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Do Red Clawed Crabs need to be able to get on dry ground and do they need brackish water? Would the crabs mess with some kinds of shrimp if I placed them together? Thanks for any help. I've got a 20gal sitting empty and would like to make a tank that has its central focus on invertebrates.

O Tempora O Mores

red claws are fine in freshwater, they do not need access to a landmass to breathe air. mine do try to climb out of the tank though.

the only shrimp currently in my tank are feeder ghost shrimp. they do disappear quickly, so am i not sure if the red claws eat them (i would suspect they would). mine never bother any of the fish, regardless of size. however, the ghost shrimp are fairly slow moving (at least compared to fish), and rather soft bodied.

i recently started planting out my tank, and i found out the red claws are addicted to dwarf hairgrass. i have also heard they can be quite territorial (mine are in a 125gal, so i do not see it)- i have no idea how many you could keep in a 20gal.

hopefully, you can find a way to keep them. they are inexpensive, very interesting, and rather undemanding.

Thanks mariosim,
I don't plan on having more than three in the 20, two is probably what I'll wind up with. The tank is set up so that they can have some territory to defend if they so desire. There are no plants in there now, but I have a tank with nothing but plants in it so I can add some clippings if it turns out the tank would look better with some greenery. I have some Caridina japonica shrimp in a planted thirty gallon tall and I'd like to have some in with the crabs. The shrimp are suprisingly fast and can carry a whole shrimp pellet all the way to the top of the tank if they want. I'm not sure the crabs could catch the shrimp. I have a few places in the 20 where the crabs are not going to be able to get to. There is an old, disassembled, clay fountain thingy in the tank. A couple of the pieces appear to be impossible for a crablike creature to gain any purchase on and too tall, I hope, for them to swim up to.

O Tempora O Mores

Red-lcaw crabs do need salt if you want them to livr their full lives, and the should have land acess, too.