29G Brackish

[tigermoon89]

Looks awesome! Love the photo of your cat helper!

[wodesorel]

Do they make a lot of noise? The native fiddler crabs we have in Australia are SO loud. They click like crazy - much louder than any chirping or clunking the hermit crabs do. It's quite an amazing racket if you happen across a colony of them.

No! But that would be so neat. They're so light and tiny that they don't even make scratching sounds when walking or climbing things. I wonder if the males ever snap their claws though for mating dances. My last two males were very young, and these two are spending all their time eating!

They're all doing well. I'm kind of wondering about this whole "needs land" thing though! I haven't seen a single crab out of the water since I moved them over.... I guess the really like the strong brackish water! (SG 1.010) They were out on land all the time in their old tank, but I hadn't realized that I wasn't mixing the water strong enough - it was barely even salty.

And I always have kitty helpers. :roll: For everything! But the tank is also at the right height so that when the crabs move around the cats can see them, and you'll see only a paw reaching up and smacking at the glass. The fids either can't see the cats or don't care, so it's all good.

[wodesorel]

I woke up today to find the largest male in the same spot he was last night, with all his limbs fallen off. Can fiddler crabs suffer from PPS? I am so bummed!

[SoulLonely]

ack! I donno!! is he dead or still alive? Maybe they can regrow limbs as well?? I'll cross my fingers for you!

[Hermycrabitat21]

OOO no! please let us know...

[Gab33]

Poor little guy.

Let us know how he is.

[Seasickboy]

How's your little male crab that lost his limbs?


(I loved reading this thread. I just read it from start to finish)

[wodesorel]

How's your little male crab that lost his limbs?

He didn't make it. I am really bummed! But something must have happened between when he was collected and when he was sent ot the store.

The other male is still kicking though and likes to hang off the land section!

Tash - that trick you mentioned with using paper towels - PERFECT! The water was wicking up and over the two sides I had cut down. I did some modifications today (it's rather hacked up now) and peeled away a thin line of the sand/epoxy so that there's no way for it to travel since there's a band of plastic now. Doesn't look nice, but it should keep it from flooding. I sucked out a quart of water using a turkey baster and then mixed in some dry peat moss to get everything back to a dryer consistency.

I also think the corkscrew rush isn't going to make it. It's turning brown.

The moneywort though is doing great!

[wodesorel]

Hubby surprised me with a new crab tonight. He ran to the store by himself, and I got a phone call not too long after:
"Honey? Which claw is supposed to be the big one on a fiddler crab?"
He had found a male with a reversed claw! His big claw is his left one, not the right one.

What he neglected to mention on the phone is just how tiny this thing is! All my others are at least three times his size. I managed to get two pictures before he ran off and hid somewhere.





Not to be outdone, the big male has been showing off all night:





Yeah, that claw is so heavy that he lets it sit on the substrate whenever he's not moving around!

[SoulLonely]

congrats on the newbie, I love tiny crabs!

I was at the pet store the other day and saw red claw crabs, I think. They looked different from fiddlers I think. Are they a different species?

[wodesorel]

They aren't an Uca (Fiddler) species. I'm pretty sure they're more land-based than fids as well. They are REALLY cute, aren't they? Their species is Sesarma Bidens, and I think they hail from Thailand. They do need large bodies of brackish water as well, though. I almost wish I had gone with them instead as my fids STILL haven't ventured onto land!

One more of the little new guy!

[SoulLonely]

ah, thanks for the info! The tank was right next to the hermits so it caught my eye and it definitely looked different than fiddlers, which is what they usually have

I can only imagine how small that guy is. Is he under an inch?

[wodesorel]

Legs and all, he's under an inch - his carapace is only about 1/2 inch. (As compared to the others, with carapaces around an inch, anyway.) None of them are enormous yet - I've seen them at the store where the males are 3 inches including legs and their big claw is as large as my thumb. My big guy is pretty big compared to the girls, but he has a ways to go yet before he reaches those sizes! (Thank heavens!)

[SoulLonely]

ohhh, a half inch carapace is super small! sweet

[Nethers]

Those huge claws on the males make them intimidating. Have you considered making a huge brackish/land tank that contained the hermits and the fiddlers since they each pretty much stay on separate area (land/water)?

Also, your blog is great. I've got to get one going.