Snails, Shrimp And Crabs

Hello all,

I tried to find the answer to my question through the search but didn't come across it. I am, however, sorry if this is a redundant post...I don't wanna be that guy!

I was wondering if there was some kind of general rule in terms of number of snails and crabs that one needs or that one should not exceed in an aquarium? If I understand correctly, they are important for keeping algae down and take care of leftover bits of food. I personally think that both are pretty cool so have no problem getting as many as is possible.

For info I goat a Juwel Lido 120 litre. It has not been set up yet as I am taking my time and getting informed.

Also, I saw the "pom pom" crab at a pet store and they look pretty cool. Are they ok with shrimp and snails or is it the kind of thing that needs to be on its own? I was also interested in the crayfish but apparently they don't play well with others.

Thanks again, this community is always a big help and made up of nice folks

GK

 

Pom Pom crabs are a saltwater variety, not a freshwater crab
This is the freshwater fish and inverts forum, Saltwater Invertebrates this should be more helpful
unless you wanted a freshwater crab

 

Pom Pom crabs are a saltwater variety, not a freshwater crab
This is the freshwater fish and inverts forum, Saltwater Invertebrates this should be more helpful
unless you wanted a freshwater crab

Thanks for your reply. I was sure that I saw a freshwater Pompom crab. I had to do a google check and it turns out that there is a salt and freshwater variety. Or at least, there are both salt and freshwater crabs called pompoms.

But yes, I am interested in learning about freshwater fish and inverts

 

The freshwater Ptychognathus barbatus? In that case, They are a very easy freshwater crab to keep
pH- slightly acidic to slightly alkaline- 6.5-7.5
gH- soft to fairly hard - 4 degrees to 18 degrees degrees
Temperature- 20C to 15C
Peaceful but omnivorous and may attack smaller shrimps if hungry enough. This crab is snail safe. It will eat algae and fish pellets, etc with bloodworms and brine shrimp
Max size is like an inch or an inch and a half. If you are keeping fish, they will probably attack it. They are excellent climbers so a filter baffler and secure tank lid is a must.
They are amano shrimp safe, which is a hardy algae eating shrimp. If you can get a colony of neocaridinas (since the are the most compatible shrimps) going, then you will be fine with them living together. They like planted tanks, where they can feed of detritus
You could honestly hold hundreds of shrimps in your 120 L since a good ratio for neocaridinas are 10-15 shrimps per 4 L. Shrimps and snails have very small bioloads are nto liek fish in which you could only have a few in a 120. Also, because of your tank size, you can have Vampire Shrimps, Bamboo Shrimps, and Camacuto Shrimps, which are larger very peaceful shrimps that filter feed particles out of the water. You will need to have your tank running for about 4-6 months before adding these guys in.
Another interesting thing, is that if you wanted a crayfish, you could add 1 Orange Dwarf CPO Crayfish since the minimum for them in a shrimp community is 110L. If you can find a female, even better). Though if you want the cray, you will need to be at the gH around 6-12 degrees

 

The freshwater Ptychognathus barbatus? In that case, They are a very easy freshwater crab to keep
pH- slightly acidic to slightly alkaline- 6.5-7.5
gH- soft to fairly hard - 4 degrees to 18 degrees degrees
Temperature- 20C to 15C
Peaceful but omnivorous and may attack smaller shrimps if hungry enough. This crab is snail safe. It will eat algae and fish pellets, etc with bloodworms and brine shrimp
Max size is like an inch or an inch and a half. If you are keeping fish, they will probably attack it. They are excellent climbers so a filter baffler and secure tank lid is a must.
They are amano shrimp safe, which is a hardy algae eating shrimp. If you can get a colony of neocaridinas (since the are the most compatible shrimps) going, then you will be fine with them living together. They like planted tanks, where they can feed of detritus
You could honestly hold hundreds of shrimps in your 120 L since a good ratio for neocaridinas are 10-15 shrimps per 4 L. Shrimps and snails have very small bioloads are nto liek fish in which you could only have a few in a 120. Also, because of your tank size, you can have Vampire Shrimps, Bamboo Shrimps, and Camacuto Shrimps, which are larger very peaceful shrimps that filter feed particles out of the water. You will need to have your tank running for about 4-6 months before adding these guys in.
Another interesting thing, is that if you wanted a crayfish, you could add 1 Orange Dwarf CPO Crayfish since the minimum for them in a shrimp community is 110L. If you can find a female, even better). Though if you want the cray, you will need to be at the gH around 6-12 degrees

Thanks for the very detailed response. In the case that I am not wanting an invertebrate only tank, and assuming that the tank is not overstocked with fish, around how many snails and small shrimp are reasonable?

