29G Brackish

[wodesorel]

I wouldn't know how to make the one large tank work with what we have right now. (And I had thought about it. ) The fids need a lot of water space, and the hermits need a lot of land space. I was also worried about potential leaks since it would have to be a custom job. If I could do something insanely massive (like 250 or 500 gallon) then yeah, in a heartbeat! I'd move a 20 gallon tank into the front corner of the larger one, seal around the two sides so nothing fell between the two panes of glass, and have that as a brackish party place!

We got a nerite snail on Saturday. I brought him home and put him in a cup so I could slowly raise the salinity levels since he was in fresh at the store. At some point while we were out that evening he escaped the cup and made it into the tank proper, and I haven't seen him since.

[Nethers]

I wouldn't know how to make the one large tank work with what we have right now. (And I had thought about it. ) The fids need a lot of water space, and the hermits need a lot of land space. I was also worried about potential leaks since it would have to be a custom job. If I could do something insanely massive (like 250 or 500 gallon) then yeah, in a heartbeat! I'd move a 20 gallon tank into the front corner of the larger one, seal around the two sides so nothing fell between the two panes of glass, and have that as a brackish party place!

We got a nerite snail on Saturday. I brought him home and put him in a cup so I could slowly raise the salinity levels since he was in fresh at the store. At some point while we were out that evening he escaped the cup and made it into the tank proper, and I haven't seen him since.

Oh Sneaky little bugger. I was excited to hear about a few critters in the same tank.

[SoulLonely]

haha, he just didn't want to wait! hope he's doing good

[wodesorel]

So the snail is finally out and cruising around on a regular basis. Not really sure what he's eating or thinking or really doing, but he's cute.








And for the first time tonight we caught the big guy doing "Hey Pretty Ladies!" I am so happy right now! We watched him for a good 20 minutes and then thought it best to turn off the lights and let him keep going on in peace. Hopefully some of the ladies will take interest.

[Gab33]

Very cute snail!

And cute fiddler too!

[teamtahoe]

Awesome snail! What kind is it? I have a yellow snail.
Cool Fiddlers, too! Can you keep them in 10 g tanks?

[wodesorel]

So I was going to do an update today on how well the crabs were doing, and how I haven't lost any more since the move. I really think that pulling the heater and keeping them at room temp is what did it - they're around 70-72 degrees now. I realized earlier this week that they had all started dying when I used a heater and warmed it up to 78 for them. Since I'm not completely sure of their species, it's likely they are a more northern species (like the ones found all the way up to Massachusetts) rather than the more tropical species that are found from the Carolinas southwards. All I know is they're back to eating and moving around and molting. (Lots of molting!)

However, one of the females is belly up at the bottom of the tank and is having trouble moving today. I don't know if this is normal molting behavior or if she's dying I'm really worried and she's been like this for four hours now. Ah well, guess I can't do anything but wait it out. *crosses fingers*

On a happier note - the baby male thinks he's a hermit crab and likes to hide up inside the shells. Here's a photo when he came out to eat:

[wodesorel]

I've been archiving the Activism forum, and I think it made me want to stand up and do something, so I e-mailed Walmart last night about the condition of the Fiddler Crabs in the store closest to me. I'm sure I won't get a response, but I wanted to try anyway. I signed it with my hubby's name and information (with his permission of course), because I thought I might have had a better chance of it getting read if it was from a man. (No, I'm not paranoid about the way women are treated when they complain. :roll: )

Here's a copy

Hello,

I am writing about the Fiddler Crabs that seem to be a new addition to the fish section of my local Walmart. I've been very disappointed with the way these animals have been cared for. I can understand the need to keep them in a small cup, but it seems that food is allowed to rot and foul the water to point where it is killing them. Twice in the last month I have gone in to look at them, only to find every crab on the shelf dead. The first time it was five, the second time it was all nine that had died and some had been dead so long that they were growing fungus. I'm there shopping a few times a week as it's where I get all my groceries, and have been checking for healthy fiddler crabs at each visit. The new crabs that have been coming in have all been ill or dying - they have missing legs, or aren't moving, or barely have enough energy to lift a claw.

It seems that the employees have not been given instructions on how to feed and care for them? I have asked the pet care employees several times about them and was told they keep receiving the crabs as a mistake and they have no information on them. It looks like they're constantly overfeeding them with the shrimp available in the fish section, but they are not taking the time to rinse the gavel and clean the water. (Fiddler crabs eat very little and one small shrimp would be enough for days - the containers always have six to eight shrimp in them.) The smell coming off of the cups where there are live crabs is a nauseating rotten fish smell, and the two times I purchased fiddler crabs the cashiers turned green while ringing them up.

Some deaths will always occur when harvesting and transporting creatures from the wild, but to see the entire shelf full of dead crabs shows that something more is going on. It was heartbreaking to see not only the dead ones, but the live ones showing signs of dying with dropped limbs, bubbles at the mouth, and being stiff and barely moving. Not to mention that the smell coming off that area was enough to make several other customers react strongly enough to swing wide and avoid the fish section altogether. Changing the water once a day would keep them healthy, and would also get rid of the fishy odor.

I'm also concerned that the crabs are possibly being kept in fresh water. All fiddler crab species are wild-caught and are brackish water animals and they will die when kept in fresh water. I made sure that the two crabs I purchased had arrived at that store the same day becuase of this, and both are doing well. They are a great species to keep and are fun to watch, but I don't believe a lot of people realize that fiddler crabs come from estuaries and are not meant to live in freshwater. It would be wonderful to see some general information about them posted where they are sold so that other customers can have a better chance at having them thrive and be able to enjoy having them as pets.

Thank you for your time,
Hubby (His real name went here )

[SoulLonely]

Sounds good Hope it stirs them to think and take some sort of action

[wodesorel]

Sounds good Hope it stirs them to think and take some sort of action

I think it may have!!!

Yesterday hubby got a call at work from the Store Manager asking him for more information. She said that they don't have outside internet access at the store and are not able to look up information, and that she herself was not very well versed on the fish department. She asked him a bunch of questions, and he gave her the information that he could stressing that they mainly just need fresh water on a regular basis (something that won't cost them anything), and she said she'd look into it more!

Granted, it is Walmart and that's not saying that things will change, but I thought it was amazing that they called that quickly for a follow-up. Everything I had heard about Walmart says to never expect a response (I never got one when I complained about something else), so I am really excited about this.

[wolfnipplechips]

Woohooo!!!! That's awesome!!

[wodesorel]

Yeah

(I blame working on cleaning up the Activism forum. Read enough of those threads in the Archives and you will be inspired to do something, even if it's firing off a polite e-mail! )

[Rocky]

I looked all through this thread (holy, lots of it! ) and i cant find out what happened to the eggs, did any hatch or are the mamas still carrying them around?
I love your fids! I tried having one once, but I did what you did when you first tried, i had no idea he needed so much

[wodesorel]

I looked all through this thread (holy, lots of it! ) and i cant find out what happened to the eggs, did any hatch or are the mamas still carrying them around?

Nope, no babies. (I didn't think there would be - they need a full marine set-up like hermit crab babies.) All but two of the original females died as well when I added the heater, so I'm not even sure if either of the mothers are still with me. Hubby caught the ladies eyeing up the big male the other night when he was doing his dance, so maybe there will be more soon! Even if they can't hatch the eggs I think of it being a sign of them being healthy.

[Rocky]

And even if they can't hatch theyre probably a healthy snack for the crabbies.. Its really cool how the moms carry the eggs around and take care of them hopefully they 'get to it' ( ) and make some more