Betta together with a Red Claw Crab

[fishb0ne]

I stopped by the pet store looking or a 5 and a half gallon tank for my betta. While I was there I also wanted to get a ghost shrimp to act as a scavenger. Instead, the salesman told me a little red claw crab will have a better chance of surviving. So I got one. So far the two are living happily together, the betta spends most of the time above and the crab, when not climbing on the artificial plants, will hang around on the bottom. I've had the crab for about 4 days now. I admit that I did NO research beforehand and I basically placed my trust in the guy at the pet store and it turns out he wasn't 100% accurate. I didn't even know for sure what kind of crab I bought until I looked on the receipt when I got home: "red claw crab"

My questions are:
-is it true that red claw crab actually like a bit of salt in the aquarium? If yes, what would be the best compromise, as I do not want it to negatively affect the betta. I have read it is a good thing to have about a tablespoon of aquarium salt per 5 gallons and I added exactly that, as I have a 5 and half gallon tank. Betta is doing great
-What food pellets would you recommend? Anything in perticular?
-does he absolutely need something to climb onto and hang on the surface?
Here is a picture of my set-up.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4094/1006575sg9.jpg
In the meantime I have added several things, read on. If you think it will help I can take a new pic, but you get the general idea. Tank also has a 7.5w water heater completely submersed and covered, it is keeping the temp at a comfortable constant 72*F. I also have a water pump with biofilter that I put on a timer and it runs 4 hours each day. Should I run it more than that?

It's a she, judging by the size of the claws and body. The plants you see in the pic are fake. However I added two live plants today and I noticed that she was nibbing at the roots. It seems she likes to get INTO my water pump and hang by the filter. I'm not quite fond of the idea, I tried to create a hiding place for her behind the plastic wood stump and so far she's been retreating there instead. I've also added a bamboo stick on which she can climb and stay at the surface if she wants to.
I hate the fact that I stumble upon conflicting info on the net. Some say they are fine in fresh water with no access to air, some will say they won't have a chance unless I set up a brackish water environment. Also, I've read in several places that aquarium salt will not do, I need the kind that's used to create marine environments. I have a hydrometer on the way via Amazon.com to see what the water salinity is at right now.

So what do you think? Will she live happily or are her chances pretty slim? I feel bad for her, she's missing two rear legs. Most likely she got attacked in the aquarium at the pet store and lost the fight. What else can I do to make it better for her and at the same time keep Rudi the betta happy? They have stared at each other several times and none displayed ANY aggressive behavior, so they're getting along fine so far

Thanks guys!

[rich311k]

The crab is a brackish animal. It needs totally different conditions than the betta needs. It will eat anything and if it gets a hold of your betta it will, at the least rip his fins to shreds. It is not a good combination.

[fishb0ne]

That's just freakin' great. So I'm stuck with either taking the crab back or setting up a different environment for her. I will have to do some research then, any quick tips to begin with?
But really, no chance they'll be fine together in that large of a tank? Just when I thought I was making some progress ... I've read that crabs, as the bettas, have personalities that differ. Mine seems to be on the shy side. When the betta gets around her she doesn't flinch and they've been together several times now, including once when the betta stumbled upon her in the little hole in the tree stump

[rich311k]

Not if you want them both to live long happy lives. The crab also needs to be able to get out of the water.

[An t-iasg]

I agree with Rich - unfortunately, this is a bad combination. It's a very good possibility, almost a certainty, that the crab will shred/attack the betta, Bettas are very slow-moving. (except when you want to get a picture! LOL)

A betta will be very happy in a 5 gallon tank. The temperature must be 80 degrees for a betta. You can use a 25 watt heater in a 5 gallon tank. You can also get a sponge filter and let it run all the time. A sponge filter runs through an airpump. You can also buy a "gang valve" to lessen the amount of air flowing through the sponge filter - you adjust the gang valve so that it bleeds off excess air. This will lessen the amount of current for the betta - they are not comfortable with a lot of water movement.

