Trouble with brackish environment and red claw crab - Page 3

fishbone · 01-31-2007, 03:16 PM

Sounds good.
The tank seems kinda empty with just 1 crab which 99% of time hangs on the rocks. There's still plenty of space around on the bottom. I plan on getting her another female friend in another two weeks or so once the aquarium is done cycling.
Given that:
-aquarium holds about 4 - 4 and a half gallons of water
-gravity will never be over 1.008
what sort of fish would you say would go well? Can I just start searching online for brackish fish and judge by how big they get, or is this environment a no-no from the start for some kind of fish? I think two or 3 relatively small fish would do fine.
I found a nice list of brackish fish here:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...cfm?pCatId=954

Puffer Pita · 01-31-2007, 03:27 PM

Fish to go in with the crabs? Well, your choice of course but claws and fins never get mixed in my tanks. And there really isn't room IMO for two crabs and fish in less than 5 gallons of water.

Here's a good list of fish that can go brackish. http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquar...kfaqpart3.html None that I'm aware of are small enough to keep even one in that small of a tank though. About the only one I can think of is bumblebee gobies, but I wouldn't put them in with crabs, no way.

fishbone · 01-31-2007, 03:54 PM

Aw darn! I was hoping to get some movement around in the tank, the crab hangs on the rocks which take about a quarter of the tank in one corner.
I'll get another crab and see how they behave, maybe a third will get along with the other two without them getting territorial. The only possible territorial issue I see is the rock area that's above water, it may become crowded for all 3 to stay on it.

I'd glagly increase the water level but I have yet to figure out a rock layout that allows me to do that. I'm just glad I got the crab to stay away from the damn filter, hah.

Puffer Pita · 01-31-2007, 04:22 PM

Two is pushing the tank size, three would definitely be too many. Its normally recommended to have a square foot of floor space for each crab.

fishbone · 02-01-2007, 10:51 AM

Alright, you're right, I'll just stick with my original plant and get her ONE tank mate. I will set-up a rock above water level on the opposite side of the tank so the two will get along. But seriously, I've had this brackish tank for almost a month now and I've only seen the crabby wonder around ONCE.

Some feeding questions. Is it OK if I leave a small pea or piece of lettuce in the tank overnight? It shouldn't start rotting, right? How about raw meat, such as shrimp? Just a tiny piece that I will scoop up in the morning. I was also thinking of some ways to introduce some calcium in the diet. Cuttlebone would be good but how about some good old egg shells? Free and readily available. Boiled should be great, no germs and plenty of calcium still. I was thinking of just dropping a small piece in there.

Should I worry about the two or three small shells in there raising the water hardness? PH is, if I remember correctly, around 7.5 or 8. I know these guys actually like hard water but i don't want to overdo it either.

Puffer Pita · 02-01-2007, 11:22 AM

Not sure if it would eat egg shells but you can certainly try. I drop food in at night and remove anything not eaten the next morning. And talk about never seeing them? The only time I see mine is when I open the feeding flap and chase them off the filter and back into the tank (its an Ecilpse so the filter is up inside the hood - they sit on it almost all of the time)! I rarely see them.

I'm going to get a small internal submersible filter though, the kind for reptile tanks, so I can lower the water level so even when they do climb up, they'll still be visible.

fishbone · 02-01-2007, 12:39 PM

I'll give it a try with the shells, if not I stole 4 raw shrimp from my local grocery store

Like hell I was going to pay just for 4. Next time I'll ask nicely tho if they'll just give them to me

So what kind of critters do you have? Red claws as well?

Puffer Pita · 02-01-2007, 06:45 PM

Yup!

Love em.

fishbone · 02-01-2007, 07:34 PM

As do I

They're a lot of fun.
Hey, I don't mean to sound needy, I know I've already posted a LOT of questions and your help is greatly appreciated, but here's a few more

Have your crabs molted? I've read that they do so about once every couple of months. I've had mine for a month and I'm just trying to get a feel for things, know what to expect.
I noticed about a week ago that the tip of the triangle that forms on the underside of the crab seems to be a bit detached from the rest of the body. Is that a bad sign, normal, or just getting close to molting?
You can kinda see it in this bad close-up, its that protruding tip right between her claws.
http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1007109fz6.jpg
Here's a couple of more pics of her that I took yesterday to show off to my friends.
http://bp0.blogger.com/_dy1pxxJU5hU/...wed+Crab+1.JPG
http://bp2.blogger.com/_dy1pxxJU5hU/...wed+Crab+2.JPG

Puffer Pita · 02-01-2007, 07:40 PM

Mine have molted but don't seem to do it on any regular schedule. Sometimes twice a month, sometimes not for a couple of months. First time I thought the damn thing had died, the molting is an exact duplicate down to the eyeballs and the tiny nubby bumps on the claws! Its amazing. And the most amazing part to me is if you take it out of the tank and let it dry, you'll never be able to figure out where the dang thing came out! I have yet to find an exit point. There's no apparent hole or anything large enough for its body to get out, so how on earth did it get out?

