappear and, call me stupid, but i honestly didnt think it could have been the crab that had eaten them, mainly cos hes only tiny! So i peered into my tank last night to see it had killed and was eating one of my peppered corydoras! I was kinda annoyed even thought i know he was only doing what hed do in the wild by finding food and stuff you know? But at least i now know why my fish have been vanashing! So anyone else had problems?

 

[x-router]

They are little *!£%'ers.

Mine cut all my plants at the stem or just out right shredded them, killed and ate 3 tetra. Like you I only found out when I caught him with a tetra and generaly ran riot in the tank.

I took it back to the shop and they claimed it was a rogue one...

 

[GlennLikesFish]

Haha! A rogue one, yeah right! Theyll tell you anything! Should they take it back off me if i take it back to where i bought it? Its just i only have one tank so its either him or the fish that go. Obviously its gonna be him!

 

[Pointy_kitty]

Haha! A rogue one, yeah right! Theyll tell you anything! Should they take it back off me if i take it back to where i bought it? Its just i only have one tank so its either him or the fish that go. Obviously its gonna be him!

i find that all the stores around here are good for taking back their "mistakes"
i always ask to see the supervisor and if that doesn't go well, then the manager
remember to ALWAYS be calm and professional (its hard not to yell at people who lie fully knowing they have no idea what they are talking about )
then i calmly explain their mistake, explain that i am disapointed as i have been a customer of theirs for years and would be very pleased if i at least recieved store credit.
tell them of the distruction of the little bugger and how you have researched and found that this is normal behavior from this species and you were misled.

they usually cave if you are pleasant and they want to keep you coming back

 

[nightlife20]

iv got one an hes never caught or ate any fish.... oh dont get me wrong he waves his claws every now and again to try an intimidate all 8 of my cories... but they swim round him even more... i cant imagine a crab being anywhere near the speed of a cory are u sure it wasnt dead anyways? crabs will eat dead fish, they scavange for food...

what u might find is ur missing fish were sick, and died... then ur crab was attracted to it an eat it over night with ur other corys...


iv got loaches an corys in my tank as well as a crab... it would be hard to point the finger at the one who ate the carcass..

 

[Cian McLiam]

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

 

[CFC]

Well it would seem that some are more predatory than others, we bought some for our son a few years ago and when he grew bored of them added a couple of small cichlids to the tank to liven it up a bit, both of which had been caught and eaten over night
Personally i dont think fish and predatory inverts like crabs and crayfish should be mixed,if you want to keep inverts like these a species tank is best.

 

[Perky]

Or with top feeders like hatchets or ABF*. Mine (lobster) is with an ABF* and they are fine because they never reach each other.
*African Butterfly Fish

 

[iloveyou]

thanks for the info ken... i just bought one and posted if anyone knew much about them but ur post has enlightened me.. i wondered if i could feed it tubifex worms, brine shrimp, and blood worms and it seems i can !

hes in a 1 gallon thingy... 1/4 of it is above water.. and he has some pieces of moss that he likes to munch on.. i love him i think theyre wicked cool !

 

[hurst08]

Hi'
I have had the exact same problem with my red claw crab, it has eaten two neons and one tetra, all taken during the night. I have only had the crab 5 days, It has also had a stressful effect on the rest of the fish as they were very aggresive to each other, all down to the crab which feeds during the night. this must have had a unsettleing effect on them. I have now isolated the crab and will take it back to the shop this week. They are obviously not for a communal tank set up. unless you are prepared to except the fact that you will loose all your fish eventually.

Regards Ron

 

[TylerFerretLord]

Necroposting! GAAAAH! Thread zombie!


This is why I stand by the belief that crabs should have specialised set-ups. They just aren't suited to a community aquarium, even if it is brackish and gives them sufficient access to land.

They're wonderful animals though, and if you really like him you can set up a ten gallon easily for him.

 

[hurst08]

Necroposting! GAAAAH! Thread zombie!


This is why I stand by the belief that crabs should have specialised set-ups. They just aren't suited to a community aquarium, even if it is brackish and gives them sufficient access to land.

They're wonderful animals though, and if you really like him you can set up a ten gallon easily for him.

 

[forgetmenow]

I have these crabs, i keep them in with neons, mollys, and guppys, i have a nice hide hole for them to go on and i put in the catfish pellets every day, i must be doing some thing right as i have not lost a fish yet to them, they are lovely..

 

[three-fingers]

I have these crabs, i keep them in with neons, mollys, and guppys, i have a nice hide hole for them to go on and i put in the catfish pellets every day, i must be doing some thing right as i have not lost a fish yet to them, they are lovely..

This thread was started 5 years ago, but I'm afraid these crabs are in no way compatible with your set-up.

They are mainly terrestrial, and should be given a large land area with a small brackish water area.

Brackish water means that it needs marine salt mix in it (as for reef tanks) as this contains the minerals they need. If you keep them in you tank, you will severely shorten their lifespan. The mollies and guppies can thrive in brackish water but the neons will die.

They are highly lively to catch the fish eventually anyway.

You should either rehome them to someone who can care for them properly, or set up another tank properly for them .

 

[crazychris]

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.