# A list of available freshwater crabs



## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

hey guys.
does anybody have a list of truly freshwater crabs ?
truly freshwater, as in not something that can breed and live in brackish, but people keep 'em freshwater like red claws


thanks


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## The Hypnotoad (Oct 24, 2011)

I dont have a list but I will say to remember that most crabs sold in fish shops (such as the "Red claw") require a platform out of the water to live and will constantly try to escape when they want to get out of the water.

Personally Ive seen that most freshwater crabs should be in specimen tanks, they are really bad community fish.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

yea, i know that mate !
if i can't find any other f.w crabs, then i'll settle with a group of 6 ish red claws, which would need a small amount of salt.

i love where you live by the way.. s****horpe


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

what about micro crabs are they purely fresh water


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## hedwigdan (Apr 17, 2011)

"Geosesarma" species are all fully freshwater Tom, breed in it aswell. The young go through the larval stage inside the egg and hatch fully formed crabs :2thumb:
They do well in a setup similar to dart frogs I think


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

hedwigdan said:


> "Geosesarma" species are all fully freshwater Tom, breed in it aswell. The young go through the larval stage inside the egg and hatch fully formed crabs :2thumb:
> They do well in a setup similar to dart frogs I think


these would be my recommendation as well, Geosesarma are lovly little crabs. 

jay


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Spikebrit said:


> these would be my recommendation as well, Geosesarma are lovly little crabs.
> 
> jay


Thirded! They're cute.


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## Moogloo (Mar 15, 2010)

The Geosarma are the ones sold as Vampire Crabs a lot of the time, either the purple and yellow variation or the red ones sometimes sold as Mandarin Crabs.

There is also Thai? Micro Crabs but they are so tiny I thought they would be a comeplete PITA as I saw them being picked on by neons LOL...though saying that... they would look epic in my Fluval Spec!!... hmmmm

I have a customer with a great ExoTerra settup for Red Claw Crabs! He has a filter and the 2-3" of water at the bottom with salt in and then mangrove root branches and the plastic sucker plants. His crabs are the biggest I have ever seen! Fist sized! I mean.. they were big when I got them in but now they are massive! He knows each one and when its going to shed and he can 'hand feed' them with the feeding tongs. He has 5 in the 45cm x 45xm x 45cm (or whichever was the closest cube size).

Have also seen some ace setups for the Geosarma and the fact that you could have them as a breeding project would be a huge bonus IMO! I would use a longer tank for them and get a bit of glass about 3" x width of tank (easy to get from any glazier!) and silicone it in dividing up the tank into 2/3 + 1/3. I would fill 2/3 with 3" of sand or forrest soil stuff (the one you get in blocks to soak!) and the other 1/3 with water (or maybe 50/50 depending on tank size!) and I would use corkbark tunnels tipped up and burried into sand as 'plant pots' to protect plants from the crabs and plant Dracenia and Ophioghon bog plants in there. Would use flat slate to create steps in and out of the water for the crabs to use and then have fun, maybe creating a bridge to climb on out of silicone and slate... maybe a shallow reptile dish with water as well...


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

ahh, vampire crabs. the spider shop has those in.
does anybody here keep them and have photos of eir house?

thanks for that one guys


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## hedwigdan (Apr 17, 2011)

Hey mate, if your really interested go to the crustacean's forum on Bugnation


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## obrowell (Jan 8, 2010)

I used to keep a couple of vampire crabs and found them fascinating to keep. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of their set up, but here are a few pics of the crabs...
























The little white dish was used as their feeding station and allowed me to keep their water area cleaner.


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