Starting a brackish crab vase

squishifishi

squishifishi

Hopelesly Addicted Member
I wasn't sure where to post this, because its really not sw, but I figure you guys can help me anyways.:dance:
So... Here's the plan. I'm getting a 1 gallon vase. I'll mix the water to a sg of 1.006. This will be the home for one red claw crab. I have a bag with leftover live sand from when I setup my pico a few months ago. I resealed the bag with tons of packing tape, bu I figure the sand is no longer live at this point. Anyway, if I rinse it out, can I use it in this tank? Or should I just put it straight in. I will put a tall ornament in it with lots of ledges to create a lot of surface area for the crab to live, making the most of the small living space. I thought for plants I would use marimo moss, java fern, and crypts. I will put an air bubbler in the bottom and make a lid for the vase. I think this will turn out very nicely. What do you guys think! I've kept these crabs before, by with little success becaus they were not in a proper brackish setup.
Thanks for any and all advice!
 
Ok, igot it set up! I have to slowly transition to brackish from fw. Any tips on doing this? I found an old cookie jar. I think it is about 3 gallons, so I got two female crabs. I also added dwarf hair grass. I hope you like it so far! What do you guys think?
 

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yeah! i tried to go for a really natural, zenlike look with this one. i'm glad you like it! i added a bubbler too so the water stays cleaner. having the surface movement helps the water be clean. plus all the plants and water changes, that is all the filtration you need in a tank like this:)
 
yech! the thing i forgot about crabs, is they stink! ugh, crab tanks smell awful:puke:. oh well, i like my little guys and the smell stays inside the jar.
I swapped out the wood for two rocks. the wood is nice, but it makes the tank very dark and also hard to clean. the rocks provide a hiding place, which the wood does not, and they are more manageable and leave more open space in the tank. Im thinking of adding two ghost shimp as well. theycan live in brackish. i know they might get eaten, but for 15c apiece, i figure it would be worth it either as a cool pet or a healthy meal.
 
Ok, so to help with the smell, I was thinking I can add a pouch of carbon. The water is still because any equipment going in and out will lead to escape and they don't need flow anyway. So, with no flow, will throwing a pouch of active carbon in the corner do anything at all?
 
Crabs are dirty smelly creatures ha cool set up. I thought of doing something like this for a purple reef lobster. I have a 3 gallon pico tank by jbj doing nothing but storing 60 lbs of sand.
 
thanks! i didn't think there were any lobsters that can live in a tank that small... your pico would look really cool as a pico reef too, although that would be a lot more exspensive. haha, i spent a grand total of $10 on this crab setup, and probably around 300 has gone into my 2.5 g reef by now, if not more. to be honest though, these crabs require a lot more maintenance than the reef. I forgot how much these tiny buggers poo! and theres no worms and stuff to clean it up for me:sad2: i guess you wouldnt have that issue so much with a lobster. if you do start up a pico, be sure to let us know!
ok, so back to my tank;)
with the new rocks, the tank seems to be devided into 3 territories: between the rocks, by the filter, and in the moss behind the branching plant. the dominant crab lives under the rocks and the other crab goes back and forth between the two sides. I gave up on the whole zen thing...i couldnt pull it off. i had to add a filter to minimize the smell, and i changed up the scape so now they have lots of places they can hide and feel safe. they really didnt have any hiding places before. they are very active, and eat well. my only concern is that i never see them out of the water. is that bad? can i do anything to encourage them to come out more? my very first crabs spent more time out of the water than they did in! their favorite food is bloodworms and cucumber and algae wafer. it seems cucumber is #1 though! they dont seem to like mysis or flakes very much.im gonna try some summer squash today:p
so far their favorite passtime is uprooting my hairgrass and eatin my crypt leaves *yaaay*:rolleyes:
mmm, thats all i guess! pictures to come. thanks for any thoughts and input!
 
Stubby moulted:D i guess i cant call her that anymore...shes got all 5 of her mising legs back now. i do hate those crab moults. they looks so creepy. they liked their squash. i'll try to figure out how to post a video tomorrow.
 
I added some ghost shrimps...we'll see howthisturns out. I guess stubby wanted his tank ate to feel his pain, so he ripped off all but one leg on the right side of the other crab. I was hoping once he mounted I would have two crabs with all heir legs...now it looks just like when I started.
 
i guess the one didnt take all the damage. the bigger one is missing a claw now. i might have to return one. it seems kinda cruel to keep two crabs that will always be ripping eachother apart. what do you think?
the bigger ghost shrimp got eaten within the first hour of being in the tank. its good for them to have live food, they are supposed to, but i still felt bad for the other little tiny itty bitty shrimp so i pulled him and tossed him in the 1/2g vase im setting up for red cherry shrimp.
 
How do you clean the tank? Do you just change the water every few days? I can't imagine you dumping a food pellet in every day. That would cause the uneaten particles to sit on the bottom and foul the water up quickly.

Also wouldn't there be huge fluctuations in water temperature? How do you deal with that?
 
Yes, I just do water changes. It's about 30% weekly. I also clean out the sand with a turkey Baxter every few days. The plants and filter/carbon help lots.
With feeding I avoid pellets and flakes because yes, they do fall apart quickly and make a Huge mess. I prefer veggies and frozen food for them, and they like it better. The nice thing about the crabs is they are scavengers and are constantly sifting sand through their mouths wether there is food or not, so they are very clean eaters. They get almost every last bit of food except with the veggiesvwhich are very easy to take out.
My house stays pretty consistent temp-wise. Because it is unheated, when I do water changes it is already the same temperature. They are very tolerant of changes though because in the mangrove swamps, the water flowing in and out of the different areas crates salinity and temp fluctuations all the time.
My salinity is now up to the right point for the crabs and they seem happy!
 
Fed them some corn today. They really like it, and it sinks to the bottom, which is Great! They have now officially eaten All but a few ofmy crypt leaves so I added more marimo moss and a fake plant. More hiding places!
 

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