29G Brackish

[aussieJJDude]

That is sooo cool! It is like a upside-down afro!

[wodesorel]

I cleaned the tank yesterday and put in some new goodies from Alaska Hermit. I am in love with the giant clam shells she has. Can't wait until I can use them for a built-in climbable background in the new tank!





(I didn't see the salt dribble until after I got the photos. :roll:)


Random shots









The little guy from the previous video. Love that little round claw!



Another one of Preggers. She's been hanging out in the same spot near the front for days now.



The really big guy. He's been displaying so much near the lights that he's now covered in live algae.





And finally, a minute and a half video of a fiddler crab, eating. I don't know why. I had the camera and she was being cooperative.
http://youtu.be/OXB6JrrofSQ

[wodesorel]

Pet shop got in new guppies yesterday. Could not pass up bringing home five of them tonight!

There are three that have the dark tails like this guy:



And then one of the new guys and the rear end of the new adult preggo female. (Yay! Mystery babies. )



And then I couldn't pass up this teal beauty on the right. (The other yellow one was born here.)

[SoulLonely]

What pretty guppies! Love the black and red ones! and the snake skins1

[Ladysun1969]

Love this thread, thanks wodesorel!!

Here's a pic of my red claw crabitat. I am still at half sand half water. I got the sand from the beach, just above the receding tide line, so it was damp but not soaking wet. I mixed it 5:1 with Eco earth. So far, there's been no problem with smelly sand. Keeping fingers crossed.

I've had 5 or 6 larval releases, 3 in the last 2 days! So my ladies are enjoying the male's company, too.

I started out with 3 males and 8 females, but lost one male and one female the first week due to bad molts. I've lost another female since then, so I think I've got 8 left. I'm not sure if I have one or two males left, as I never see more than one at a time, but I think they're not the same crab.

Anyway, here's the pic.




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[Ladysun1969]

Oh! I use large apple snail shells as hidy holes. The crabs love them! (Those snails are illegal to own in Cali, so I buy the shells on eBay from people in Florida, where they are everywhere!)


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[wodesorel]

Neat looking tank! How long have you had it set up? Do you have any trouble with ammonia or nitrate with the sloped land section? I had to abandon that kind of set up pretty quick because I couldn't keep the water parameters safe for the fids.

[Ladysun1969]

It's been about 6 weeks now, but the filter & gravel were already mature from another freshwater tank (I acclimated them over the course of 4 weeks to 1.010, along with the krebbes). Plus I didn't wash the beach sand, so it had lots of bacteria, too, and I think the EE helps, too.

I top off with fresh water whenever the water level gets below the top of the sponge filter & change the water completely every 4 days or so. So far so good on the water parameters.

And no smell ... Yet. I do a sniff test every day & if it starts to smell, I will consider one of your beautiful designs!


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[happycrabbymama]

Thanks for all the info Wode... I really appreciate it. Tomorrow we are off to the home improvement store for supplies and this and that. I will be getting some pvc, aquarium safe silicone and play sand to build the fiddler tower, similar to yours. Once we are done I will post pics. Right now we have the floating plants and the water is pretty close to the top of the tank and they climb right from the plants to hang upside down on the screen lid. And we have been watching the two males do their "HEY, LADIES!" wave and dance. HILARIOUS!!! I thought my daughter was going to pee herself. It was so funny to watch her mimicking the crabs. She says "Wave your claws in the air... wave'em like ya just don't care! And if you like shrimp as much as I do... everybody in the tank say YEAH!" while waving one arm back and forth while the other arm was doing these short little movements. We kept going in her room to watch them and she was like "Why are you people coming in here to look at my crabs??? Get out!!! This is a private show!" Not sure if she meant the crab dancing was a private show or if her hip hop antics were the private show. She is such a dork... LOL... Awwwww kids... Thanks again! They were definitely a GREAT addition to our already crazy clan!

[wodesorel]

The fiddler crab tank is feeling spring-y, even if the rest of Ohio isn't! There's at least three ladies carrying massive amount of eggs right now. I think there may be two more that have taken to living in the filter who are also in berry!

[Ladysun1969]

Happy crabs in berry! Yay!


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[wodesorel]

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated!

8 of the crabs are still with us, but we lost two females due to them escaping. (I still don't know how, the tank was taped tight.) We found two more in early summer and brought them home, and came home last night with another 8 (!) since that's the first time we've seen females for sale in our area again. These newest 8 are for sure the same species that we started with in Sept. 2011. We still have one original female with us, and of course the same big guy from last time. He was throwing a snit today because of the remodel! So, no photos of him right now. I'll try again tomorrow.

In March, I attempted to figure out what species we do have, but gave up when it became obvious there are no ID guides for the females, just for the males. Even then, our male has a very long and thin claw (possibly due to lack of use in captivity) and it does not match with any of the guides. So... I have Uca whatevers. I'm thinking we may have 3 separate species, possibly even four.



The newest tank remodel, finished last night. I try to tear the tank apart, stir up the substrate and gravel vacuum it really well at least twice a year. That gives me a chance to move things around, try now things, and keep the tank interesting.





Some shots of the fids:











And of the guppies (of which there are maybe a dozen left):






One one photo of one of the nerite snails. She's also the original snail that we got nearly three years ago. She has a much smaller buddy that's a different species, but she was off eating somewhere I couldn't see.

[aussieJJDude]

Love the updates!
Wod, I thought that these were amphibious? Don't they require land & water?

Beautiful fish, crabs & snails.

[wodesorel]

They have to be able to climb out of the water, but they don't have to have true land. I tore out the real land sections maybe two years ago? due to flooding problems. There was a platform in the tank until yesterday, but it was just under the surface of the water since I had to rig it to stay where it was. They never used it. The top of the tank now is a solid raft of plastic plants, along with two corner caddies and a soap dish. They mostly sit half-submerged, so it works out perfect for them as there's more areas for them to do so. I am planning on giving them a U shaped land area when we create the 36 gallon bowfront for them (if I can ever find a cheap stand), but it won't be very big. Just large enough for them to run around a bit.

More pics. The male finally decided to come out again, and then he put on a show for the new ladies!










More ladies. I don't know why they always demonic with the flash. In normal light they're quite demure and cute:
















(This one kept trying to attack the camera....)

And then the Tiger Nerite snail and two of the guppies:

[CallaLily]

Looks great! The snail is my favorite but the crabs and guppies are cute too!