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Hi all--I'm new here and semi-new to the aquarium world. (Ya know it's bad when your best experience was a fish bowl with a goldfish with oddly wonderful longevity).

I have a question about Fiddler Crabs--my first experience with Fiddler's was back with that wonderful bowl. The crab was a male and he got along quite well with his fellow fishmates (two or three goldfish at the time, I can't quite remember). But he soon passed, after I'd say about a month. It was just a normal chilhood bowl--no filter, no heat source. I was told later that a fiddler requires a bubbler of some sort to survive. Ok. Fast forward to about present day. I did some more research and found that fiddler's require some sort of land to get out of the water. I followed those directions but again the crab was not long for this world. Cue more research and multiple stops at different pet stores that specialized in aquatic life. I recently had reacquired a third crab (I'm fond of them, it seems) and she has been doing well in a heated tank with fish-pals and a bubbler. There is no surface air for her to reach, however. I haven't seen her in a few days, but seeing as crabs are nocturnal and she has plenty of places to hide, I don't worry too much. (My boyfriend has a female fiddler too and although she clambers about more, she's doing fine in the same sort of environment).

My question then is for anyone out there with any experience with Fiddler Crabs: what exactly are the better rules of thumb for owning one of these fiesty beasties? Does anyone have any tips, in case I have to make another trip to the local PETCO for another crab, or crab-related supplies?

The Fiddler Crabs commonly available in the hobby are all brackish water species, and they generally do not survive more than a few months in freshwater. They are native to mangrove swamps in Southeast Asia, so in captivity their habitats must be made to replicate that if the crabs are to survive.

They can live in small tanks, but they are territorial towards one another. A five callon tank can house one male and a few females. In larger tanks multiple males can be kept. The tank needs to be about one-third full with brackish water (salinity 1.008-1.015), and the rest of the tank needs to be rocks, wood, or gravel they can climb out onto.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

The tank I've got is a nice 15g (US) tall. She's by herself, and has been doing fine whenever I've seen her (last I saw her, she was picking at a fish that had recently passed on...haven't seen her since I buried said fishie at sea). I've known about the brackish water, but didn't know their lifespain in captivity...few months...that's a bit of a downer.

Are there any other crab species that do better in an aquarium and don't require air...or maybe prefer more fish-oriented water instead of brackish? (I'd save my fish first if it came down to it...) I've seen something called a "Devil Crab" at the local PETCO but I know nothing about 'em.

There are no fully freshwater crabs available in the hobby that I can think of. You'll want to stay away from the Devil (Fiddler) Crabs... They tend to be even more sensitive than the regular fiddlers.

There are, however, a very large number of shrimp and crayfish that are fully freshwater, need no access to land, and are compatible with fish (moreso the shrimp than the crayfish).

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hi there..
The fiddlers sold at fish stores as fresh water crabs can survive in fresh water if properly taken care of. The most important thing is to allow it access to air. It needs to breathe air and cant survive long underwater! place a rock or piece of driftwood touching the water surface to give it a sort of island to crawl on. If you see it desperately trying to climb over the walls of the tank, you should know its running out of oxygen.
Do cover the tank tightly as they are notorious escapers. Dont give it any thing to climb on close to the walls. Not even an airine tubing!
It can sometimes try to pick on smaller fish. The slow moving or sick fish can easily get caught in its sharp claws. Mine caught, tore and ate a couple of female guppies very easily.
Hope it helps

Thanks for all the info, guys.

I was thinking about a bamboo shrimp I saw not too long ago, it was very nice and would be able to adjust to my tank well enough, I suppose, though I do have this soft spot for crabs...no idea why.

It's kinda funny though, I keep getting conflicting advice from people. Not saying anyone is wrong or anything! It's just hard to try to sort everything and pray it goes right. It's kinda funny though, the fiddler I had that was able to crawl out of the water lived a shorter period of time than my other fiddlers that were always submerged. But then again, the fiddler I have now does nothing but hide, which does make me nervous if she's all right or not. I want to give her air access (now that she is in a heated tank) but I have nothing tall enough. But then again, the ones at the stores sometimes didn't have air access, and the one my boyfriend has doesn't either, and they're fine as far as I can tell. Of course, I can't tell if my b/f's is really all right or not...his has a habit of crawling up rocks (even in broad daylight) and leaping off them. I think she may want air but seems quite content underwater. I just look at the differences between those 2 crabs and I wonder if mine's suffering somehow...she's a lot smaller than his and very secretive.

Hm...Da ya'll know anything else in this dilemma? Do you think mine is all right, at least, for the moment? Or is his the one that is in more trouble? If only I had a base to start from, so I knwo what's abnormal and what's not...

Allow me to inject some specifics into this generality. I refer you to some previous postings of mine in the brackish section http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/30605.1.htm?9#. The first explains general brackish conditions the second is about the fiddlers. Pay close attention to the scientific names common names have their place but this is not one of them.

Thank you for that link, STUFF_GNOME, it was really interesting. I have since moved my fiddler into a bigger tank with access to the surface with a piece of driftwood. I thought she'd play it secretive like she did in the other tank but is enjoying her air time a lot!! I'm glad I was able to find something that would fit in my tank and help her get air. (I knew she wanted her air too, by the way I found her on the filter on morning...she can't get up there now, thank goodness!)

I'm very much sure she is a Fiddler, and is acting the part to a "T" so no worries there. Thank you so much again! ^_^

Good to hear your crab's happy. They do require air. I realized when it wz too late