Red claw crab tank and freshwater aquarium salt

Hello everyone, I recently set up a red claw crab tank, and I was wondering if I could use freshwater aquarium salt. I’ve read articles that say both can work, but just in case, I’ve added crushed coral to raise ph because by tap water ph is low. So, can I use freshwater aquarium salt to raise salinity and crushed coral to raise kH and dH?

 

Aquarium salt doesn't raise salinity, you will want marine salt.

 

Ok, do red claw crabs need brackish water, or can they live in freshwater? Also, will freshwater salt hurt the crabs

 

Ok, do red claw crabs need brackish water, or can they live in freshwater? Also, will freshwater salt hurt the crabs

They need brackish. Aquarium salt won't hurt them, but it really doesn't provide any benefit.

 

Ok, but what benefits to the water does saltwater bring

 

What benefits will saltwater bring?

They will live better, longer lives.

 

Marine salt includes many additional minerals that aquarium salt doesn't have. If an animal has adapted to live in a brackish environment, they will experience deficiencies if they are without the proper minerals they have adapted to need.

 

Ok, so crushed coral won’t add the necessary minerals?

 

I wouldn't think so. Is there a reason you're against using marine salt? You mentioned you're willing to add aquarium salt, why not just switch that for marine salt to be sure you're providing your crabs with their best environment.

 

I just had the coral and salt on hand and I wanted to be certain that it wasn’t viable

 

The crushed coral will have some of the needed minerals, but you will be depending on it to dissolve into the water to be available to the crabs. I cannot say how much will actually dissolve into the water, and any fresh water added during water changes will not have the minerals needed, causing fluctuations. To my knowledge, crushed coral and aquarium salt cannot substitute marine salt for an animal that has adapted to the brackish environment.

 

Ok thank you!

 

I have fiddler crabs and use both crushed coral to keep PH up and water hardness where it needs to be and marine/reef salt to get salinity to where it should be. If you want to go crazy Seachem makes a salt specifically for brackish tanks but I can't comment on if it is worth the extra cost.

 

These crabs are very difficult to breed so most if not all of the ones you find for sale are wild caught from a brackish environment. They live in shallow inlets with lots of mangroves. Therefore using marine salt will provide much more of what they are used to. I use Instant Ocean at a rate of 2 level tablespoons to a gallon of treated tap water. This results in a salinity reading of about 1.005 and a pH of 7.8 to 8.0. My crab has molted twice in the 4½ months I have had him. There is no filter in his container so I change out most of the water every other day and make sure any uneaten food is removed.

I'm sure many here would disapprove of how he is being kept but he is doing very well. He is in a 1.6 gallon 12 by 8 inch clear Rubbermaid type container with fine grain gravel sloped up so there is an area that stays dry. In this area he has a small one of those cave things designed for small Cichlids and he loves spending most of the daylight hours in it. At the other end there is a piece of lava rock and an artificial plant. The water is only one inch deep at the most at that end. He eats a variety of things but has 3 favorites. Frozen Bloodworms, frozen peas, and pieces of a plant called Myrio Filigree. I also always keep a small piece of cuttlebone in there as a calcium supplement . Hikari's Crab Cuisine contains added calcium but sometimes he will eat it and sometimes not.

 

These crabs are very difficult to breed so most if not all of the ones you find for sale are wild caught from a brackish environment. They live in shallow inlets with lots of mangroves. Therefore using marine salt will provide much more of what they are used to. I use Instant Ocean at a rate of 2 level tablespoons to a gallon of treated tap water. This results in a salinity reading of about 1.005 and a pH of 7.8 to 8.0. My crab has molted twice in the 4½ months I have had him. There is no filter in his container so I change out most of the water every other day and make sure any uneaten food is removed.

I'm sure many here would disapprove of how he is being kept but he is doing very well. He is in a 1.6 gallon 12 by 8 inch clear Rubbermaid type container with fine grain gravel sloped up so there is an area that stays dry. In this area he has a small one of those cave things designed for small Cichlids and he loves spending most of the daylight hours in it. At the other end there is a piece of lava rock and an artificial plant. The water is only one inch deep at the most at that end. He eats a variety of things but has 3 favorites. Frozen Bloodworms, frozen peas, and pieces of a plant called Myrio Filigree. I also always keep a small piece of cuttlebone in there as a calcium supplement . Hikari's Crab Cuisine contains added calcium but sometimes he will eat it and sometimes not.