[fishb0ne]

*sigh*
So, any pointers where I would begin researching to create a small environment for one red claw crab?
What other cool scavenger would you recommend? Ghost shrimp I've heard it's a 50/50 chance the betta will nibble at it. I don't quite like corys

[Mosaic]

Welcome!

Cories wouldn't be comfortable in a 5 gal anyways. Most get way too big, and you need a group for them to be happy. Ever thought about mystery snails? They have a big fan club here. Or you can always give ghost shrimp a try anyways. They're not very expensive so you don't lose much if they do become a snack. I think there are a few people here who keep bettas and larger ghost shrimp together without too many problems.
BTW, I've never run heaters or any kind of pump/filters for my bettas (but the house is always a reasonable temp). PWCs and live plants will pretty much take care of your filtration needs. However, you'll probably need to do some research in order to keep the plants alive. That's something a lot of us here are really good at. Get pics of the live plants or figure out what kind they are and we can help you out.

As for the crab, I would just take her back. It's unfair to her to make her suffer because you're not able to meet her needs. Even if you did commit to setting up a separate home for the crab, she'd probably die before her new home was ready for her to move into. You can always try the species again later when you're prepared for them, if you'd like to try again.

[m_e23]

I kept a red clawed crab along with a dwarf puffer and platys (with a divider in the tank and the crab crossed to both sides) and I had no aggression problems either way. I even saw the fish grabbing food out of the claws of the crab and nothing. Make sure you tank is covered good because I thought mine was and it took a journey from the aquarium a good 4ft or so off the ground, under my door, down the hall and into my kitchen. Im not for sure about the life span but mine was in fresh water but only survived like 8 months. Like I said I dont know the lifespan and how old the crab was when I bought him but the brackish water requirement could have been a factor.

[fishb0ne]

Mosaic, if I take her back I believe she will die anyway judging by the conditions she was kept in: freshwater aquarium, no access to air, crowded with 50 other little critters. I can't handle animals suffering, I don't care if the **** ghost shrimp is free, being eaten alive is .. ugh! I STRONGLY believe she is better of in her present home.

You're gonna love this tho. My old man has a 75 gallon aquarium which is unused at the moment. I talked to him and we will set it up as a home if the crab can wait another week. You think she'll be fine for that long? If not, anything temporary that is better which I can do until then?

Check out the tank I'm talking about in the attached pic. We will have to use chlorine though for ALL the stuff you see in there because we had some pond fish which died, we suspect there may be a bacteria. If we do use chlorine, is it suffice if we rise everything out thouroughly, or is there something else we should do?
Her new place will be HUGE, 49 inches long, 20 wide. Temperature concerns? Is 65-ish at the lowest OK? I might be able to get more crabs with that space I think. Or some sort of other critters that get along together in the similar environment.

Again, any helpful hints in setting up the new environment for the crab are welcome. I guess there's a sense of emergency in all this too. I'll do some research on my own too tomorrow.

[hc8719]

welcome to aa

about your crab and salt concerns, (sorry if someone already said this) i was confused by this too about aquarium salt, but when they say a fish or crab needs brackish water, they mean marine salt, not aquarium salt.

judging by your first pic, the water could be a bit higher, give the betta more room to further avoid a snatching

how long ago did fish die in the 75 gallon, if its been dry for some time, i'd just rinse it out. do you plan to use pool chlorine to clean it out?

i dont know the differences of pool and tap water chlorine, so i don't know it dechlor would work. though really i think the best measure would be to dry out the 75 gallon, and give it a tap water rinse (unless you have a well, your water should have some chlorine in it anyways)

are you setting up the 75 gallon to be a brackish tank then? just the same, remember you need marine salt, aquarium salt wont do for brackish animals.

i cant say a ghost shrimp wont be ok with bettas, as i've never owned a betta, but given that the betta is well fed, and that the shrimp have adequate hiding spots, i think it may work

i'm a animal rights activist, so i know where your coming from, trying to do the best, thanks for caring