View Full Version : Freshwater crabs?
captmicha
12-21-2007, 12:29 AM
I saw some in Petsmart and they were soooooooooooooooooooooo cute! Does anybody have them? What do you keep them with?
Every single one was reaching up trying to catch something.
jaysen
12-21-2007, 12:58 AM
trying to catch your finger lol. describe them. they are most likely red claw crabs or fiddler( one big claw). either way they need to be able to come out of the water.
captmicha
12-21-2007, 1:16 AM
They were fiddler then. Maybe. They were small and pinkish. The tank didn't have any place for them to come out of the water :(
jaysen
12-21-2007, 2:36 AM
they need their own enclosure. most things will eat them. the best tank would be a sand bottom where it is filled a few inches with water and the sand comes out on one side, like a slope. not sure if they need salt. the definetly need sand because they burrow in it.
theotheragentm
12-21-2007, 9:02 AM
I believe Fiddler Crabs are brackish.
Sarra
12-26-2007, 12:49 AM
I believe Fiddler Crabs are brackish.
Correct. Fiddler crabs need 1) Access to brackish water 2) Access to fresh water 3) Access to land.
Red Clawed Crabs are also brackish, and need #1 and #3, but not #2.
Also note that only male fiddlers have the huge claw and the small claw, some species, the females just have two medium claws or two small claws.
Mgamer20o0
12-26-2007, 1:14 AM
and they can get out down the hall 20 feet and get stepped on from someone thinking its a bug in the dark.
most of the crabs are bw.
captmicha
12-26-2007, 2:04 AM
I've learned that the hard way. I can't remember when it was but we either got frogs or crabs for our aquarium and they climbed up the aerator or filter and got out.
Petsmart had them with fish, no sand and no place to climb out on.
Is it possible for the crabs to get used to a freshwater tank? I have had mine for close to 2 months now, and he seems to be doing fine. He just molted last week. I have some fake grass plant that he climbs up and sits above the water line for a few hours a day. His buddy did escape last week and we found him in the front hall closet :( The escape hatch has since been closed :)
Mgamer20o0
12-27-2007, 1:16 AM
no. you would just be slowly killing them.
no. you would just be slowly killing them.
upsetting tbh. It would be NICE if the "big box LFS" would properly label the animals they sell you. Labeling these guys as "Properly suited for a community aquarium" isn't my idea of honest business practices. I can honestly say I am FINSIHED purchasing animals from these stores
Mgamer20o0
12-27-2007, 1:39 AM
people in the store has no idea. they are no trained. could be they came in as fw could be the suppler
captmicha
12-27-2007, 1:49 AM
I agree. I was looking over the animals. For example, those plecos that get huge are very popular. So many people get them. I wonder what happens when they get too big for their aquariums.
It was nice to see that they had labels saying how large fish would get... But then they said things like a Caribe needs an at least a 30 gallon aquarium. They get to be about two feet. That's a pretty tight squeeze.
Good point Mg....either way, I will be doing ALL my research on these forums first before purchasing any more animals from anywhere. Lesson learned.
Sad thing is though, that any PetSmart I have ever gone to, always has these guys for sale. These guys get purchased everyday by people who probably dont know they are brackish water and make the same mistake I have. Somewhere along in the corporate chain, they should wake up and start properly labeling their animals....take some responsibility:(
jpappy789
12-27-2007, 2:41 AM
Good point Mg....either way, I will be doing ALL my research on these forums first before purchasing any more animals from anywhere. Lesson learned.
Sad thing is though, that any PetSmart I have ever gone to, always has these guys for sale. These guys get purchased everyday by people who probably dont know they are brackish water and make the same mistake I have. Somewhere along in the corporate chain, they should wake up and start properly labeling their animals....take some responsibility:(
Good idea!:thumbsup:
Sarra
12-28-2007, 12:10 AM
I researched my RCC's before I got them. :) Unfortunately, there IS sometimes mis-information on this forum as well, which resulted in a clown loach dieing. I researched it afterwords, and found out that not ALL loaches are strictly FW.
colojimb
01-03-2008, 3:46 PM
Darn!
My wife saw those little crabs in Petsmart too and wants some.
Kind of misleading of the LFS to keep 'em in the freshwater tanks with no land to get onto.
excuzzzeme
01-03-2008, 7:58 PM
I agree. I was looking over the animals. For example, those plecos that get huge are very popular. So many people get them. I wonder what happens when they get too big for their aquariums. . . .
Unfortunately there are some people think releasing them into the wild is humane treatment and too often do so. In many states there are hundreds of non-native fish being caught and the native fish are disappearing due to loss of habitat or becoming prey. It has spread at an alarming rate in California and Florida. New laws are being enacted to help prevent the proliferation of these non-natives. Some states are starting to require a permit to keep fish.
As responsible pet owners I think it is incumbent upon us to try to educate foolish owners as much as possible and introduce some professionalism into the hobby. Our willingness to spend dollars in pursuit of having an artistic aquarium shows the degree of seriousness we have in this regard. Taking it one step further by helping to educate others is a responsibility we must accept if we are responsible owners also.
I apologize for being off-topic, but I wanted to respond to a very good question.