 

Snails come in many varieties and in a well planted tank needed for these shrimps/crabs, you will have a fair bit of algae growth. The shrimps will handle some, but arguable the best invertebrate algae cleaner is the nerite snail. They come in many shell colors and patterns and can not breed in freshwater successfully like amanos or bamboo shrimps, etc. Another favorite are Mystery snails, which typically do not eat algae a lot but will eat leftover foods and blanched veggies (shrimps will eat this too). they get to be the size of a golfball. Females will lay eggs above the water line regardless if male is present but they will be infertile. Some of the most controversial snails are "Pests". Pest snails are smaller tadpole, mts, or rams horns snails that breed prolifically in a tank and can quickly overpopulate. The controversial part is that if you do not provide a lot of food, their populations won't explode. However, in a well planted tank, you will have detritus falling daily so there will always be ample food supply since it is not wise to continuously clean substrate in a well planted tank. I personally stay way from them, but I do like rams-horns since at least they come in cool colors lol. To combat their population growth, people sometimes use assassin snails, which will slowly reproduce as well, but do a fairly decent job at eating other pest snails and keeping their numbers down a little. They are not safe with nerites and mysteries since many of them will gang up on a mystery and take it down like wolves. A single assassin can potentially cohabit with a mystery but I wouldn't risk it. There are other snails like rabbit snails but I haven't dealt with them first hand yet; they are livebearers that give birth to a single snail at a time and do not overpopulate a tank very quickly, compared to the pests.
Supplements/Blanched Veggies~
You will need to supplement your crab/shrimp/snails diet with calcium additives, which can be found in zucchinI and spinach. You can also add cuttlebone shells for them to nibble on, as well as crushed corals directly into your filter. The filter part may mess with your water chemistry, so I would just keep it in the tank in small peaces. Neocaridinas will also use porous driftwood to hide and feed on. A popular type of this wood is called chola wood and is fairly cheap online. They will also eat Indian almond leaves and this can help with sickness in the tank to a degree. Copper is deadly in medicinal form, but not as a trace element in fertilizer and food.

 

Thanks for the very detailed response. In the case that I am not wanting an invertebrate only tank, and assuming that the tank is not overstocked with fish, around how many snails and small shrimp are reasonable?

with these invertebrates, I would get something peaceful like a school of corydoras or otocinclus or a single bn pleco. If you feel like the shrimps might overpopulate the tank, literally any fish except those will prey on them. The cories might snack on them given the opportunity but they are generally very peaceful with shrimps/ Maybe a single dwarf gourami or something similar. No fish will eat snails except puffers or loaches but they will eat the ones you want to keep as well such as nerites, in case you had too many pest snails. I personally wouldn't recommend it.
Snails~ 5-8 nerites, maybe 1 or 2 mysteries, and any number of those pest snails is fine
or any number of pest snails and 5-8 assassin snails
Shrimps~ 300 to 450 neocaridinas going by the 10-15 shrimps per 4 L , maybe a handful of amanos and 10 of those freshwater pom poms
*If you keep fish, your neocaridinas population will never reach that number so don't be alarmed if it sounds very high

 

with these invertebrates, I would get something peaceful like a school of corydoras or otocinclus or a single bn pleco. If you feel like the shrimps might overpopulate the tank, literally any fish except those will prey on them. The cories might snack on them given the opportunity but they are generally very peaceful with shrimps/ Maybe a single dwarf gourami or something similar. No fish will eat snails except puffers or loaches but they will eat the ones you want to keep as well such as nerites, in case you had too many pest snails. I personally wouldn't recommend it.
Snails~ 5-8 nerites, maybe 1 or 2 mysteries, and any number of those pest snails is fine
or any number of pest snails and 5-8 assassin snails
Shrimps~ 300 to 450 neocaridinas going by the 10-15 shrimps per 4 L , maybe a handful of amanos and 10 of those freshwater pom poms
*If you keep fish, your neocaridinas population will never reach that number so don't be alarmed if it sounds very high

Thanks for the help. I will say I really do like the corydoras, so the idea of a school of them sounds great. What number does a "school" imply with corydoras? Sorry for the ignorance and barrage of questions, new to the game and trying to get things right beforehand instead of sorting out a disaster later.

As a followup question on Corie schools. Will they school together if they are of different breed, i.e. Panda corries and albiono corries? Or do they all need to be the same exact type?

 

Thanks for the help. I will say I really do like the corydoras, so the idea of a school of them sounds great. What number does a "school" imply with corydoras? Sorry for the ignorance and barrage of questions, new to the game and trying to get things right beforehand instead of sorting out a disaster later.

As a followup question on Corie schools. Will they school together if they are of different breed, i.e. Panda corries and albiono corries? Or do they all need to be the same exact type?

A school is a bare minimum of 6 fish. In your tank, maybe 8 would be good. Different species of cories should school normally, though in some uncommon cases, I've read forums where they do not. Chances are they will likely school however, since I've seen them do so. Have fun :]