fiddler crabs in fresh water, make brackish

[fiddlerguy]

My 13 year old son had two fiddler crabs in his small tank, but i guess they need brackish water. One died today. Does anyone know if letting them have access to some brackish water a couple of times a week would do the trick? We have a "crab playground" they can go in and take a dip in brackish water without killing off a glowfish and a "mickey-mouse" fish from putting salt in the same tank. Should have known better.
Thanks! Dan

 

[siva]

Hey Dan! Welcome to AA!

Glofish are actually schoolers that need to be in a school of atleast 6 in atleast a 29 gal tank. Your mickey mouse fish is most likely a platy, which needs a minimum of 10 gals. Depending on how small that tank is, it may not be a proper home for either fish. My recommendation would be getting rid of the fish and turning the tank into a proper brackish tank for the crabs, provided it is atleast a 5 gal. A dip during the week really won't do it. These crabs are wild caught from brackish mongrove swamps in Florida and most species spend no time in freshwater, hence should not be kept in freshwater at all. They also need access to air, or they will die even quicker than freshwater alone will kill them.

 

[fiddlerguy]

fiddlers

Thanks for the help. Its a shame that the crabs are sold like that.

 

[siva]

Yeah it sure is, poor little things.

 

[adeebm]

+1
You'll have to make the whole tank brackish unfortunately. Also, you can't just put in table salt, it needs to be one of the marine salts sold in petstores. Your fish won't live in brackish, so you'd have to get another tank for them. It really is a shame that petstore employees don't provide any information. Let me know if you need any help, or look at the link in my sig. Good luck, and welcome to AA!

--Adeeb