# Fluval Edge Vivarium



## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

So a couple years ago i bought this fluval edge 6 gallon tank. It once housed some fish that eventually died but its been empty for some years now. I turned it into a vivarium with a small water feature replenished by a misting system. im wondering what i can house in it .. im thinking only vampire crabs would work though.. any ideas? I plan on adding some moss to grow emmersed.
what do you think?


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## Papa Mcknight (Feb 3, 2014)

Most aquatic plants and mosses will grow well emersed in your kind of setup, should look into covering your substrate in some as they often change slightly in appearance. I've been looking into Geosesarma for quite a while and think they'd work well in there


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## luke1983 (Aug 25, 2008)

I think it looks great already. Some more greenery will only improve things. Some crabs would be great too!


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Thanks .. Any ideas for ground cover aside from mosses or riccia?.. Im looking for something low profile


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## Papa Mcknight (Feb 3, 2014)

Hemianthus callitrichoides cuba is one of the smallest leafed plants that will give good ground cover. Try looking at online aquatic plant sellers in the foreground plant section, if you like the look of any just google them along with the word "emersed" to see if they will work


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Im thinking of adding some aquatic isopods for some live food.. i just caught a pair mating in my shrimp tank .. What do you think?


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Papa Mcknight said:


> Hemianthus callitrichoides cuba is one of the smallest leafed plants that will give good ground cover. Try looking at online aquatic plant sellers in the foreground plant section, if you like the look of any just google them along with the word "emersed" to see if they will work


Thanks!!


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## Papa Mcknight (Feb 3, 2014)

BSteell said:


> Im thinking of adding some aquatic isopods for some live food.. i just caught a pair mating in my shrimp tank .. What do you think?


Which kind? I've only ever seen Geosesarma hunting food on land, usually fruit flies. Could try adding springtails to the land section, they're used as vivarium clean up crew alongside isopods like tropical woodlice. They could serve as a complimentary food source for younger crabs maybe, and plus they wouldn't drown as they don't break the surface of the water which is quite cool.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Papa Mcknight said:


> Which kind? I've only ever seen Geosesarma hunting food on land, usually fruit flies. Could try adding springtails to the land section, they're used as vivarium clean up crew alongside isopods like tropical woodlice. They could serve as a complimentary food source for younger crabs maybe, and plus they wouldn't drown as they don't break the surface of the water which is quite cool.


I have Asellus aquaticus breeding right now I got them from a lab supply they are 100% CBB.. I have springtails in the substrate already they seem to like the Red Root Floater i have in there 










I also added 1 Malaysian Trumpet Snail .. im thinking about removing it and adding some small pond snails instead (Just egg cases).. My idea is that they come out of the water at times and the adult crabs can eat them too! Im also thinking of adding an airstone but im afraid the crabs will climb out..

Maybe if i add a piece of acrylic with holes for tubing over the back lip to prevent escapes?.. Thoughts?


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

I will also be adding some Azolla as floating foilage


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## Papa Mcknight (Feb 3, 2014)

Personally I wouldn't bother with the airstone aslong I had a decent amount of plants in there, especially with floating plants as they're gunna remove nitrates from such a small water area. Just small water changes every now and then would probably be ok.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Papa Mcknight said:


> Personally I wouldn't bother with the airstone aslong I had a decent amount of plants in there, especially with floating plants as they're gunna remove nitrates from such a small water area. Just small water changes every now and then would probably be ok.



Great point! Thanks.. i added the Asellus i figured if the crabs dont eat them they will act as an under water clean up crew and maybe the crab will catch them if they go in the shallower parts near the land... I hope i find some Geosesarma sp to add to it at the reptile show this weekend..


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## Papa Mcknight (Feb 3, 2014)

Be sure to post pics if you do


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

BSteell said:


> Great point! Thanks.. i added the Asellus i figured if the crabs dont eat them they will act as an under water clean up crew and maybe the crab will catch them if they go in the shallower parts near the land... I hope i find some Geosesarma sp to add to it at the reptile show this weekend..




What is asellus???


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

vukic said:


> What is asellus???


They are aquatic isopods that eat detritus.


