Semi-Aquatic Crabs that are safe with Shrimp
- Thread starter Wycco
- Start date
If not semi-aquatic... then terrestial crabs that can live in a moist environment as part of a paludarium- without a huge land area (and preferably won't eat any snails that temporarily make their way out of the water).
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
Micro crabs are fully aquatic, and completely nocturnal, so you pretty much will never see them. I have only seen mine 4 times in the 6? months Ive had them. Not worth it. Keeping them is like trying to take care of a ghost.
I've kept red claw crabs with shrimp, without much problem... but they are brackish crabs which makes a pauldarium a bit more difficult. My current favorite paludarium subjects are the crabs in the geosesarma family, including vampire crabs, tangerine crabs etc. Some are known to eat shrimp, but others, like the tangerine, are more interested in algae and vegetation. In either case, these are very small crabs, with smaller claws than redclaws or fiddlers. I believe I read their claws do not open as wide as more predatory crabs' claws, making them less efficient hunters. I wouldn't personally worry about keeping geosesarma with shrimp, unless it was considered your shrimp breeding tank, in which case it should be a species only tank anyway.
Almost everything that's not 100% vegetarian likes to eat shrimp. It might not be their primary food source in the wild, but I've never seen anything not eat dead shrimp if it was available. I've even seen otos nibble at shrimp.
But the way to think about it is, The geo's will spend a majority of their time above water. If they find the food they like there, they will be less likely to seek it out underwater.
I've kept red claw crabs with shrimp, without much problem... but they are brackish crabs which makes a pauldarium a bit more difficult. My current favorite paludarium subjects are the crabs in the geosesarma family, including vampire crabs, tangerine crabs etc. Some are known to eat shrimp, but others, like the tangerine, are more interested in algae and vegetation. In either case, these are very small crabs, with smaller claws than redclaws or fiddlers. I believe I read their claws do not open as wide as more predatory crabs' claws, making them less efficient hunters. I wouldn't personally worry about keeping geosesarma with shrimp, unless it was considered your shrimp breeding tank, in which case it should be a species only tank anyway.
Almost everything that's not 100% vegetarian likes to eat shrimp. It might not be their primary food source in the wild, but I've never seen anything not eat dead shrimp if it was available. I've even seen otos nibble at shrimp.
But the way to think about it is, The geo's will spend a majority of their time above water. If they find the food they like there, they will be less likely to seek it out underwater.
Thank you- that does help quite a bit...
In regards to my purpose- I'd like to set up a special home for my inverts- currently they live with small peacefull fish... but they're not as happy/active as they could be... plus- I'm tailoring my tank set up for two different sets of requirements.
I've been planning for a long time to set-up an invert only tank this fall but I also happen to want to set up a Paludarium... hence the idea to knock out two birds with one stone... I really don't have room or finances for masses of tanks- I'm just planning to add the one new one for now.
So- with that pre-amble out the way you said that they would not be suitable for "shrimp breeding tanks"... My plan is that the shrimp WILL breed and produce offspring so that they maintain a stable population so I do want breeding to occur (as indeed it is happening in my community tank)... HOWEVER... I'm not trying to maximise breeding for the purpose of mass selling them or anything like that. If they breed enough to sell- that's great- but it's not my goal.
So if Tangerine crabs just eat the occasional Shrimplet- no big deal... If they eat all the adults- stress out my tank inhabitants- or eat any adults of species which I have to re-buy and won't just breed themselves (such as my Caridina Propinqua)... then that would be a problem.
Being vegitarians, would that mean I could not keep plants with the Tangerine crabs- or could I keep them happy with pellets and squash? Also, what price do Tangerine crabs usually run? Are they hard to find?
If they are incompatible- and no crab is compatible then I'll probably just leave the crabs out- and focus more on the water than the land parts (and the plants on land).
In regards to my purpose- I'd like to set up a special home for my inverts- currently they live with small peacefull fish... but they're not as happy/active as they could be... plus- I'm tailoring my tank set up for two different sets of requirements.
I've been planning for a long time to set-up an invert only tank this fall but I also happen to want to set up a Paludarium... hence the idea to knock out two birds with one stone... I really don't have room or finances for masses of tanks- I'm just planning to add the one new one for now.
So- with that pre-amble out the way you said that they would not be suitable for "shrimp breeding tanks"... My plan is that the shrimp WILL breed and produce offspring so that they maintain a stable population so I do want breeding to occur (as indeed it is happening in my community tank)... HOWEVER... I'm not trying to maximise breeding for the purpose of mass selling them or anything like that. If they breed enough to sell- that's great- but it's not my goal.
So if Tangerine crabs just eat the occasional Shrimplet- no big deal... If they eat all the adults- stress out my tank inhabitants- or eat any adults of species which I have to re-buy and won't just breed themselves (such as my Caridina Propinqua)... then that would be a problem.
Being vegitarians, would that mean I could not keep plants with the Tangerine crabs- or could I keep them happy with pellets and squash? Also, what price do Tangerine crabs usually run? Are they hard to find?
If they are incompatible- and no crab is compatible then I'll probably just leave the crabs out- and focus more on the water than the land parts (and the plants on land).
mellowvision
Seafood Lover
I don't have first hand experience with the geos, so I don't know if squash and pellets would be enough, but I do think that it's worth a shot, and plan on keeping tangerines (if I can find them at the time) in my next tank, which will probably have shrimp too. I don't imagine a crab or two would be able to eat a big colony (30+) of shrimp faster than they breed... but if they can, you'd find out fast enough to remove them before they do any real damage to the population.
paludariums are great for shrimp, they really like to feed near shorelines where algae has a tendency to grow faster with the extra light, and will often spend a lot of time in the floating plants when they're not threatened by fish.
paludariums are great for shrimp, they really like to feed near shorelines where algae has a tendency to grow faster with the extra light, and will often spend a lot of time in the floating plants when they're not threatened by fish.
Thank you! That's a huge help! I need to start work on my double-stand so that I have somewhere to put the new tank.
I'll consider the tangerines my tentative plan then- pretty crabs. They sound decent- need to make sure they won't eat the plants either. I'll have to find a backup plan for them if it doesn't work though.
I need to look up some more on Tangerines- I've found a little on Vampires but very little on Tangerine crabs... most of what I've found is recipes!
I'll consider the tangerines my tentative plan then- pretty crabs. They sound decent- need to make sure they won't eat the plants either. I'll have to find a backup plan for them if it doesn't work though.
I need to look up some more on Tangerines- I've found a little on Vampires but very little on Tangerine crabs... most of what I've found is recipes!
Oops, i read fully aquatic for some reason :screwy: . Listen to mellow, hes the man when it comes to crabs :laugh: