[eser21]

Hey folks, bit late putting this one up so here is a quick catch up.
so after a fair bit of planning i have a vision for a paludarium for vampire crabs and a few rasporas.
Equipment-
25lt Qube with standard light and filter.
Ebay heater
Rocks
Moss mesh

I have a nice piece of wood growing moss on emmersed in a propagator. Hoping to have an HC 'lawn' with some emmersed crypts.
Not too sure how the crabs will treat the plants...?

Early days but here is the first pics.

So i found a nice piece of slate then filled it with a substrate mix.

So got hold of the plants today that i was missing and spent a bit of time figuring it all out,decided on Echinodorus Rosea and Dwarf Hairgrass to go with the HC, Java Moss,Whorled pennywart and Flame moss i already had growing emmersed. Also got 3 tiny Chilli Raspora as the smallest fauna they had

Crabs will go in next week and maybe some flora immersed? Anubia..??

 

[2in10]

Looks very good

 

[AirstoND]

Nniiiiccee!

I imagine myself climbing that driftwood and diving.

 

[Chaoslord]

Awesome,nice start. Can't wait to see updates.

 

[eser21]

Thanks guys, im pretty happy with it at the moment. Seeing as this is an experiment to me as my first emersed set up its going quite well.
Will update with some new pics once the crabs are in.

 

[bryson375]

This is nice man... might have to do something like this myself

 

[RipariumGuy]

That looks beautiful Eser! Good job on it. About the crabs though... I'd definitely be worried about the plants once you put the crabs in. They tend to chew on plants when they get hungry. They may also pray on the Rasboras as well. So, be watchful!

 

[eser21]

That looks beautiful Eser! Good job on it. About the crabs though... I'd definitely be worried about the plants once you put the crabs in. They tend to chew on plants when they get hungry. They may also pray on the Rasboras as well. So, be watchful!

thanks, i have been a little concerned that the plants might be in danger.... i plant on adding a 'cave' of sorts for molting and a little leaf litter as i removed the HC as im pretty sure they will dig it up anyway. I am under the impression that the rasporas should be fine as vampires are actually arboreal and a pretty clumsy under water, if they go in at all. I guess time will tell....

 

[150EH]

Looks good, Mzjinkzd has some micro crabs for sale, just thought I'd mention.

I hate to be so ignorant but what is the difference between Paludarium & Riparium???

I've 7 of the little Chilli Raspora comming, they are cool little fish and should love that set up from what I've read, still water that's shaded.

 

[amberskye]

chilli Rasbs...omg I LOVE these. They are REALLY tiny though bruv xx Sorry Ive been out of touch, my Fluval sprung a leak and flooded the whole of my downstairs. Im back at my mother's house (which isnt good) and we are about ready to throttle eachother. lol

 

[150EH]

chilli Rasbs...omg I LOVE these. They are REALLY tiny though bruv xx Sorry Ive been out of touch, my Fluval sprung a leak and flooded the whole of my downstairs. Im back at my mother's house (which isnt good) and we are about ready to throttle eachother. lol

Remember to shoot some video! and say "Hi" to Mom.

 

[gnod]

loving this, but couple of questions

are you going to have any water flow to the top left part of your scape? seems like it'd be hard to keep it constantly humid in the tank..

what kind of substrate is that? looks like pool filter sand

your journal's making me want to scrap my 5.5G and do a paludarium...
and vampire crabs look really... scary :O haha

 

[eser21]

Looks good, Mzjinkzd has some micro crabs for sale, just thought I'd mention.

I hate to be so ignorant but what is the difference between Paludarium & Riparium???

I've 7 of the little Chilli Raspora comming, they are cool little fish and should love that set up from what I've read, still water that's shaded.

Paludarium i beleive is a land and water mix, normally of similar quantity.
Riparium is a full tank with plants that either emmerge from the water or ar hung on the rim of the tank emersed.

chilli Rasbs...omg I LOVE these. They are REALLY tiny though bruv xx Sorry Ive been out of touch, my Fluval sprung a leak and flooded the whole of my downstairs. Im back at my mother's house (which isnt good) and we are about ready to throttle eachother. lol

You have been off the radar, I'll PM you and we can catch up

loving this, but couple of questions

are you going to have any water flow to the top left part of your scape? seems like it'd be hard to keep it constantly humid in the tank..

what kind of substrate is that? looks like pool filter sand

your journal's making me want to scrap my 5.5G and do a paludarium...
and vampire crabs look really... scary :O haha

I have just moved the filter and added a tiny spray bar to get some water movement, i spray the plants daily with a 1lt water and 5ml EI solution m+/- for my other tanks, the plants seem to love it in my propagator. The tank is also covered we cling film until i figure a way to make a snugger fit to keep the humidity high.

The substrate is Devon pea shingle mixed with Manado and a tiny bit of sand.

 

[eser21]

So bought some crabs today and had a bit of a result, tipped the bag into a bowl and found a baby clinging onto mum for dear life... disappeared as soon as i put it in the tank...? Also bought a moss tunnel for molting etc and all looks well, will post some pics in situ when they settle....

 

[gnod]

that's awesome! hope the baby grows up

what are your plans for feeding them? i hear they've rather picky about food.
also, heard from someone who cares for abut 8 of them, that they're more land based than water. have you found this to be true in ur research if you did?

going to begin my palu tank tomorrow i think... going to buy everything today

 

[eser21]

that's awesome! hope the baby grows up

what are your plans for feeding them? i hear they've rather picky about food.
also, heard from someone who cares for abut 8 of them, that they're more land based than water. have you found this to be true in ur research if you did?

going to begin my palu tank tomorrow i think... going to buy everything today

I have been feeding mussel meat and crab pellets, neither of which seem high on their agenda!! LFS was feeding dried bloodworm but havent tried it yet.
Vampire crabs are arboreal (spent most time in trees) , so they only need a dipping pool and good humidity, i have removed the cling film now and humidity is still high im guessing as all plant leaves have condensation on them...
If i were to do it again i would go for a 60x30x30 ...they like to dig but not in water so a seperate dipping pool may be a better idea than flooded but keeping humidity up will then be an issue, but they seem happy enough in the moss tunnel... Downside to the crabs IMO is they are quite dull once they settle somewhere they dont move for like 12 hours and its normally where you cant see them... Luckily this is actually my house mates tank, he just gave me a budget and said he wanted crabs and off i went. Wish i could do that as a full time job!!

Just need to convince him he needs a 75g dart frog vivarium now :icon_mrgr:icon_mrgr

 

[gnod]

^haha awesome.. you did a great job for setting it up.

how much were the crabs? i know they're known to dig so, i plan to give them a bed of sand they can dig. i just hope my tank comes out the way i see it.. haha

 

[amberskye]

wow, youve been up to all sorts while Ive been away! def time for a catch up

 

[gnod]

updates?