I have crabs

[evilhorde]

Yup, I said it.
I could only find two of them today, but I do have four.
Four red clawed crabs.
Although they are supposed to be the same species they are very different from each other.
This first crab is fairly pale in colour and has claws as nearly as big as it's carapace.


and here he/she is again performing a little housecleaning

And crab number two: smaller over all, much smaller pincers and a very dark body and legs. (even with over-flash washout)


I can't be sure if it is this last crab or not, but one of my crabs has very bright red claws, approaching neon red.
I'll put up more pictures when I see the other crabs again someday.

[scotty b]

very nice looking , you do have a spot where thy can get out of the water yes?

[evilhorde]

Originally Posted by scotty b

very nice looking , you do have a spot where thy can get out of the water yes?

sure do.


I used to run a pump under the pile of rocks but it jammed up and so now I have a 'temporary' HOB hanging in there.

[evilhorde]

I am still only finding two. At least this one is active.

picture is a link to my photobucket video.

[evilhorde]

Even in the dark you can see those claws, but is it the third crab with the bright red claws?

Hard to tell. I'll go around for a better view...

You little beggar! get back here!
Ahah! I've got you up a tree now! Hold still for a minute!

Nope. not the bright red claws. pretty bright, but pretty orange too.
I'm not sure if this is crab #2 from yesterday or not but I am going to start cataloging their differences to try and keep track of the hidey little buggers.
This one is two toned very dark in the front half with bright orange claws and will be referred to as crab#2. The crab with the massive pincers will be crab#1.

[assasin6547]

Are these guys compatible with shrimp? What do they eat?

[gnod]

cool setup. what plants are those?

i had red devil crabs before - super cool and very unique. those guys stay more on land tho, and i would feed them wingless fruit flies. the way they would attack them was so fun to watch. like a lion pouncing on a gazelle... ok maybe not but something like it.

love crab set ups!

[ChrisDiago]

that is an amazing set up i love how you have your tank filled completly with water then have a plexiglass extention. i would love to try to mimic this style of tank but dont know how

[evilhorde]

Originally Posted by assasin6547

Are these guys compatible with shrimp? What do they eat?

I have seen them 'pounce' before but I have never seen them catch a cherry shrimp.
I don't know what they eat because I don't feed them. I feed the fish and I drop in a couple algae wafers for the shrimp, otos and pleco.

[evilhorde]

Originally Posted by gnod

cool setup. what plants are those?
!

the plants growing out of the tank are 'lucky bamboo' Dracaena sanderiana, the plants that grow around the Dracaena is just a wad of hornwort and the other leafy plant on the opposite end from the dracaena is something I bought from petsmart and I have forgotten the name. In the center on top of the glass brace I put down a piece of absorbant material that hangs into the aquarium and wicks water up into the layer of peat moss above it. On top of that is a layer of unidentified moss that I scraped off of a cement pad behind my barn. Anything growing out of that is unidentified, natural fauna from Vancouver Island, British Columbia in the temperate rainforests of western Canada.

[evilhorde]

Originally Posted by ChrisDiago

i would love to try to mimic this style of tank but dont know how

So much easier than baking a pie.
On all plastic rimmed tanks there is a small ledge on the inside edge. I cut the plexiglass to the right length to fit that inner rim and glued it all together in a 4 sided box. The center glass brace of the tank holds the weight and the lip keeps everything centered and steady. As an added bonus, since the pexi is inside the rim any splash water runs back inside.
I cut a small square hole in one corner for all my power and airlines to go through. since I can pick up the plexiglass and set it down over the wires, I didn't have to cut a giant hole to fit a plug through.

[evilhorde]

Introducing crab#3!

Light tan colour all over, much like crab#1 but with much smaller pincers. And the pincers are white at the tips, not red or orange.

[ValMM]

I like your tank. The critters are cute.

[evilhorde]

Spotted!


Crab#4. The darkest of my crabs. This crab is also two-toned but the difference is more subtle than crab#2. Pincers are small and not as red as I remember, but still redder than crab#2. (I spotted #2 while taking pics of #4 so I know for certain that they are not one and the same)

I don't have any pics at the moment but there are two burrows on the 'island' now.
In other news, I saw crab#1 get a hold of a zebra danio the other day. I had some pretty lucky timing to be looking right at them when the crab made it's move. The danio escaped so I guess it was a lucky morning for us both.

[ValMM]

Ooh, very cool. Except from the Danio's point of view.
I hope they breed for you. That's when you know they're happy.