Tropical Red Crabs Info Needed :)

[Tyler153]

hello, i have just purchased 2 tropical red crabs from my local fish store, they are both about 3-4cm across, i was just wandering if anybody could give me any information on feeding etc...
Thanks

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

avoid other bottom dwelling fish, have some places where the crabs can hide(coconut cave,under wood etc)

 

[Shovelman]

hello, i have just purchased 2 tropical red crabs from my local fish store, they are both about 3-4cm across, i was just wandering if anybody could give me any information on feeding etc...
Thanks

need brackish water and also a full marine portion of water or something like that if i remember correctly, and a portion of land...

 

[raptorrex]

hello, i have just purchased 2 tropical red crabs from my local fish store, they are both about 3-4cm across, i was just wandering if anybody could give me any information on feeding etc...
Thanks

first off, they are great critter to keep.

however. they need brackish water.
they need more land than water..
they will need a heat lamp (to heat the land area).

this said, even in a brackish community tank. crabs wont take fish. (though you will find then eating the result of ill or dying fish).

ideally they need a tank with 1/3 water and 2/3 land. so unless you have a vast tank, there aint much room for fish, anyway.

they can never be a community dweller, because they need a different environment.

you might like to ask your LFS, why they didn't tell you this when you bought the crabs.
and I'll bet they had them in a none brackish tank, with no access to land too?

the other line of thought here is. its vital to do your own research prior to buying any stock.
it will save you having to take them back. or worse still. watching them die in your tank. (which, on occasion, can take a surprisingly long time)

 

[sammy86]

I've kept one of these fellows, and he was a joy to keep. I kept him in a tank on his own with sand as substrate and about 4 inches of water. I had a couple of large rocks sticking out of the water, where he spent 90% of his time. these guys MUST have land to access. I had to use plastic plants as he pulled up the live ones.

He loved frozen prawn, cucumber, peas and frozen bloodworm.

They need brackish water to do well, they can live in fresh, but they won't live very long and will have problems moulting.

They are also excellent escape artists, and if you have the slightest hole in the tank he will find a way to get out of it!

Alot of people say they nip fish, but i think with this species, it completly depends on the character of the crab, mine was fiesty and would wave his claws at my finger, so i wouldn't have trusted him with other critters, but my cousin kept them in a community tank and never had any losses.