29gal Crabitat Build Thread

[JohnPaul]

I would move the RCCs into the water, yes.

 

[Aquarium1]

Wow!!!! It looks epic ! Can't believe I missed this thread. You did a great job

 

[adeebm]

Wow!!!! It looks epic ! Can't believe I missed this thread. You did a great job

Thanks

I finally saw some crabs using the land section. Hopefully they're settling in now. I thunk I underestimated their climbing ability though. Any ideas on how to make it easier for them to get to land? I'm going to add more sand and make a gravel slope, as soon as I go to home depot.

Any comments or improvements would be appreciated!
I can't add most plants because I hear RCCs eat them. I am going to add a mangrove though, next tine I go to the LFS. Hopefully I'll have a T5HO bulb in there by the weekend, should help.

JohnPaul, I think you corrected me on another thread that ghost shrimp are FW. I could have sworn that they were BW, but you're right. I don't know where I heard they were BW from :/ Anyway, the two I have seem to be doing fine, maybe they're versatile.

--Adeeb

 

[JohnPaul]

JohnPaul, I think you corrected me on another thread that ghost shrimp are FW. I could have sworn that they were BW, but you're right. I don't know where I heard they were BW from :/ Anyway, the two I have seem to be doing fine, maybe they're versatile.

--Adeeb

Well like I probably said in the other thread (lol, I forget which thread that is), there are a number of different species that are commonly sold as "ghost shrimp." But if it is the most common species (Palaemonetes paludosus) then yes, they are VERY adaptable. I had several of them in a tank that, over the course of about a year, went from freshwater to moderate brackish and then back to freshwater, and the shrimps survived both transitions and didn't seem any worse for the wear. I think if you took them from pure fresh water in the pet store and immediately plopped them into a brackish tank there might be issues. But at least when transitioned slowly, they seem to be able to do fine in brackish tanks as well. That was my experience at least.

 

[adeebm]

Crabby update! It's been a while. Crabbies seem to be doing well so far. Only problem is they don't venture out on land. The RCCs and one fiddler go there sometimes, but not often. I think I overestimated their ability to climb. So it's time to remodel. I think I'll be taking the center divider out, and do the standard slope. Either that or somehow build a bridge to make it easier for them to cross over.

Temp is another problem, now that winter is approaching. My house can get down to 68F and below. A heat bulb and submersible heater should do?

--Adeeb

 

[Etunes]

I would just add more sand on the land side. If you dont want to have that deep of sand take out the sand and put styrafoam ir something and pile the sand on top of it.

 

[tinkerbellAF92]

Ok lol, zillionth thread. So time to move my fiddlers and RCCs from the 10gal to this 29gal (who comes up with these sizes?).

Some things I want to improve from the previous tank:
1. Plexiglass divider between the land and water section. The sand got way too moist and kept sinking. Plus it led to like 150% humidity and mold.

2. I think I'm going to try gravel on the water side, because it will be easier to gravel vac

3. Just sand on the sand side, so they can burrow Couldn't find any PFS, so hopefully Quikrete All Purpose sand or Sakrete Play Sand will be better than the muddy playsand I got last time...

4. A couple of mangroves would look nice in there, since there's room now.

5. Going to try a second and maybe even third level with plexiglass. Why not make the most of the space, since it's not filled with water

I'd love to hear your suggestions and ideas! What do you think?

--Adeeb

Great build. Love the whole setup.

 

[taylorodw]

I got an idea mkay

Keep your current plexi... on the water side, slope sand up all the way to the top of the center divider and fill the water rather high. That way you still have a large water area, but the crabs can simply walk up to the land instead of climb.

 

[adeebm]

That's a good idea taylor, but I'm just gonna move them up to the 55gal That should make them happy. That way I can have shallow water but also a large volume.

lol, I first got 1 RCC to put in a 10gal with my betta and now I have 8 crabs going in a 55

Oh, and I started writing an article on fiddler care, here's a link.
https://docs.google.com/document/ed...ITULiljLgelgI2InHIIeq0&hl=en&authkey=CKq-oPQL
I got bored at school one day and wrote that, haven't touched it since...

--Adeeb