Vampire Crabs

[Frog54]

Hi everyone. New here and ran across this thread. These crabs are primarly land. The below may help. They like to hide and climb. Humid conditions. Almost like Dart frogs.
GEOSESARMA SP. "Vampire" - Species database

 

[siva]

Ok old thread I know but I just got some VC's. Do you keep yours in brackish water? Also at my lfs they said they had just moved them to their own tank after they killed several fish..so apparently some are more aggresive than others

 

[adeebm]

Nope, vampires crabs live and breed in freshwater. They shouldn't really be with fish anyway, since they require more land than water. What is your setup?

--Adeeb

 

[siva]

I'm just having a hard time believing they can thrive in fw. I've got my tank very low salinity to start. That's what I'm acclimating them to. I guess I shall see. Expensive little buggers so I sure hope I don't kill them. I've been researching them and some people actually give them some full SW and FW in their palidariums so surely brackish is okay for them...I hope It's a 14 gal about 8 gals full with a floating island and a peice of mongrove decor sticking out of the water. Half gravel half sand.

 

[adeebm]

I've never heard of anyone keeping them in BW or SW, they certainly wouldn't last long. They are terrestrial freshwater crabs. You'll likely kill them with BW. Look though this forum for more info on them GEOSESARMA SP. "Vampire" - Species database

--Adeeb

 

[siva]

Ok well. I'm screwed. People insist all over the place that fiddlers are fine in freshwater which I completely disagree with, so I thought this was more of that same brand of BS. Crap. I guess I drain this tank real fast and start over without the salt.

 

[Shadowraven]

Good idea siva. I answered you about this in the other thread.

 

[Frog54]

Hi did you check out the link in a prev post with in this thread. It is pretty helpful. I believe what I have are the Bi- Color. I am not noticeing any aggression. But then I may have all females. Not sure on that. I have had mine set up for some time now like a terrium. with a water dish and heavy misting. I also created some hides by burying some small clay pots and they do use them. Lots of leaf litter also.

 

[adeebm]

Ok well. I'm screwed. People insist all over the place that fiddlers are fine in freshwater which I completely disagree with, so I thought this was more of that same brand of BS. Crap. I guess I drain this tank real fast and start over without the salt.

Yeah the reason some people insist fiddlers are freshwater is because they take a while to die. They can survive for a few months even in FW but they will slowly waste away. There actually are some freshwater fiddler species, but you're not likely to find them at a petstore.

--Adeeb

 

[siva]

Yes I'm pretty sure I checked all links I could find in the threads but I'll go back and double check.
I'm trying to read everything I can find about them. I think I'll be setting up a new tank for them. For now I'm keeping an eye on them and so far they do, as you said, seem to prefer land. That's another thing I had wondered about because I read that about fiddlers as well, but I find if you give them a good amount of clean brackish water they like to spend a lot of their time in it. I had their tank set up with a slope of sand coming up out of the water so it was about half water half land and I found the water side was getting utilized much more and felt like the beach side was kind of wasted so I went back to more of an aquarium style, still with land access of course. So my beautiful new tank set up that I like so much doesn't really suit my beautiful new crabs that I like so much. I got them thinking they were similar to BW crabs I've had and instead their needs are more like a hermit crab...wow was I off. I have a 20 long that's going to be empty shortly so I'm trying to figure out how to acheive the perfect crabitat for them.

 

[LemurLad]

I just moved my vampire crabs into a new tank with a bit more land. They really appreciate substrate they can burrow into and the water portion really only needs to be about 1/3rd of the tank. Put some wood on the land portion that they can burrow under. The crabs themselves will consume many things, be sure you have an organic substrate that they can eat. I find that mine consume dirt for the majority(75%) of their diet. I use coco fiber mixed with orchid bark, aragonite and sand. Put some aragonite in the water portion to help with more calcium diet. If you find that some of your crabs don't have the bright "glowing" eyes, don't fret. This apparently just means that they're juvenile.

Here's a great link for info and inspiration:
30 Gal Paludarium How-To and Journal

And here's the paludarium I had them in:
40gal paludarium journal

Good luck with your new crustacean friends!

 

[siva]

Wow now I am inspired! Thank you

 

[siva]

I just moved my vampire crabs into a new tank with a bit more land. They really appreciate substrate they can burrow into and the water portion really only needs to be about 1/3rd of the tank. Put some wood on the land portion that they can burrow under. The crabs themselves will consume many things, be sure you have an organic substrate that they can eat. I find that mine consume dirt for the majority(75%) of their diet. I use coco fiber mixed with orchid bark, aragonite and sand. Put some aragonite in the water portion to help with more calcium diet. If you find that some of your crabs don't have the bright "glowing" eyes, don't fret. This apparently just means that they're juvenile.

Here's a great link for info and inspiration:
30 Gal Paludarium How-To and Journal

And here's the paludarium I had them in:
40gal paludarium journal

Good luck with your new crustacean friends!

I am trying to find all the supplies I need for my paludarium and I am not familiar with aragonite and cannot seem to find it for sale...what exactly is it/where can I find it? And is the orchid bark something your purchase as well?

 

[siva]

Also I'm wondering do they need like a heat lamp? What about a mister? I'm not sure how important humidity is for them? I will have a screen cover so that won't trap anything in really. The room I'll be keeping them in has NO heat. It's cooold in the winter. Since they spend so much time on land they must need some sort of heat up there.

 

[siva]

What if I ground up some cuttlebone and added that..would that work like that aragonite?

 

[LemurLad]

Kind of yeah! The aragonite is basically just coral sand. It's typically used for salt water tank substrate. You don't need too much, it just needs to be maybe 15-20% of the land and water substrates.

As for temp, I keep mine at room temp, which is generally ~70-75. If it gets cooooooold then definitely a heat lamp, although a... "weak" one would probably be best. Maybe just add an extra regular light.

Humidity is definitely important for them as they come from a humid place and I would suggest you get a glass top. These guys have nearly the same care as dart frogs, so dart frog care sheets can be used as a general guideline. I mist my tank every other day of the week because they already get a good bit of moisture from the water area. You can tell if you need to bring the humidity up if they're hangin' out in the water more than usual.

They're really interesting little creatures, I just wish they weren't so darn expensive!

 

[siva]

My lfs sells them for $10.95 which I think is pretty good. I've seen them online for $20 a peice!

I wonder why I can't find the aragonite online. I'm going to the lfs today, I bet they'll have some.

Ok I was thinking they needed it warmer. You leave the water room temp too then? Ugh to the glass top. That's disapointing. Would make use of a heat lamp difficult. I was really hoping a screen would work..darnit!

 

[siva]

I was looking at some sphagnum moss too..I wonder if they'd like that?

 

[LemurLad]

I don't have a seperate heater for the water because it's such a small area in their newer vivarium. Depending on the size of your water area, perhaps you could fit a heater in? That would most likely eliminate the need for a heat lamp. A glass top would help keep in both moisture and heat. In my experience, having had the crabs in an open top, now in their new set up they have a glass top, they're out a lot more often. The definitely enjoy sphagnum moss, sometimes I'll see my crabs munching on it.

 

[siva]

Ok great.

The top is the one thing I'm still confused about. I realized I will need some sort of light for my plants..something I hadn't even considered! I would buy just a regular hood, but this tank has a light wood color trim all around it and black lid would look terrible.