so i'm giving up on planted freshwater for good! my 10 gallon tank will, within a few months, be converted into a red claw crab terranium/aquarium. i've been reading ALOT on them, and i've got this much for a plan:
-the tank will be split to 1/3 sandy beach and 2/3 water. they need brackish water and a little calcium to properly molt. the water will only be half filled.
-a driftwood branch or two, possibly a mangrove propagule. also i will put some rocks on the beach to make a cave or something. i heard they dig in the sand also.
-i've found a small in-tank filter that would fit. it's perfect. also i've found a small nano heater. so water maintence is set.
-to aerate the sand and keep it moist for the crabs to burrow in, im thinking of putting a screen to seperate the beach sand from the tank. this way, water can flow through, and sand can't. also, the crabs might be able to climb on the screen. it's win-win.
-im thinking of getting 3 crabs. 1 male, 2 female. i think i have the sexing down, but i'll get better at it once it's time to buy the critters.
there might be more that i've left out, but just so far, what do u guys think? i'm pretty excited about this, i think crabs are really really cool. i've had 2 in my brackish tank but one climbed out and one was eaten alive by my puffer (they lived happily together for months, but at feeding time one day the crab fell off some driftwood and the puffer thought he was the meal, and bit him. then i guessed he liked the taste cuz it turned into a crab-puffer battle, that ended up puffer 1, crab 0)
-the tank will be split to 1/3 sandy beach and 2/3 water. they need brackish water and a little calcium to properly molt. the water will only be half filled.
-a driftwood branch or two, possibly a mangrove propagule. also i will put some rocks on the beach to make a cave or something. i heard they dig in the sand also.
-i've found a small in-tank filter that would fit. it's perfect. also i've found a small nano heater. so water maintence is set.
-to aerate the sand and keep it moist for the crabs to burrow in, im thinking of putting a screen to seperate the beach sand from the tank. this way, water can flow through, and sand can't. also, the crabs might be able to climb on the screen. it's win-win.
-im thinking of getting 3 crabs. 1 male, 2 female. i think i have the sexing down, but i'll get better at it once it's time to buy the critters.
there might be more that i've left out, but just so far, what do u guys think? i'm pretty excited about this, i think crabs are really really cool. i've had 2 in my brackish tank but one climbed out and one was eaten alive by my puffer (they lived happily together for months, but at feeding time one day the crab fell off some driftwood and the puffer thought he was the meal, and bit him. then i guessed he liked the taste cuz it turned into a crab-puffer battle, that ended up puffer 1, crab 0)