No idea about the underside thing, never noticed it on mine.

fishbone · 02-01-2007, 08:37 PM

Heh, nice, I heard about that, many people panick because they think the crabby died.
Not worried about the underside yet, but I'll keep an eye on it. If you have a look at yours let me know if you see something similar.

fishbone · 02-03-2007, 12:18 PM

I want to add a piece of driftwood in the tank but I can't get myself to spend 10 or more dollars for one. I have a piece of driftwood that came with a 75g and has been used for at least one year in it, freshwater.
Pic:
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7826/driftwoodel6.jpg
I was told that I should not use that piece in brackish as it may rot or otherwise cause water problems. It hasn't caused any problems in the fresh aquarium, no molding, no decay whatsoever. Can I really not use it at all? If not, what should I look for then?

Puffer Pita · 02-03-2007, 01:15 PM

Nope, driftwood doesn't work with salt. Artificial driftwood is better.

fishbone · 02-03-2007, 08:01 PM

Boo!
While I was going through some boxes today I found an under the desk lamp, fluorescent, 15w. It fits the brackish tank perfectly but the crabby doesn't like it. Guess I'll just use it for the betta tank.

I got the eBay refractometer through the mail today. It seems my hydrometer is off by 2 points. I dropped some tap water to make sure the refractometer was calibrated [read zero] and then compared. The refractometer was right at 1.005, the hydrometer was showing almost 1.007. Bleh!

Puffer Pita · 02-03-2007, 11:23 PM

Need to use distilled water to calibrate and clean the refractometer. A gallon will cost you under $1 from the grocery store and will last ages.

fishbone · 02-04-2007, 05:42 PM

Um, remember that part that I said something on her underside was sticking out? Well, I just noticed that her entire underside just popped open like a car's hood. She's hanging out on the rock like she usually does. I hope she's just beginning to molt because otherwise I don't think it's a good sign ...
Here's a pic.
http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/4396/1007115wa8.jpg
I'll try my best not to disturb her.

Puffer Pita · 02-04-2007, 07:55 PM

Definitely freaky!

Hopefully that's how they molt. I've never seen mine do that.

fishbone · 02-05-2007, 10:46 AM

Lol, this morning I did another water change as nitrItes continue to be trouble [.5] and the bottom part of the crabby seems to be back on as before! What the? Did she just pop open the hood demanding an oil change? Should I drop some 5W30 in there? ROTFL!
I'll monitor closely to see what the heck that was about. I'm hoping it's not because of stress induced by the water condition. I'm using Prime and doing daily water changes, I just need to get some plants from a local forum pal that promised them like 3 weeks ago >_<

My old hydrometer is pissing me off. When you make the brackish water, roughly how much salt are you adding per gallon Puffer Pita? I'm doing 2 tbsp and this comes up to about 1.005-1.006 on the refractometer. The darn hydrometer is showing more like 1.007. I know the refracto is accurate because I dropped some tap water and it was right at zero. The one thing they're both consisent on is the PPT, which is right at 10.

Puffer Pita · 02-05-2007, 11:50 AM

I'd go with the refractometer. Hydrometers are difficult to calibrate and therefore are often inaccurate. Should be using distilled water to calibrate and clean the refractometer though.

Hey, at least they aren't like cane toads, who eat their molted skin. Blech!

fishbone · 02-05-2007, 12:40 PM

True, they don't eat their molted skin, but they do eat their own shell to replenish all the calcium lost. Crabby didn't really go for the eggshell so I'm going to get her some cuttlebone.

So when you mix your brackish, how much salt do you add per gallon? I'm still measuring stuff in but I think I found the common ground which will keep the salinity level with no fluctuations: 2 tbsp per gallon.

Right now I'm reading some info on how many seashells to add in order to raise the water's PH. It's at 7.6, reds seem to like it between 7.5 and 8.0. I know I don't have to raise it, but some more shells will help the tank look nicer.
Can you recommend a vendor to get driftwood or bogwood from? I'll hit the LFSs as well, see what they got.

