Thinking of getting back into brackish crabs

[Warm Coleslaw]

Hi!

I haven't had any brackish crabs in almost a decade . I owned fiddlers back in like... 2010.

But now it looks like red claw crabs (Perisesarma Bidens?) are in the trade.

Generally speaking it seems they need the same general husbandry, just red claw prefer more water. One thing I can't seem to get consistent information about is their temperature.

Anything I read is usually "use a heat lamp" with no more information, or "Hear the water anywhere between 70-88 degrees" which is a huge difference. Anyone keep fiddlers or red claws? How do you heat them?

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

Hi!

I haven't had any brackish crabs in almost a decade . I owned fiddlers back in like... 2010.

But now it looks like red claw crabs (Perisesarma Bidens?) are in the trade.

Generally speaking it seems they need the same general husbandry, just red claw prefer more water. One thing I can't seem to get consistent information about is their temperature.

Anything I read is usually "use a heat lamp" with no more information, or "Hear the water anywhere between 70-88 degrees" which is a huge difference. Anyone keep fiddlers or red claws? How do you heat them?

I’ve never had crabs before but they make tank heaters. Maybe search for one you like?

 

[SpookySpooder]

I have kept both with only an aquarium heater at an average of 77°F. They are warmer temperate/tropical species but I've never heard of anybody keeping them above 82-84°F.

Mine did fine in 75-78° until they died of old age.

 

[Tbone192]

I feel you may have heard/seen this a lot already but get a safe water heater or find a way to incorporate a heater in a safe way
I believe others may have posted some potential options. Keeping them at room temp would be totally fine without a heat lamp. Your temperature ranges look pretty normal. My recommendation is get a cheap thermometer and hygrometer, humidity sensor to monitor their enclosure. Reading some care sheets for other tropical crab species may be a good start for giving them a really cool setup. YouTube is always nice but take it with a grain of salt. Below is a fairly extensive care sheet. Hope this helps and good luck with your new pals...if you get em.

Red Claw Crab 101: Care, Tank Setup, Diet & More

Red Claw Crabs are a fascinating and exciting brackish species to own. Click here to find out what makes them special, and how to care for them properly.

www.aquariumsource.com

 

[Smotzer]

Honestly what I would do before seeing how much you need to add supplemyal heat is get the tank all set up and start cycling water and plants if your using them and see what your temp evens out at. My tropical crabs I have not had to add an extra water/tank heater as the lid and grow lights generally keep the tanks in the mid 70’s pretty consistently.

 

[Warm Coleslaw]

Honestly what I would do before seeing how much you need to add supplemyal heat is get the tank all set up and start cycling water and plants if your using them and see what your temp evens out at. My tropical crabs I have not had to add an extra water/tank heater as the lid and grow lights generally keep the tanks in the mid 70’s pretty consistently.

From what I've read both crabs tend to be destructive so live plants are generally discouraged? Which plants do you use?

 

[Tbone192]

From what I've read both crabs tend to be destructive so live plants are generally discouraged? Which plants do you use?

Most plastic plants will look great. I personally use fake bromeliads and broad leafed plants for both my amphibious/semi-aquatic and my tarantula enclosures. Just make sure that the plastic used is non-toxic for your red-claws, any reputable exotic pet store should have some good options. Rock features are also really cool as long as they are secure and won't move AT ALL. Don't want to wake up one morning to a paste filled crabitat. Hope this helps.

 

[SpookySpooder]

They do a lot of rearranging and tearing of leaves and stems so if you do choose to use plants I would use fast growing or hardy plants that can survive being snipped and uprooted. Mosses, floating plants, fast growing stems work. Avoid expensive slow growing stuff like anubias, buces, etc.

 

[Smotzer]

From what I've read both crabs tend to be destructive so live plants are generally discouraged? Which plants do you use?

I haven’t found Geosesarma to be destructive to plant but I keep them well fed. But the crabs you were wanting to keep are much larger and are far more “destructive”.

mine happily co-exist with loads of plants

Can you spot the crab? 1.0 Geosesarma tiomanicum!

• Smotzer
• Sep 11, 2023
• 2
• adult male brachyura crab disco vampire crab geosesarma geosesarma tiomanicum sesarmidae tiomanicum vampire crab

Looking amazing as a mature adult within all the foliage!!

 

[Tbone192]

I haven’t found Geosesarma to be destructive to plant but I keep them well fed. But the crabs you were wanting to keep are much larger and are far more “destructive”.

mine happily co-exist with loads of plants

Can you spot the crab? 1.0 Geosesarma tiomanicum!

• Smotzer
• Sep 11, 2023
• 2
• adult male brachyura crab disco vampire crab geosesarma geosesarma tiomanicum sesarmidae tiomanicum vampire crab

Looking amazing as a mature adult within all the foliage!!

Love vampire crabs, gorgeous colors and funny attitudes. I see that red eyed fiend glaring the camera down, nothing but seething hatred and a craving for blood. Just remember not to plant garlic in there lol.

 

[Warm Coleslaw]

I haven’t found Geosesarma to be destructive to plant but I keep them well fed. But the crabs you were wanting to keep are much larger and are far more “destructive”.

mine happily co-exist with loads of plants

Can you spot the crab? 1.0 Geosesarma tiomanicum!

• Smotzer
• Sep 11, 2023
• 2
• adult male brachyura crab disco vampire crab geosesarma geosesarma tiomanicum sesarmidae tiomanicum vampire crab

Looking amazing as a mature adult within all the foliage!!

Nice! I think Geosesarma was going to be my first pick, even though they're freshwater, but in Nebraska I can't think of a place to get them. Any websites I look at, seem sketchy and try to charge like $90 dollars for shipping. Is it really that expensive now? I miss when shipping was only like $40, lol. But again, the last time I ordered pets was back in 2010

 

[Smotzer]

Nice! I think Geosesarma was going to be my first pick, even though they're freshwater, but in Nebraska I can't think of a place to get them. Any websites I look at, seem sketchy and try to charge like $90 dollars for shipping. Is it really that expensive now? I miss when shipping was only like $40, lol. But again, the last time I ordered pets was back in 2010

Thanks and yeah they’re great, honestly fresh water is way easier for me particularly and breeding is much easier. Yeah online is pretty unreliable for them and yeah shipping is crazy everywhere nowadays. send me a Dm and I may be able to help you find someone who will have them

 

[Tbone192]

Nice! I think Geosesarma was going to be my first pick, even though they're freshwater, but in Nebraska I can't think of a place to get them. Any websites I look at, seem sketchy and try to charge like $90 dollars for shipping. Is it really that expensive now? I miss when shipping was only like $40, lol. But again, the last time I ordered pets was back in 2010

It really depends what you are shipping and how far. Live shipping has consistently been the biggest individual cost in any orders I make. That being said I have only ever had tarantulas shipped, my freshwater crabs came from a very local breeder. Idk about $90 though that seems a bit steep. Could be due to the crabs living requirements making shipping difficult, especially over lengthy periods of time.