Does the heater have a guard? It's a huge must for skippers.
Crabs?
- Thread starter SandDeku
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2009
- Messages
- 186
30 gallons isn't all that big really. I would stick to one species. I've seen blue crabs used their paddle shaped back legs for swimming, a lot of fully aquatic crabs have similar rear legs. your filter is good especially if you keep the bioload low. a lot of the larger crabs, in my experience, are rather aggressive when kept together. thats why most are shipped individually packed in soap dishes, deli cups, or small boxes. even if they're kept together in the pet store that is NOT a good judge of how they will act in a proper enclosure when taken care of properly. it's usually a case of one per enclosure.
while they're just over an inch in carapace width, their legs make them bigger, give or take 2 inches stretched out, I definitely recommend vampire crabs (Geosessarma sp. "vampire"). they do well communally, don't require a lot of water, just a humid tropical enclosure with a large water dish and lots of places to hide and climb. they also breed in captivity, unlike other crabs. longevity is an issue for you, wild caught animals don't tend to live very long. but if you have a group of animals reproducing in captivity you'll be able to enjoy them for years to come, including watching full life cycles.
as I said, any crab you get has a near 100% chance of being wild caught. the chance is lower with one single species of crab. everything else will be wild caught. that makes the life span you're looking for hard to achieve. especially since most of the collectors looking for these animals routinely collect only the largest specimens they can find. sadly that fact alone will limit the animals life span in captivity, add the stress of capture, holding, transport, holding, and the possibly horrendous conditions a lot of these animals are kept in...it doesn't lend itself to a long life.
I will try to do some looking around and put together a list of the more commonly offered crabs and some little bit of info on them. no promises, but I'll see what I can do.
while they're just over an inch in carapace width, their legs make them bigger, give or take 2 inches stretched out, I definitely recommend vampire crabs (Geosessarma sp. "vampire"). they do well communally, don't require a lot of water, just a humid tropical enclosure with a large water dish and lots of places to hide and climb. they also breed in captivity, unlike other crabs. longevity is an issue for you, wild caught animals don't tend to live very long. but if you have a group of animals reproducing in captivity you'll be able to enjoy them for years to come, including watching full life cycles.
as I said, any crab you get has a near 100% chance of being wild caught. the chance is lower with one single species of crab. everything else will be wild caught. that makes the life span you're looking for hard to achieve. especially since most of the collectors looking for these animals routinely collect only the largest specimens they can find. sadly that fact alone will limit the animals life span in captivity, add the stress of capture, holding, transport, holding, and the possibly horrendous conditions a lot of these animals are kept in...it doesn't lend itself to a long life.
I will try to do some looking around and put together a list of the more commonly offered crabs and some little bit of info on them. no promises, but I'll see what I can do.
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2004
- Messages
- 2,239
Pretty much any of the Callinectes will fit your bill, as well as a few other genera. I would look online for biological supply companies that do saltwater collecting. Not sure how close you are to the ocean but going there yourself is a viable option. Perhaps a trawler could be bribed into saving a few for you...I know we caught oodles of these when we did trawls.(various sizes also, a coin sized one would probably live a long time if not fed excessively...most species get up to about palm size)
If you do go with these(they are commonly known as swimming crabs)...a fine layer of sand for burrowing and a good filtration system should do it. You could try putting other animals in but many will be eaten by them(small hermit crabs and other similar creatures may work ok). They use those paddles to swim sidways very rapidly and are quite active in aquaria...we have kept them in the marine lab on campus.
If you do go with these(they are commonly known as swimming crabs)...a fine layer of sand for burrowing and a good filtration system should do it. You could try putting other animals in but many will be eaten by them(small hermit crabs and other similar creatures may work ok). They use those paddles to swim sidways very rapidly and are quite active in aquaria...we have kept them in the marine lab on campus.
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2009
- Messages
- 1,017
I don't know much about crabs, but are you also looking for a communal species (I'm guessing there are some)?
I know this is a crab thread, but have you looked at crayfish? They can get quite large and live long lives.
I know this is a crab thread, but have you looked at crayfish? They can get quite large and live long lives.
Wachusaynoob
Arachnosquire
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2010
- Messages
- 124
I've had hermit crabs, They are dead now because I traveled and trusted my brother...anyways. For over 2 years myself.
They are pretty easy to take care of- with the right set-up.
They need TONS of sand, as they molt underground, Salt water and plain water, I wouldnt feed them POTATOE chips..Basically they'll eat anything though, I would go the more natural route though. Mine diddnt like squid =[
I also had a hard time finding them correct shells, they dont sell adequate ones in Pet stores, If you deceid to keep them, I would look online.
I found most of mine At a Fishing spot near the beach that my family goes to, I just look in the lobster pots That the fishermen leave when its out of season and voila!
I think in this case though, it was poor diet.
I would go with the storebought food, and some fresh veggies now and then.
They DO like honey, though.
They are pretty easy to take care of- with the right set-up.
They need TONS of sand, as they molt underground, Salt water and plain water, I wouldnt feed them POTATOE chips..Basically they'll eat anything though, I would go the more natural route though. Mine diddnt like squid =[
I also had a hard time finding them correct shells, they dont sell adequate ones in Pet stores, If you deceid to keep them, I would look online.
I found most of mine At a Fishing spot near the beach that my family goes to, I just look in the lobster pots That the fishermen leave when its out of season and voila!
I think in this case though, it was poor diet.
I would go with the storebought food, and some fresh veggies now and then.
They DO like honey, though.