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I got 2 red clawed crabs yesterday. The person in the shop said they dont need to come out of the water but ive read on many websites (and here) that they do. I dont want to stick a massive piece of driftwood out of the tank I want something more compact and that looks more natural.
What can I use so they can breath air??
Please post a pic if possible

The best way to do it is to use sand and pile it high on one side and low on the other side and only fill the tank partway so that there is sort of a ramp of sand leading to a "beach" of sorts.
These crabs also need salt in their water...

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

and thats small and compact, They climb onto the filter anyway so i dont need to do anything, Yey they have a nice filter island

That's pretty cool and should let them get out of the water from time to time. Just make sure they can't get out of the tank from the filter! They are amazing climbers and escape artists...

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Be careful keeping them with fish as well.
Crabs have often been known to kill and eat
fish that rest on or near the bottom.
Yes, they should be kept in brackish or saltwater.
When have you ever seen a crab at a freshwater beach?



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Are their claws the same size right and left? If not, they may be moon or rainbow crabs.http://freewebs.com/rainbowcrab/info.html

Here is the tank I just built. I siliconed a 6 inch high piece of glass across the tank. Half is sand and half is water. I siliconed tiny rocks to the divider. And made a rock wall. Of course you can't see much because the glass gets so foggy. :-) And the crab gets sandy now. Next comes drift wood.. he loves to climb. I got a little Fluval underwater filter for the pond. I think they deserve to walk on land once in a while... so lets see... this 20G tank cost about $300 so far LOL but it's fun.

http://davec.tabbweb.com/images/new_crab_tank.png


Last edited by pizpot at 16-Oct-2005 19:46

"When have you ever seen a crab at a freshwater beach?"

Many times, the last being at Puerto Rico. Thousands of species of freshwater crab are in existence, but red-claws are not amongst them.

Yeah i found one of my fiddlers in the living room ( out of my room, surviving the 5 foot fall, and the 100 feet down the hall.) my cat was hovering over it like "mmmm" food. Luckily i saved him and he is doin well in the 55. But worth the trouble.