01-31-2007, 03:27 PM	#42
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Fish to go in with the crabs? Well, your choice of course but claws and fins never get mixed in my tanks. And there really isn't room IMO for two crabs and fish in less than 5 gallons of water. Here's a good list of fish that can go brackish. http://homepage.mac.com/nmonks/aquar...kfaqpart3.html None that I'm aware of are small enough to keep even one in that small of a tank though. About the only one I can think of is bumblebee gobies, but I wouldn't put them in with crabs, no way. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

01-31-2007, 03:54 PM	#43
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Aw darn! I was hoping to get some movement around in the tank, the crab hangs on the rocks which take about a quarter of the tank in one corner. I'll get another crab and see how they behave, maybe a third will get along with the other two without them getting territorial. The only possible territorial issue I see is the rock area that's above water, it may become crowded for all 3 to stay on it. I'd glagly increase the water level but I have yet to figure out a rock layout that allows me to do that. I'm just glad I got the crab to stay away from the damn filter, hah. Last edited by fishbone; 01-31-2007 at 04:00 PM.

01-31-2007, 04:22 PM	#44
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Two is pushing the tank size, three would definitely be too many. Its normally recommended to have a square foot of floor space for each crab. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-01-2007, 11:22 AM	#46
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Not sure if it would eat egg shells but you can certainly try. I drop food in at night and remove anything not eaten the next morning. And talk about never seeing them? The only time I see mine is when I open the feeding flap and chase them off the filter and back into the tank (its an Ecilpse so the filter is up inside the hood - they sit on it almost all of the time)! I rarely see them. I'm going to get a small internal submersible filter though, the kind for reptile tanks, so I can lower the water level so even when they do climb up, they'll still be visible. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-01-2007, 06:45 PM	#48
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Yup! Love em. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

Members currently in the Chat:0
	Users In Chat Room: There are several users in chat now! Don't Be Shy - click here and come on in!

01-31-2007, 03:16 PM	#41
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Sounds good. The tank seems kinda empty with just 1 crab which 99% of time hangs on the rocks. There's still plenty of space around on the bottom. I plan on getting her another female friend in another two weeks or so once the aquarium is done cycling. Given that: -aquarium holds about 4 - 4 and a half gallons of water -gravity will never be over 1.008 what sort of fish would you say would go well? Can I just start searching online for brackish fish and judge by how big they get, or is this environment a no-no from the start for some kind of fish? I think two or 3 relatively small fish would do fine. I found a nice list of brackish fish here: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...cfm?pCatId=954

02-01-2007, 10:51 AM	#45
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Alright, you're right, I'll just stick with my original plant and get her ONE tank mate. I will set-up a rock above water level on the opposite side of the tank so the two will get along. But seriously, I've had this brackish tank for almost a month now and I've only seen the crabby wonder around ONCE. Some feeding questions. Is it OK if I leave a small pea or piece of lettuce in the tank overnight? It shouldn't start rotting, right? How about raw meat, such as shrimp? Just a tiny piece that I will scoop up in the morning. I was also thinking of some ways to introduce some calcium in the diet. Cuttlebone would be good but how about some good old egg shells? Free and readily available. Boiled should be great, no germs and plenty of calcium still. I was thinking of just dropping a small piece in there. Should I worry about the two or three small shells in there raising the water hardness? PH is, if I remember correctly, around 7.5 or 8. I know these guys actually like hard water but i don't want to overdo it either.

02-01-2007, 12:39 PM	#47
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	I'll give it a try with the shells, if not I stole 4 raw shrimp from my local grocery store Like hell I was going to pay just for 4. Next time I'll ask nicely tho if they'll just give them to me So what kind of critters do you have? Red claws as well?

02-01-2007, 07:34 PM	#49
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	As do I They're a lot of fun. Hey, I don't mean to sound needy, I know I've already posted a LOT of questions and your help is greatly appreciated, but here's a few more Have your crabs molted? I've read that they do so about once every couple of months. I've had mine for a month and I'm just trying to get a feel for things, know what to expect. I noticed about a week ago that the tip of the triangle that forms on the underside of the crab seems to be a bit detached from the rest of the body. Is that a bad sign, normal, or just getting close to molting? You can kinda see it in this bad close-up, its that protruding tip right between her claws. http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1007109fz6.jpg Here's a couple of more pics of her that I took yesterday to show off to my friends. http://bp0.blogger.com/_dy1pxxJU5hU/...wed+Crab+1.JPG http://bp2.blogger.com/_dy1pxxJU5hU/...wed+Crab+2.JPG Last edited by fishbone; 02-01-2007 at 07:38 PM.

