Whats The Deal With Crabs

[iroc]

My youngest son has been begging for us to get a crab, but I don't really know anything about them. Are there fresh water types? would they bother and or eat anything else in my tank? (see below for details) what do they eat, and what kind of condictions do they need?

sorry for all the questions I looked around and didn't really find much..........................

 

[catxx]

they'd eat your shrimp. anything with big claws will eat anything it can catch, whether it be a fish or shrimp.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

plus, i believe most of the easy-to-keep ones are brackish and also need access to dry land.

have you seen any of the bamboo/feather shrimp? these are shrimp that have feathery "fingers" instead of claws. one of these would be perfectly safe for your tank and they're pretty neat looking. they get to be about 4"-6" long and are filter feeders (so you'd need to crunch some of your flakes when you feed).

 

[raptorrex]

sadly most "freshwater" crabs grow very large, thats if you can get them. though shops sell things like "red crab" and "fiddler crab" as frash water, and usually 'totaly aquatic' they do live in freshwater, though its true to say, not for as long, as in brackish. nor do they grow full size, for the most part. If you do not provide some "dry area" they will both suffer and, more than likly escape!

all is not lost though, there are some nice fish that like 'brackish water', and it is possible, for some at least', to have them in some form of community tank. it will take, both work and care though.

ps. as far as i can i fnd out the "fiddler crab" is a land crab, just needing water not living in it!!! so be warned not all advice is 'good advice' this is a good place to start. have a look in the invrtibrate section, its interesting reading.

 

[beechey]

my crab(red crab) been in my tank nearly a year now never picks on the fish, he sorta swims up to the lid and chills in there for a day then spends the rest of the week just running around , he looves carrots... aswell

crab in lid

 

[iroc]

It looks to me like my son is just outta luck with the crab thing, I have just gotten the tank sorted out using fresh water and i'm not getting rid of the fish I have to get a more saltwater enviroment. we have some ghost shrimp those will have to do.......lol