Red claw crab

[Cwabby]

My husband and I really want to have a little red claw crab. I have a 5 gallon tank that will shortly be vacant, do to my upgrading etc.. My question is ..is this tank ok or too big or could a little crab live in a smaller tank and be happy? Anyone familiar with keeping them and have a good link for info? All I know is that I'd have to create a cliff/climbing area so he can be half in and out of the water as he wishes. I'm excited about this Thanks

 

[Samzter]

I think it will be happy but I'm no expert on crabs. They may need a land area though but I'm not sure.

 

[beernboots]

I think he would be happy enough as long as u have a rock or somethin sticking out of the water some so he can bask in the glow of ur light some. Just be extremely careful. They are excellent escape artist. I have tried everything and mine keep gettin out. Oh yeah and they love shrimp pellets.

 

[Cwabby]

Thanks..bnb, do you have your crab by himself or with some fish? Also curious of the tank size you have.

 

[beernboots]

Had them in a 10 and they escaped and had them in a 20 and they escaped. I've had them with mollies, platties, danios, and neon tetras. They seem to do really well with all fish. Would not try bottom dwellers like eels, plecos, or cats though. They are really fun to watch but like I said they are extremely hard to keep in a tank. They will crawl up ur filter and out of the tank. I had 3 and loved them but need to be watched allot. I have found them very far from tank when I came home from work and one I still haven't found. Still M.I.A.

 

[beernboots]

They are really fun to watch though they like to wave at u with their claw. Looks like a salute. Real cute but I won't get anymore cause I can't keep them in the tank. Wish I could though cause the whole family liked them. If u can find a way to keep them in the tank though they really cool and fun to watch. The best tank mate I found though is a mollie cause the deal with salt water real well and the crabs should have some salt. And if u need some bottom feeders ghost shrimp work really well with them.

 

[adeebm]

You can get away with one in a 5g, but getting a 10 gallon and adding two or three would be better. Keep in mind that these crabs are brackish water animals. That means they live in an environment that has roughly half the salinity of ocean water. To make brackish water, you need to use good quality marine salt, not table salt. The prefer a specific gravity of about 1.008.

Also, like you mentioned, they do need space to climb out. The need to be able to fully come out of the water, and preferably have areas of land to explore. There are several ways of doing this. You can make a raised platform that sticks out of the water, and have branches or something to access the platform. You can also make a half sand/half water setup, where you and a lot of sand and slope it to create a shore. Then you half fill the tank with water.

I've kept these guys in the past, so let me know if you need more help. You can take a look at the crab website in my signature. It's about fiddler crabs, but much of the requirements are the same.

--Adeeb

 

[tukker]

Can you give me a latin name?

I have crabs myself, Wich are only an inch but need a tank/ paludarium of atleast 2foot x 1 foot bottom surface.

 

[adeebm]

Can you give me a latin name?

I have crabs myself, Wich are only an inch but need a tank/ paludarium of atleast 2foot x 1 foot bottom surface.

Latin name for red clawed crabs? Perisesarma bidens.

--Adeeb

 

[Homer8]

You could get one of those underwater crabitats. You hook them up to an airline and it pumps air into it.

 

[Majbarsalona]

You could get one of those underwater crabitats. You hook them up to an airline and it pumps air into it.

I've been looking for those could you link me on to where to get them?

 

[Homer8]

http://www.crabhomes.com/product/1/8/Underwater_Oasis.html