i got crabs!!!

[napkinman]

hey i was wondering how you keep crabs from exiting the tank. i just got a red claw and he looks as though he's making a break for it. he's hanging onto the biowheel filter above the water. i know these crabs like to come above water and all that so i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

i was thinking of giving him a small island of styrofoam to hang out on. is this a good idea?

 

[Goldy]

I used flexible fine wire mesh to block all exits. Then, for lack of anything better, I propped a plastic comb on top of some of my decor so that the top was out of the water. My RCCs climb up the comb like a ladder and sit on top out of the water all the time. I'm not sure about the styrofoam thing. Hope this triggers an idea for ya, though

 

[napkinman]

i just saw in the pet store that they had packin penuts and one of the crabs was latched onto it. didn't know if styrofoam was toxic or not for the water.

 

[RobUK]

Depending on the size your tank? couldnt you build up some rocks so they come out of the water and your crab could sit atop those?

 

[Snake Eyez]

They are great escape artists. I've seen people us small ladders that would normally go in a bird cage or with a reptile as a means of letting get out of the water.

 

[DrHackFish]

I used to keep crabs some years ago and would find the little devils all over the house, they really are amazing escape artists. I have a 55 gallon tank so keeping the water level too low was a problem as far as filtering and all was concerned. Just dropping the water level a few inches and buying some long floating plants seemed to appease them. I found this one plant that was like 2.5 feet long, far to long to stand straight up in the tank so it would float up across the surface of the water. Because it was still anchored in the ground the crabs had no problem climbing up and hanging out. But they still got curious and would try to climb out, so I went to the local pet store and bought extra hinge material for the glass lids and cut it to fit around the filters and such so they had no way to escape. This helped reduce some of the water evaporation too!

 

[Snake Eyez]

The last crab that I had climbed up that intake on my filter and then climbed into the filter housing itself.