Fiddler craps need saltwater?

Will someone change the unfortunate title of this thread? It did grab my attention, though, I'll tell you that!

There are versions of fiddlers that don't need BW, but most will benefit from having some salt in their water. And yes, they do need a bit of land that they can climb out of the water. If it's not available, they will try climbing airlines and riser tubes to get out. A well covered tank is needed as well, to prevent them from escaping.

Sorry--I can't make edits in BW--the p will have to stay until Mono can get in and change it.

rotfl i didn't nocie till OG's post lol! i have a RCC and shes doing fine without salt

Originally posted by OrionGirl
. And yes, they do need a bit of land that they can climb out of the water. If it's not available, they will try climbing airlines and riser tubes to get out.

Click to expand...

The best Idea I ever saw was at a LFS that took a clear plastic box and inverted it in the front corner of the tank (presumably to show them off might be better in the back)
and placed a tiny airstone under the box with a very small "exhaust" hole drilled in the top. put a rock on the box and you have a dry area for the crab, while it is still submerged. Im sure it takes trial and error to gt the out hole the right size to keep a steady amount of air, but it looked really nice

I had a newt get out--don't know how, since I have the tank completely covered. Found him 2 days later--rinsed the cat hair off and he's fine. Near as I can tell, he must have escaped during a feeding. It happens.

Of coure, they can also cram themselves into some pretty tiny areas. The crabs I had convinced me to just be patient, as they would disappear and I would tear the tank apart to find them. Happened weekly.

Orion...... changing topics... newts in brack or fresh?

Newts in fresh. They can't handle salt--it would dessicate them quickly. I have a 5 gallon tank with about 3 inches of water (same footprint as a 10, just half the height), about 1/2 inch of laterite, plants and rocks. A shark pump and a small powerhead with a sponge, heater pad. They've done great, eat anything, very cute to watch.