Sorry to hijack this post but there are ppl that seem to know what they're talking about. I bought 1 red claw as a feeder for my puffer but he's not interested. Now I'm left with trying to figure out how to keep little dude alive. How long can I keep this in my puffer tank before it dies from being in fw? Since I only got 1, will a 5 gallon tank be enough for it for a few weeks until I can get one it?

 

A 5 gallon will be fine. Mine is only in a 1.6 gallon clear storage container with some fine gravel sloped so that there is at most an inch of water in the deep side. The other side has a dry space and one of those caves they make for Cichlids. They have to have the dry area.

He spends most of the daylight hours in the cave and comes out to forage close to dusk and overnight. Sometimes I see him out during the day but usually on overcast days. They do not seem to like bright light.

I really don't know how long they can live in freshwater. I add 2 level tablespoons of Instant Ocean salt to a gallon of dechlorinated tap water. This gives a salinity of about 1.005. I do it because I read that the salt and other minerals help in molting. I have had my guy 6.5 months now and he has molted twice and developed much brighter red claws. If you do get another one, make sure it's of the opposite sex. Males will often get in fights which can result in limb loss or worse. The safest way to keep them is as a single specimen.

For food, he eats Crab Cuisine, Bug Bites, Shrimp pellets, and sometimes Veggie rounds. Small pieces of each. Sometimes he doesn't eat those prepared things but he will always eagerly grab frozen Bloodworms and deskinned and crushed frozen peas. He also like blueberries but has only gotten that twice. If he stops eating for a couple of days, it means he;s getting ready to molt. I also keep a small piece of cuttlebone in there. The bloodworms are high in iodine which I have read is important. I have given him some Mysis shrimp a few times but he is not crazy about them. Neither are my other fish, even the Betta. The only thing I have that really likes those is my newly acquired little buddy, an African Dwarf Frog.

That's as much as I know. Some may take issue with some of it but it's working for me.

 

A 5 gallon will be fine. Mine is only in a 1.6 gallon clear storage container with some fine gravel sloped so that there is at most an inch of water in the deep side. The other side has a dry space and one of those caves they make for Cichlids. They have to have the dry area.

He spends most of the daylight hours in the cave and comes out to forage close to dusk and overnight. Sometimes I see him out during the day but usually on overcast days. They do not seem to like bright light.

I really don't know how long they can live in freshwater. I add 2 level tablespoons of Instant Ocean salt to a gallon of dechlorinated tap water. This gives a salinity of about 1.005. I do it because I read that the salt and other minerals help in molting. I have had my guy 6.5 months now and he has molted twice and developed much brighter red claws. If you do get another one, make sure it's of the opposite sex. Males will often get in fights which can result in limb loss or worse. The safest way to keep them is as a single specimen.

For food, he eats Crab Cuisine, Bug Bites, Shrimp pellets, and sometimes Veggie rounds. Small pieces of each. Sometimes he doesn't eat those prepared things but he will always eagerly grab frozen Bloodworms and deskinned and crushed frozen peas. He also like blueberries but has only gotten that twice. If he stops eating for a couple of days, it means he;s getting ready to molt. I also keep a small piece of cuttlebone in there. The bloodworms are high in iodine which I have read is important. I have given him some Mysis shrimp a few times but he is not crazy about them. Neither are my other fish, even the Betta. The only thing I have that really likes those is my newly acquired little buddy, an African Dwarf Frog.

That's as much as I know. Some may take issue with some of it but it's working for me.

How often do you clean his tank?

 

I change out the water every other day making sure to suck up uneaten food and sometimes stir up the sand before siphoning the old water out. After a couple of weeks there can be a fair amount of dirt. There is no filter. When I do that, I also take his cave out and clean it and remove the dirty gravel that was inside it and replace it with fresh.