Question about fiddler crabs

[Zante]

Not quite relevant to reefs, but since it's brackish, I thought I'd try asking here, just in case someone can help.

Now that my vampire crabs are almost died out (only one left), I was thinking of setting up the tank for fiddler crabs. If possible, though, I'd rather not rescape it completely.

The tank is 80cm by 30cm base. one quarter of it is water, about 6cm deep. There is a sloping "drywall" of stones that keeps back the soil. The soil is between 8 and 10cm deep.

By soil I mean a 50/50 mix of sand and potting soil.

There is a log that is part in the water and part on the soil.
Under the log, in the water, there is a small slate cave.
On the land part there are a couple of pieces of wood under which the crabs can hide, and a rock that is against the back glass, again as a hiding spot for the crabs. Hiding spots also in the water.

The crabs can also hide under the foliage, if they don't eat it all up! I have anubias, crypts and java moss in there. I have already checked, and they should be fine with the lower end of brackish water.

Is this suitable for fiddler crabs or should I rescape it? I'd rather avoid it because the plants are coming really nicely.
How many crabs will be happy in this size tank?
Any suggestions on a particular species? If possible I'd like a busy tank, with scuttling crabs. The vampires have been a bit of a disappointment in that sense.

 

[Zante]

Nobody?

 

[mndfreeze]

The only thing I know about fiddler crabs is they were good cheap snack food for my mantis once a week or so. sorry!

 

[Zante]

The only thing I know about fiddler crabs is they were good cheap snack food for my mantis once a week or so. sorry!

Lol

Ok, no worries, it was worth a try.

 

[mndfreeze]

I would imagine that as long as the scape doesn't let the water get stagnant and breed nasties that it should be fine. Mixed biotopes like that have their own little issues when trying to get a mix of both water and land with soil and stuff.

How come your vampire crabs died out? Something to keep in mind that if it was a specific thing due to your habitat setup it might do the same to fiddlers.

 

[Zante]

I would imagine that as long as the scape doesn't let the water get stagnant and breed nasties that it should be fine. Mixed biotopes like that have their own little issues when trying to get a mix of both water and land with soil and stuff.

How come your vampire crabs died out? Something to keep in mind that if it was a specific thing due to your habitat setup it might do the same to fiddlers.

Not sure to be honest.

They're a new species, only described a few years ago, so even if I did all by the book, the book itself is barely more than a pamphlet, so I could unknowingly have done something wrong.

Then again, they're all wild caught, and not many come on the market, so I probably bought them right at the end of a stressful transportation chain. They might have been stressed enough not to recover properly.

Another reason (again, because they're wild caught) it might be that I was unlucky enough to get weak, old or sick ones. The one I have left seems to be quite fine, and has a healthy appetite.

That's why I was considering something a bit more common and better known: it would be easier to know if there's something wrong with them, they would be easier to procure, and they could sit in transit for longer weeding out the sick ones and giving them time to recover between transfers without the risk of those few available disappearing immediately after coming on the market.