Any Help With Fiddler Crabs

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CrabKeepa

Registered Member
Jun 28, 2005
2
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This area seems to be used more for the tank set-ups themselves rather than for the animals kept in them. My appologies if this isn't it's intended use.

We went to the petstore today looking for fish food and came out with a new pet for my younger brother (12) - two Fiddler Crabs. As usual, the pet store staff was unprepared and under educated and we're hoping that someone might have more information.

Here's what we've learned so far:

- We have one male and one female. Due to some aggresive behavior, we seperated them into two aquariums.

- They require "brackish" water. While we're not qualified to be making distinctions like that. We have a neighbor who keeps salt water fish quite avidly and we're hoping that, if we provide materials, he would be willing to test and mix the water solution for us. It doesn't seem like something that should be in the hands of this particular 12 year old boy.

- They will molt - so don't panic when you come home to find a missing claw, two mysteriously vanishing legs and an 'extra crab' in the tank.

- You can keep other fish in the aquarium with them but we will not be doing this, so no need to worry about which ones and how finicky you have to be. Or, that Fiddler crabs will soemtimes munch on their fishy friends.

- They should be fed freeze dried blood worms or (and in our case) shrimp pellets. They can also be given zuccini, minnows, and fresh shrimp.

Thing's We're Confused About:

We've heard conflicting or confusing reports on the following things and we're a bit concerned.

1. Fiddler Crabs like mud or sand. However, we've heard that sand gets smelly so the 'mud bricks' purchased from the petstore are the better option.

2. How long will they be OK in fresh water? We're using tap water currently and realize that it needs to be changed over, however, we're not certain how soon (two days, maybe three) we will be able to do that. Will this cause signifcant harm to our crabs? Should we be concerned about an imminent death. By all e-accounts, they're OK for a few weeks but we aren't sure how long they've been in fresh water at the pet store. I was there less than a week ago and they did not have the crabs at that time.

I'm almost certain that I am leaving something out but, since i'm not sure if these are questions anyone here can answer, I wont press further :)

Any help is appreciated but I completely understand if no one here keeps fiddlers!
 

TipStylez

XCELMotorsports.com
Jun 3, 2005
1,075
0
0
Seattle WA
Ive seen alot of fiddler crabs in freshwater tanks, so im guessing there able to be in it? and they like to dig alot so i guess softer gravel such as sand would be great but cant picture mud inside a home aquarium. And fiddler crabs are land and water animals so im guessing you would need a Terrarium (half water half land tank) since crabs like to get out of the water and just lay on a rock and basks in the heat of the lights.

Heres a site where i learn about most of my fishes, and they happend to have crabs as well.

http://www.****************/catalog_pages/misc_critters/crabs.htm#top2

Good luck on your set up.

-Q
 
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