New member with mystery crabs

[beerlover]

Hello all,
Im not so much new to the aquarium/ terrarium thing but I am new to threads and forums.
I just acquired 3, what were told to me as being apple crabs. I cant find anything about them, but they do look like vampire crabs. Really I just want tips and tricks on how to care for them. And why would one want to make snot bubbles.

 

[aquandrew]

welcome!! it looks like a red claw crab, they need brackish water

 

[beerlover]

Whats brackish water? They have a shallow swimming pond.

 

[aquandrew]

what do you keep them with? brackish is between fresh and salt water. they will do good with a specific gravity of 1.010. they are often sold as freshwater crabs, but they do much better in brackish

edit: they do much better in half filled aquariums with spots for them to climb out, than they do in hermit crab setups

 

[beerlover]

I have 1 male 2 females in a 20 gallon aquarium. I just checked to make sure. Its kinda the same set up as a hermit crab would have with a moist coconut husk type floor.

 

[beerlover]

Heres an overhead photo

 

[aquandrew]

they should be just fine in your setup, but i would look into some salt and a hydrometer to fill their bowl with brackish water. they need the minerals in saltwater to help them molt their shells

 

[beerlover]

Going to go out today and pick up the salt mix stuff from the pet store. I know they there happy cause they will pick the shrinp bits from my hand to eat, but because my daughter bought them I do want them to survive.