vampire crabs

[Soothing Shrimp]

Anyone has any success stories of breeding vampire crabs to share?

I'm finding info in care sheets, but as always would like first hand experience. I may be leaning toward these as opposed to newts because of temperature requirements.

[mordalphus]

I don't know about breeding them, but an LFS here has a giant one, it's at least 3 inches across. I was amazed, I didn't know they'd get that large.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Wow. Everything I've read about them says they stay smaller than that. (?)

[RedseaReefer]

I have about four red claw crabs in a 20L setup as a half tank. They are not exactly the same as the bi-color vamp crabs. They are pretty easy to care for iv never had any breeding behavior though. They love the hikari crab cuisine I put in there occasionally. Here's a vid of one

http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q604/RedSea_Reefer/768FC6C4-1685-4F01-965B-98D933A0E743-706-000000438E0E4B0A_zps3b9715b5.mp4

he's super mean.. Ill be getting rid of them soon to make room for a babie grow up tank best of luck finding info on them I did see a awesome article in Tropical fish hobbiest mag about them has a lot of info about them. Also.. I think it's alphaprobreeders or something like that has them for sale about $5-7 ea

[Soothing Shrimp]

he looks cute.

[RedseaReefer]

Heres the site i was talking about although they are a little more than I remembered they look awesome and they also have red devil crabs and a lot of other inverts. Iv never bought there personally but iv seen a lot of good things on the site

http://www.alphaprobreeders.com/vamp...abs-bi-colors/

[evilhorde]

The 'mandarin' geosesarma crabs look very interesting. The females carry the eggs until they hatch into perfectly formed baby crabs, so there is no larval stage to worry about. Then she carries the babies on her back until they are big enough to go it on their own. Here is a link to some fella that sells them in the US.
http://www.brianstropicals.com/categ...m-for-info%29/

I have no personal experience, just the link.

[chibikaie]

A co-worker of mine has Geosesarma in a spectacular fancy tank (my guess is a Fluval) at work, and they seem to be breeding for him (albeit slowly). There's minimal water in the bottom, lots of branches, TONS of plants.

[AoxomoxoA]

I'm probably giving these a go too. A 20L is being set up & planted. High humidity. I'm leaning towards Red Devils or Bi-Colors. Subscribed & hoping more hands on experience is shared here.
That or we'll share it as we go

[CrazyCatPeekin]

I'm jumping on this thread, too. I've got an empty 20L and can't decide what to do with it. Contenders so far are a Leopard gecko, fire belly toads or these little guys.

[Soothing Shrimp]

Sounds like we have a group to learn from each other.

[AoxomoxoA]

Originally Posted by Soothing Shrimp

Sounds like we have a group to learn from each other.

[magnum]

Nope I've never breeded them, but they are pretty cool.

[Aquatic Delight]

i just bought a couple of red devils, and as i as slowly learning have the same care needs as a vampire so i'll be around for awhile too

[rozdaboff]

I just posted a picture thread over in the invert section: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=197701

I have a group of Mandarin and a group of Red Devils. They are very easy to care for and breed well once old enough and established.

I keep both of my groups (2.2) in Fluval Ebi tanks. I use the fluval stratum substrate, and I layer several small pieces of ghostwood on the bottom to set up little nooks and crannies for the crabs to hide. The substrate stays wet - and I have cleared substrate away towards the front and set up a little pool area. Then in the rest of the tank, I have ghostwood branches covered in moss and miniature orchids (Pleurothallids primarily). While the branches are more the benefit of increased space for planting - the crabs will climb all over them (and sometimes knock the orchids over if not yet well rooted).

They are most active in the evenings, but also in the morning. For feeding, I offer a mix of HBH hermit crab food and hermit crab pellets (crushed) to which I add additional calcium carbonate and also some astaxanthin to help with color (and I find it makes a big difference).

As for breeding, they do it all on their own. One day you will see little tiny crabs running around. I let them grow in the tank until they become about 4-6mm carapace length - and then pull them. With my two female Red Devils, I pull about 40 baby crabs or out every 6 months or so. My mandarin crabs seem to be slower breeders, but I haven't had them as long.

Here is a poor pic of one of my tanks.