red claw crab habitat

[iplaydafoozball]

so i'm giving up on planted freshwater for good! my 10 gallon tank will, within a few months, be converted into a red claw crab terranium/aquarium. i've been reading ALOT on them, and i've got this much for a plan:

-the tank will be split to 1/3 sandy beach and 2/3 water. they need brackish water and a little calcium to properly molt. the water will only be half filled.
-a driftwood branch or two, possibly a mangrove propagule. also i will put some rocks on the beach to make a cave or something. i heard they dig in the sand also.
-i've found a small in-tank filter that would fit. it's perfect. also i've found a small nano heater. so water maintence is set.
-to aerate the sand and keep it moist for the crabs to burrow in, im thinking of putting a screen to seperate the beach sand from the tank. this way, water can flow through, and sand can't. also, the crabs might be able to climb on the screen. it's win-win.
-im thinking of getting 3 crabs. 1 male, 2 female. i think i have the sexing down, but i'll get better at it once it's time to buy the critters.

there might be more that i've left out, but just so far, what do u guys think? i'm pretty excited about this, i think crabs are really really cool. i've had 2 in my brackish tank but one climbed out and one was eaten alive by my puffer (they lived happily together for months, but at feeding time one day the crab fell off some driftwood and the puffer thought he was the meal, and bit him. then i guessed he liked the taste cuz it turned into a crab-puffer battle, that ended up puffer 1, crab 0)

 

[bigrojo28]

I think it sounds like a good idea, even though i'm not the biggest fan of crabs my self. To each his own, whatever makes you happy, so on, so forth.

 

[Big Vine]

I'll be very interested to follow along with this setup. I've always been fascinated with the crabs, but never seemed to get up the gumption to try out a crab setup.

So how deep do you envision the water portion of the tank being? Will you be stocking any fish in there as well---would that even be feasible?

From what I've read up on them, their need for brackish water and a dish with freshwater in it are the two most critical, yet overlooked components of a healthy/successful crab setup (hence why most people's crabs end up dying).

Sounds like you're on the right track for sure! *thumbsups
BV

 

[iplaydafoozball]

i haven't heard of the freshwater dish, although i will look into that. and i only have a 10 gallon tank, so about halfway full of water is my plan. i hope that will be enough, it should be i think. basically the crabs need just enough to dip themselves in it, but i feel like making it look better and making a larger pool then necessary. and i've been thinking about it, but the only fish that would work in this set-up would be about 2 bumblebee gobies. maybe some other gobies would work, as my lfs has opened a new brackish aisle with lots of new gobies and puffers that i have never seen before. i'll look into that. also, i need my bank account to grow a little, so as i said, this set-up won't be until 2-3 months. for those of u that don't know me, i've been funding my new reef tank and it's eaten a gigantic hole in my wallet. i also plan on converting my 20 gallon into a nano-predator reef for my moray, so that'll take some money to get the live rock and possible skimmer. so i will let u guys know when this happens.*thumbsups

 

[gixx0r]

Any luck with getting the tank started for the crab? I just bought a red claw crab myself yesterday and he is a complete escape artists like all people say. They can climb virtually anything and I now find him on top of my filter pad regularly after he scales the heater and part of its cord. Make sure there is no escape option for them.