Red Claws and community tank

[Rudy2860]

I was looking at some red claw crabs and i think there were also some fidler crarbs( a name along those lines) and i was thinking would they work out in a 55g community tank consisting of: amano shrimp ( might be eaten! by crabs now that i think of it!! ) , 3 tiger barbs, 1 emperor tetra, 1 common plec, 1 sailfin plec, 2 bolivian rams, 1 german ram, 5 danios and 4 corys?

the problems i could see would be the corys maybe being eaten / picked on

whats everyones tank on this?
there are lots of hiding spots in the tank

also how big do these guys grow and how agressive can they get?

 

[Cian McLiam]

I wouldnt recommend them for a community tank for a couple of reasons:

Yes, they can be aggressive if they dont have the right food and living conditions. They may attempt to attack fish, though mine have never caught any.
The fish you listed are quite varied in their water requirements, but the rams, tetras plecs etc, would be happier in slightly acidic water, crabs wont do too well in these conditions as it may weaken the shell and cause moulting problems. Fish such as guppies, gouramis, tiger barbs, african cichlids etc would do great in slightly hard, alkaline water that would keep the crabs happy too, but you still have the problem of aggressiveness and a land area.

Do not put them in with puffers under any circumstances, as they will eat limbs, eyes etc. off the crab.

Fiddler crabs are more land based than RCC, but can stay under water for long periods. they are not community tankmates though

Ken

 

[dolphinyou2]

Hi Rudy,

I had the same concerns as yours, but I got one anyway and Henry(that's his name) is fine, hasn't attacked, eaten, mutilated or chased any of his tankmates............could it be that I have the exception to the rule? a very nice natured crab. Anyway, have had him for quite a while and he's around two inches wide, maybe i'm overfeeding him lol.

 

[Rudy2860]

hmm well i may make a crab tank, that would be in my best interest , depending if i can get my hands on this tank

but i think i'll wait

and theres no way i'd put a crab with puffers as they would make a horrible half eaten monster out of him!