Fiddlers eating fish?

[KatieNicole]

So I have about 7 fiddler crabs in my 20 gallon tank. I put 2 feeder fish with them. Well I looked in and one female was eating the fish! I expected this to happen naturally so I wasn't totally shocked. It was actually pretty cool to watch.

My question is this though, do the fiddlers get any nutrients or anything from eating fish? I had some ghost shrimp in there before but they never really bothered them.

If the fish would be good for them I will keep getting little feeders for them.

 

[Cecibella123]

By feeders, do you mean rosy reds or small comet goldfish? If so, I was told that those fish don't really provide much nutrition; better to use feeder guppies. In relation to oscars and other large piscavores, anyway.
I have a couple female fiddler crabs in my molly tank. Never bothered fish, not even fry. I figured the female crab's claws were too small to catch fish. Do you have male fiddlers?

 

[KatieNicole]

By feeders, do you mean rosy reds or small comet goldfish? If so, I was told that those fish don't really provide much nutrition; better to use feeder guppies. In relation to oscars and other large piscavores, anyway.
I have a couple female fiddler crabs in my molly tank. Never bothered fish, not even fry. I figured the female crab's claws were too small to catch fish. Do you have male fiddlers?

Rosey reds, and I actually have 3 male and and 4 female. But the one who caught it was a male whose lost his big claw!

 

[Cecibella123]

Well, whether they have any nutritional value or not, my theory is: if your fish (crabs) enjoy the treat, let them have it; so long as it isn't detrimental. To my knowledge (knowing next to nothing about crabs), rosy reds are perfectly safe treats.