Avoid using soft sandstones or limestones in the tank, since they may erode over time. Pour slightly brackish, dechlorinated water on the other side of the tank. Fiddler crabs in nature live on ocean shores where the water is brackish but not as salty as seawater. Purchase marine salt at your local pet store and mix it with dechlorinated water to create brackish water.
The crabs will die in freshwater and saltwater in less than 2 weeks. Always use marine salt when making brackish water. Freshwater aquarium salt will not work. Method 2. Clip a thermometer onto the glass inside the tank so you can easily see the interior temperature. To keep the temperature consistent, purchase a reptile-specific heat lamp.
Attach it to the side of the tank over the side with substrate to create a hot spot for the crabs. Spray mist into the tank every 2—3 days to keep humidity levels high. To keep the tank humid, fill a plastic spray bottle with dechlorinated water.
Twist the spray-bottle nozzle so it shoots out a fine mist, and spray this over the substrate side of the tank at least 2 times a week. Since fiddler crabs eat and excrete in their tanks, the water will quickly get dirty. Use a water bucket and a flexible tube or hose to siphon the dirty water out of the bottom of the tank.
Then, mix another batch of brackish water, and refill the tank with the new, clean water. Method 3. Feed your fiddler crabs a variety of vegetable foods every days. Pet stores sell vegetable-based food pellets that are specifically designed for crabs.
Give each of your crabs 1 small handful of these pellets daily. Fiddlers also eat a variety of fibrous vegetables and greens, so give each crab 4—5 vegetable slivers each week. Fiddler crabs have small mouths. Give your fiddlers protein at least 3—4 times a week.
Brackish water fiddler crabs are scavengers and they eat whatever they can find. Although they can survive on only vegetable food sources, fiddler crabs will thrive when protein is included in their diets. You can give the crabs their protein at the same time you feed them pellets or vegetable-based foods.
They are in a 10 gallon tank. We have a large log that allows them to get out of the water. We have 3 Gourmies, a couple of ghost shrimp and an algae eater. Just FYI. Everyone has been happily living in their community for about a year now. Thank you for your comment. I would love to know what pet store you purchased yours from.
I got two and both of mine ended up dying within a week. So unless I just bought them from a poor supplier I am really unsure what went wrong. This is good information to care for fiddler crabs but I just wanted to note the salinity range or specific gravity of the water.
I think there might just have been a typo but I am assuming the writer meant 1. Anything above 1. Overall, the article helped me and was really informative. These crabs require brackish water. Point blank. I see multiple people in here just completely shrugging away the fact that they need to have salt mixed into their water. Not tablesalt either.
I bought a fiddler crab at Petco 4 months ago. Freshwater tank. I read up on him and immediately got him a 10 gal tank, sand sea salt and the food he requires. Never again will I allow this to happen!
Thanks for the info on these crabs. Petco should know better also! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Fishkeeping World is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon. Aquarium Pets. August 10, Robert. October 16, Robert. About Robert Articles. Robert Woods is the creator of FishKeeping World, a third-generation fish keeper, and a graduate in animal welfare and behavior.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Fiddler crabs are fun to watch and fairly easy to keep as pets, with few health concerns and docile personalities. Their housing takes up minimal space, and there are many commercial foods available to provide them with a balanced diet.
Unlike land hermit crabs , fiddler crabs spend a lot of their time in water. In the wild, they retreat to muddy burrows as the ocean tide goes out. In addition to digging burrows, picking up food, and defending themselves, fiddler crabs also use their claws to communicate.
They will raise and lower their claws like a wave, which alerts other crabs to their presence. In general, fiddler crabs are calm and quiet creatures that rarely display aggression. They can be kept with other crabs of their species, but you must watch out for males fighting over territory or a female in the tank.
Fiddler crabs should be handled as little as possible, as this can cause them undue stress. Plus, they might pinch you with their claws if you frighten them. Instead, simply enjoy watching them as they move about their tank.
And expect to spend just a few hours per week on feedings and keeping the tank clean. Provide at least a gallon aquarium if you have one to four fiddler crabs. Add 3 to 5 more gallons of tank space per each additional crab. Overcrowding is a major source of stress for crabs, and it can lead to health problems and aggression.
Make sure the tank has a secure lid with ventilation such as a mesh screen , as fiddler crabs can climb out of their tank when given the chance. To mimic their natural habitat, fiddler crabs in captivity need brackish water and a dry land area in their aquarium.
You can create this by sloping sand down from one side of the tank to the other. Then, fill the tank so that water covers roughly half the sand. The water only needs to be a few inches deep. You also can place some large rocks in the water to create small islands that the crab can climb onto.
Plus, you can add some plastic or live aquarium plants , pieces of driftwood, and other decorations to enrich the environment. Use an aquarium water conditioner available at most pet stores to remove chlorine from the water. Search Advanced search…. Search forums. Log in. Install the app. Contact us. Close Menu. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
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Plz Help. New Fiddler Crab Owners. My kiddos on a whI'm decided to buy a fiddler crab from Wal-Mart he was swimming in all freshwater at the store w no land.
We brought him home in prob a 3 gallon tank and within a day moved him to a 10 gallon as we researched. He walked around for maybe half a day and not that much and then has just stopped moving. Did we traumatize him w all the moves to get his home right or is he in the molting process? He's not on his side or upside down, just kind of tilted a tiny bit to the right. Hes bubbling from his mouth and occasionally moves a leg very slowly.
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