fiddler crabs

[artemis1]

i'm going to be setting up a 10 or 20 gallon fiddler crab setup. my question is, what is the best species to keep, i.e. colorwise, etc.

-art

 

[h2dh]

When I originally got my fiddler crab, my wife just saw one at a LFS and just had to have her. She actually purchased the female only. I'm not sure of the species. It was dark brown in color and fairly small. The LFS sold it as a freshwater fiddler crab. As soon as I did some research on it, I knew I would
have to change the environment. She just put it in a 6 gallon small community freshwater tank. It didn't complain, but I changed it out to a full crab environment with above ground sand and water dish, as well as some salt in the water. I also kept a couple of ghost shrimp in their with her. The first night in the new environment it climbed out and ran around the living room for a while before I tracked her down. I added a full wire enclosure to the top and she did fine for about 6 months. I'm not actually sure what she
died of by I have had some issues with my ghost shrimps, actually being whisker shrimp ( see my avatar ) and when they get to a certain size they eat anything they get there claws on. After that I consolidated my whisker shrimps and raised the water levels and turned it into a shrimp tank.

However I really do miss the fiddler crab, and if I do it again I'll get more than just one.

Good Luck

 

[Lupin]

i'm going to be setting up a 10 or 20 gallon fiddler crab setup. my question is, what is the best species to keep, i.e. colorwise, etc.

-art

The ones you often see in your local shops are Uca pugnax. A 20g is best. Use marine salt when replicating their environment. They're brackish water species and live mainly in estuarines. Fiddlers are all scavengers and unlikely to attack anything. Males simply use the larger claw to attract the attention of the female. If I were you, make the 20g a vivarium for the fiddlers.

 

[angelfreak]

I have a ten gallon with 2 males and 3 females. I have had them for about a year and a half. I went to the beach and got sand, and after a year, I got some fresh sand and put on top. I have lots of shells and coral for them to climb on, and I put in dried seaweed
I gathered from the beach every few weeks. There is a submersible filter and a full hood
and light. They love it, and have lots of hiding places. I thinks the crabs are so comical. Everyone who comes over loves them. I made sure there were big rocks they could climb up on to dry.

 

[artemis1]

thanks for the input guys... but...

no answers to my question?