How many crabs?

[jarteta97]

So I just set up my new 90 gallon tank. It has a substrate divider, so that I have half of it with a 1:5 eco earth mixture and half of it with a mix of play sand and all purpose sand. The substrate is 10", and leaves me with 14" of vertical space. I have a substantial second level of 3 large shower caddies (soon to be 4), a large bonsai tree ornament (most of you know what I am talking about), and cholla wood. I plan to order some more cholla wood and make a jungle, such as the one in Kuza's crabitat. I have a salt and fresh water bowl, and plan to upgrade those both to 2.5 gallon tanks.

I have 9 crabs in the tank, 2 near jumbos, 2 large, 3 medium, and 2 small. I am most certainly ordering 2-3 straws in the very near future (before the cold comes) to give buddies to my one straw.

My question is for your advice. How many crabs would you say that I could have in this tank? Could I fit another species in, or would straws and pps be too much?

I should be getting pics up soon.

[Drakezilla]

There should be a sticky at the top of this forum to help:

viewtopic.php?t=92541

but never the less this may interest you:

viewtopic.php?t=90810

There are multiple opinions on exotics, the consensus is usually the bigger the better as they tend to get stressed in small spaces.

However, everyone has a different opinion on how they should be housed, but if there is room within the guidelines plus growing room (exotics tend to get a bit bigger than your average PP) I think it should work, just remember they need a species buddy. They also require precise care as well! So be sure you are able to offer that.

If I'm wrong, someone feel free to correct me.

[jarteta97]

Thanks for the help. I know it's pretty flexible, so I really just like to hear people's personal opinions, especially those with exotics or large tanks.

[moonbeam]

I have no experience with exotics and can't really chime in but I bet your two would really appreciate species buddies... Plus there's always upgrading down the road


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[wodesorel]

I've always been of the opinion that PPs are fine jumbled in together, but exotics need a whole lotta space to themselves. If I had any exotics my tanks would have 1/4 the crabs they do now for safety.

[jarteta97]

Here's a pic of the tat if that helps:



I know that specific parameters can differ from tank to tank. I plan on getting larger pools, and a larger second level, consisting of another shower caddy and TONS of cholla wood to go around the tank. I'll also add more fake vines to the rim for climbing. If I did all that, do you think that 17 crabs, 8 of them being exotics, would be too much? I'm going off of the assumption that each exotic would need three species buddies, making it 4 of each species of exotic.

Like I said, I'm really looking for personal opinion. Would you do this? I really do respect your opinions, so that's why I'm asking for advice.

[YYWW]

I can only input regarding Es.
4 Es is prob the absolute most i would keep in your tank. I'm assuming that partition in the sub runs through to the back of the tank, meaning each sub type has been cut in half. The benefit to that is that each molter is blocked from half of the tunnelers. The bad news is that each tunneler only has half the tunneling space. My 3 Es make an absolute travesty out of my once minimalist 75gal. It had small pools and about 8 inches of sub, and they put lots of holes, mounds and waves into the sub. If the sub surface was any indication of the underground, these crabs are ALL OVER THE PLACE, and FAST! I see them dig down on top of each other all the time, seeming to favor going down at the same spots, and coming up in all different places. I believe they are just tearing the place up. Without an optimum amount of space to lay waste to, I do believe they will start attacking each other or the peaceful PPs.
3 Es is the most I'd keep in my 75gal for now, along with my 2 PPs, but I like a low level of stress and anxiety. If I wanted to add more to the family, I plan to redo the sub by putting in below ground structures that act as a network of pillars, that crabs would tunnel against and around, in order to slightly traffic jam the place. All my crabs just seem to like the same things, so I have to assume how they would act in a cluster instead of thinking they will each spread out to their own haven.
Sorry for rambling i hope my message gets delivered properly, because I'm more on the conservative side with Es. I would be absolutely terrified of any violence in my tank. In the end, it might not even have anything to do with my tank size.


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[jarteta97]

Oh yeah, I don't plan on having e's. I've had them before, and even though I had the right parameters, they all never made it. Then again, I did get them from pitiful conditions, so they never made it through their first molt. If I were to get e's again, it would be in their own separate tank. I know those guys can be aggressive and all over the place! I have one straw, so I'm definitely getting her some species buddies. My only other desire would be getting maybe some blueberries or violas.

Does anyone know how blues or violas get along with other species?

[YYWW]

I was thinking the same exact thing.

And on that note, even if you were only housing PPs you have essentially taken the 40gb footprint and cut it in half, virtually putting each crab into something like a 15gal, once they go down to molt.


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