10gal Crabitat!

[adeebm]

My female RCC molted! She was acting funny and hiding more than usual. I came home today and theres her exoskeleton. My first molt It's a good thing the salinity is up to 1.003 SG now, I heard they have molt problems in freshwater. Here is a pic of the shell:

Anyone know how long before her new exo hardens?

Are you gonna put driftwood in?

There is already a piece, I'll probably add more tho.

--Adeeb

 

[adeebm]

Rawr, taxonomy is such a headache, but I'm always ocd about it... I've decided that my fiddler is Uca minax. He has red points on his joints and so do the pics of uca minax that I've found. Plus its called the "red jointed fiddler" and "gold clawed fiddler" and its from Florida, so it makes sense. My LFS is going to try and order an indonesian fiddler species for me next week. Their supplier was out of them this week. Fingers crossed for awesome blue colored fiddlers

--Adeeb

 

[fishboy444]

Are all the crabs getting along ok?

 

[adeebm]

Are all the crabs getting along ok?

Crabs are doing great!

Here's a video of the first day I got the fiddler(click for vid):


Still trying to find a 20gal on craigslist...

--Adeeb

 

[Aquarium1]

LOL! looks like a robot haha so cute

 

[adeebm]

LOL! looks like a robot haha so cute

Yeah, it's hilarious to watch. Skip to the middle to see him taking on my RCC. I should have made the vid shorter lol.

--Adeeb

 

[adeebm]

I'm getting some funny readings from my test kit. It API liquid tests. The ammonia reads between 0 and .25ppm bit the color is off and it's cloudyish. The nitrite test is supposed to go from turquoise to purple, but the test cones out sky blue. There's n. Hint of purple so I assume nitrites are 0ppm. The nitrates could either be 10ppm or 40ppm, but the color is darker and redder than on the sheet. Since all if the tests are getting wacky colors, I'm wondering if it is because it's a brackish tank?

--Adeeb

 

[Etunes]

It might be because of the brackish. If the readings stay like that for a week i would say yes. Now, your crabs might have peaceful little scuffles normally but with your crab molting you need to have him a GOOD hiding place as he is very vulnerable. Also they will eat there molts for more nutrients to help harden there skin.

 

[adeebm]

Yep, she's been eating the exo. Theres a cave, a hut and rocks so she has plenty of hiding spots.

Oh, and theres MOLD growing on my driftwood grrr. Its probably from the 100% humidity in there Is mold harmful to them? What should I do?

--Adeeb

 

[Etunes]

Whats the mold look like. It in not uncommon for driftwood to get moldy, just take it our and scrub it.

 

[adeebm]

Its that green spot type and fuzzy white mold. I washed it and dried with a hairdryer.

--Adeeb

 

[Etunes]

Sounds like some mold from the wood. It should be fine, not uncommon. Take it out and brush the spot with a tooth brush then rinse it then put it back in.

 

[adeebm]

Salinity is up to 1.007, I think I'll stop at that. Or *maybe* up to 1.010, seems some sites say that is ideal for fiddlers. My molted RCC has finished eating her exo and is doing well! All the crabbies are eating regularly now (or atleast I hope so). I'm feeding them about 3/4 of an algae wafer broken in bits every night. I put it in a dish and its gone by morning, so atleast one of them is eating. So far, they've refused to eat fish flakes and bloodworms. Anyone know what else they like so they can have a varied diet? And what fresh fruits/veggies are safe?

EDIT: Looks like my male RCC just molted as well!!!

--Adeeb

 

[adeebm]

Well, I was at an LFS today, and guess what I saw... Fiddler crabs of course! They were sooo cute and a different species from the one I have right now, so I had to get one. Or three The LFS said they had them for months, idk if that means the ones left are hardy or on their deathbed. Anyway, I'll post pics as soon as they come out of hiding. My other fiddler has been fiddling since they arrived(hours ago), he must be excited for buddies. I've been googling all day, and I'm 50% sure that this new species is Uca pugilator. So now I have 2 RCCs, 1 male Uca minax, 1 male Uca pugilator and 2 female U. p (and my 2 ghost shrimp). Yes, I know I'm overstocked now, but I couldn't pass up a new species... Gonna upgrade to a 20 or 30gal ASAP (hopefully by sunday). I am officially obsessed, someone pinch me before I fill my room with fiddlers...

--Adeeb

 

[taylorodw]

I'm sure the crabs will pinch you for us

 

[Etunes]

Are you crazy. The reason why he is fiddling is because there are other crabs in there and he has to protect is territory and compete for females, AND on top of that you have DIFFERENT SPECIES. They dont even have enough ground space to stake out there territory. I cant even describe in words how crazy this is.

 

[adeebm]

They are perfectly fine. Of corse he is fiddling to compete for females, that's what they do. It's perfectly normal. Four fiddler crabs in a 10gal is not a problem. You realise that in the wild, both species that I have travel in swarms of hundreds, with much less space per crab. And anyway, it's temporary, and much better conditions than the LFS, so I'm doing them a favor. There is enough territory for them to claim. The origanl fiddler is of course going to fiddle at newcomers, but they will settle down. There have been no scuffles, and they don't fight females, so there's only to males to worry about. Some people even get all males and they do fine.

--Adeeb

 

[Etunes]

Alright, let me get this straight so i dont put my foot in my mouth. You have 10 crabs in ta 10g right now and some of them being a different more aggressive species?

 

[adeebm]

No, not 10!! I have 4 fiddlers and 2 RCCs. Yes, there are two species of fiddler, both found in similar environments in Florida. Neither is more aggressive AFAIK.

--Adeeb

 

[Etunes]

O, lol I thought you were saying you got 6 this time and already had 4. No wonder i was cursing at the sky. Sorry about that. Well 6 is really not that bad and as long as you upgrade here soon. The problem is with combining the RCC and fiddlers is that crabs do get in tussles no matter what kind they are, the RCCs have MUCH stronger claws as the fiddlers giant claws are actually puny little things. They are basically just for show. So my point is that without a bigger tank to lessen the likely hood of there being fights and cramming them into a 10g together there is a high risk for a fight meaning your fiddler not coming out so well. So yes they normally get along the best crabs can BUT you are asking for trouble in that little 10g. Btw you are comparing a 10g to the beach, there is quite a bit more space out in the wild. Also i have personally observed and charted there behavior on the beach, i live were they live.