02-01-2007, 07:40 PM	#50
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Mine have molted but don't seem to do it on any regular schedule. Sometimes twice a month, sometimes not for a couple of months. First time I thought the damn thing had died, the molting is an exact duplicate down to the eyeballs and the tiny nubby bumps on the claws! Its amazing. And the most amazing part to me is if you take it out of the tank and let it dry, you'll never be able to figure out where the dang thing came out! I have yet to find an exit point. There's no apparent hole or anything large enough for its body to get out, so how on earth did it get out? No idea about the underside thing, never noticed it on mine. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-01-2007, 08:37 PM	#51
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Heh, nice, I heard about that, many people panick because they think the crabby died. Not worried about the underside yet, but I'll keep an eye on it. If you have a look at yours let me know if you see something similar.

02-03-2007, 12:18 PM	#52
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	I want to add a piece of driftwood in the tank but I can't get myself to spend 10 or more dollars for one. I have a piece of driftwood that came with a 75g and has been used for at least one year in it, freshwater. Pic: http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/7826/driftwoodel6.jpg I was told that I should not use that piece in brackish as it may rot or otherwise cause water problems. It hasn't caused any problems in the fresh aquarium, no molding, no decay whatsoever. Can I really not use it at all? If not, what should I look for then?

02-03-2007, 01:15 PM	#53
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Nope, driftwood doesn't work with salt. Artificial driftwood is better. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-03-2007, 08:01 PM	#54
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Boo! While I was going through some boxes today I found an under the desk lamp, fluorescent, 15w. It fits the brackish tank perfectly but the crabby doesn't like it. Guess I'll just use it for the betta tank. I got the eBay refractometer through the mail today. It seems my hydrometer is off by 2 points. I dropped some tap water to make sure the refractometer was calibrated [read zero] and then compared. The refractometer was right at 1.005, the hydrometer was showing almost 1.007. Bleh!

02-03-2007, 11:23 PM	#55
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Need to use distilled water to calibrate and clean the refractometer. A gallon will cost you under $1 from the grocery store and will last ages. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-04-2007, 05:42 PM	#56
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Um, remember that part that I said something on her underside was sticking out? Well, I just noticed that her entire underside just popped open like a car's hood. She's hanging out on the rock like she usually does. I hope she's just beginning to molt because otherwise I don't think it's a good sign ... Here's a pic. http://img482.imageshack.us/img482/4396/1007115wa8.jpg I'll try my best not to disturb her. Last edited by fishbone; 02-04-2007 at 05:50 PM.

02-04-2007, 07:55 PM	#57
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	Definitely freaky! Hopefully that's how they molt. I've never seen mine do that. __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-05-2007, 10:46 AM	#58
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	Lol, this morning I did another water change as nitrItes continue to be trouble [.5] and the bottom part of the crabby seems to be back on as before! What the? Did she just pop open the hood demanding an oil change? Should I drop some 5W30 in there? ROTFL! I'll monitor closely to see what the heck that was about. I'm hoping it's not because of stress induced by the water condition. I'm using Prime and doing daily water changes, I just need to get some plants from a local forum pal that promised them like 3 weeks ago >_< My old hydrometer is pissing me off. When you make the brackish water, roughly how much salt are you adding per gallon Puffer Pita? I'm doing 2 tbsp and this comes up to about 1.005-1.006 on the refractometer. The darn hydrometer is showing more like 1.007. I know the refracto is accurate because I dropped some tap water and it was right at zero. The one thing they're both consisent on is the PPT, which is right at 10. Last edited by fishbone; 02-05-2007 at 10:53 AM.

02-05-2007, 11:50 AM	#59
Puffer Pita Puffer Enthusiast Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 1,677	I'd go with the refractometer. Hydrometers are difficult to calibrate and therefore are often inaccurate. Should be using distilled water to calibrate and clean the refractometer though. Hey, at least they aren't like cane toads, who eat their molted skin. Blech! __________________ Tina Puffers: Auriglobus silus x2 Colomesus asellus x1 Tetraodon travancoricus x1 Tetraodon biocellatus x2 Tetraodon nigroviridis x1 Tetraodon baileyi x2 Tetraodon lineatus x1 Tetraodon palembangensis x1 The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated. - Mohandas Gandhi

02-05-2007, 12:40 PM	#60
fishbone Newbie Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Nebraska Posts: 416	True, they don't eat their molted skin, but they do eat their own shell to replenish all the calcium lost. Crabby didn't really go for the eggshell so I'm going to get her some cuttlebone. So when you mix your brackish, how much salt do you add per gallon? I'm still measuring stuff in but I think I found the common ground which will keep the salinity level with no fluctuations: 2 tbsp per gallon. Right now I'm reading some info on how many seashells to add in order to raise the water's PH. It's at 7.6, reds seem to like it between 7.5 and 8.0. I know I don't have to raise it, but some more shells will help the tank look nicer. Can you recommend a vendor to get driftwood or bogwood from? I'll hit the LFSs as well, see what they got.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode