ocelot1120

i have had this red claw crab for about 6 months now, and i was hoping some one out there can give me some pointers. i have been asking about him elsewhere on this site and had no luck. i have him in a 10 gal brackish tank by himself for now, but i cant find a hydrometer or any other kind of salinity tester but i think i'm ok on salt levels. does anyone know anything about crabs. i understand that they are alot like a fiddler crab, so any help would be appreciated. thanx

rainman

Try this: http://www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/crab.html

ocelot1120

thanx for the link rainman, but i've already seen that site. i dont suppose you have any experience with crabs, shrimp, lobsters, or any other thing with an exoskeleton, do you? mainly, i just wanted to know, if he got in a fight with a pictus catfish (my rookie mistake), and loses two legs, will they ever grow back? and if so how soon? i have more questions so if anyone knows anything please speak up. and a word of advise for anybody... if you like a nice, relaxing, harmonious tank like i do, never ever get a pictus cat whatever you do. they will drive everything else in the tank nuts and apparently they eat crusteceans. i dont know why anyone would want one of these in any aquarium other than species only. i put one in my 55 gal, left him for under 2 hours and returned it to the store immediately.

rainman

Well the legs do have a chance at growing back, but it would be best if you took him out and put him into a quarantine tank. At this stage he is vary vulnerable.

ocelot1120

well since then i've removed him and put him in a ten gallon brackish tank with land space. it really only has about 5 gallons of water with some dry land space in it but he is alone for now. he seems to be happy now that he can get out of the water without climbing into my filter. i was eventually going to put some guppies or platies in there with him but I probably wont do that for a couple of weeks. I dont know that he is eating right though since it only recently cycled and there isnt much in the way of algea or other junk in the tank. I've peen putting algea wafers and shrimp pellets in there for him (both on dry land and in water), but i haven't noticed him eat much if any. it usually molds over and i have to scoop it out. also, he seemed more active in my 55 gal than he is now. he is moving around the tank a little but not as much. i have a picture of the tank on my profile. ive changed a couple of things though... i added two pieces of coral and a large, hollow, dead tree decoraton instead of the little rock house thing in the pic. also i put one more rock on land (creating a small cave that he loves). do you think this environment is sufficient?

rainman

it seem sufficient, just leave him as it is, thats all you can do, as long as no more stress is put on the little guy he should be just fine.

ocelot1120

well, actually i went ahead and added 3 (male) turquiose guppies in there, but they seem to avoid any close contact with him. I've also been seeing him move alot more. i think he is probably fine as far as stress and water quality go. i just had no clue that he can survive outside the water for so long. unless he has been going under while i am sleeping he has been staying dry for like a week at a time. i'm finally getting some algea (which i welcome in moderation) and other things in the tank that he can eat, so i doubt he is going hungry. i think it is probably best to have some kind of fish in the water maybe to produce crap or whatever natural substances the crab eats but thats just a theory. the crab does however seem to be getting around really well without the two legs he lost. i think he will be fine especially without aggressive fish in the tank. I'm just gonna leave him alone for now, and I'll post some pictures of his progress later maybe. (if i can even find him)

rainman

exelent. The only thing to worry about is the water, and it seems that you have it under control