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## vukic (Apr 9, 2010)

Ahhhh... Skuds, I have some of those ... Lol.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

vukic said:


> Ahhhh... Skuds, I have some of those ... Lol.


not quite though they arevery similar to scuds .. scuds belong to gammarus sp they are ventrally flattened to the dorsally flattened asellus sp


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Here is a pic with the night lights on


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

BSteell said:


> So a couple years ago i bought this fluval edge 6 gallon tank. It once housed some fish that eventually died but its been empty for some years now. I turned it into a vivarium with a small water feature replenished by a misting system. im wondering what i can house in it .. im thinking only vampire crabs would work though.. any ideas? I plan on adding some moss to grow emmersed.
> what do you think?
> image
> image


Looks great already .... I have no idea what the second photo is showing though


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Zincubus said:


> Looks great already .... I have no idea what the second photo is showing though



Thanks!!! Its just showing whats under the top hood.. i attached a computer fan above the LED lights to increase ventilation to keep mold from growing..


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

BSteell said:


> Thanks!!! Its just showing whats under the top hood.. i attached a computer fan above the LED lights to increase ventilation to keep mold from growing..


To keep the electrics / light bulbs dry ??


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Zincubus said:


> To keep the electrics / light bulbs dry ??


no the top of the fluval edge has a very small opening in the top that is only big enough for my hand .. this causes a problem with proper ventilation.. to solve this i added the fan to circulate air in the whole terrarium. Here is a pic from a manufacturer Hagen Fluval Edge Aquarium, Replacement Tank Only


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## Papa Mcknight (Feb 3, 2014)

Zincubus said:


> To keep the electrics / light bulbs dry ??


Having internal air circulation stops conditions inside becoming stagnant yet keeping humidity up. When people put fans on top of vivariums, blowing air in or out moves air around but either pulls humid air out or dry air, ruining humidity levels


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Papa Mcknight said:


> Be sure to post pics if you do



Here you go .. I bought 5 of them at first glance when i bought them they all looked the same but under my lights they looked like 2 species so i separated them.. the pics where taken before separation .. can someone confirm if they are the same species or not .. I know colors change as they get older .. anyway here are the pics!!


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

So these are the Vampire crabs ??? Dare I ask what they eat .... plus what kind of temps ..


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

Zincubus said:


> So these are the Vampire crabs ??? Dare I ask what they eat .... plus what kind of temps ..


they are insectivorous they Day Temps: 24-28°C (75-82°F) / Night Temps: 20-24°C (68-75°F)


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

They are all Geosesarma sp. Colours are very variable so they may be the same species, though it could be one of the other species of Geosesarma.

On the bottom image the one with a partly white carapace is female (much smaller claws) and the one with the brown carapace is male.

Does the substrate hold up for burrowing?


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

FishForLife2001 said:


> They are all Geosesarma sp. Colours are very variable so they may be the same species, though it could be one of the other species of Geosesarma.
> 
> On the bottom image the one with a partly white carapace is female (much smaller claws) and the one with the brown carapace is male.
> 
> Does the substrate hold up for burrowing?


Thanks.. I used Fluval Stratum Substrate.. I imagine it is but im not sure.. Its good for freshwater shrimps and i saw it used in other setups online so i figured it would work well.. in the past i used coconut husk but it made the water acidic from the tannins.. any ideas or sugestions?


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

BSteell said:


> Thanks.. I used Fluval Stratum Substrate.. I imagine it is but im not sure.. Its good for freshwater shrimps and i saw it used in other setups online so i figured it would work well.. in the past i used coconut husk but it made the water acidic from the tannins.. any ideas or sugestions?


I have no idea if it does work but it looks as if it won't work for burrowing (they make long term burrows to live in). Can you make any underground caves? You could probably get a water bottle and cut a lot off the top, so you get a piece a crab fits into and push it into the above-water substrate, or cover it with moss and place it anywhere.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

FishForLife2001 said:


> I have no idea if it does work but it looks as if it won't work for burrowing (they make long term burrows to live in). Can you make any underground caves? You could probably get a water bottle and cut a lot off the top, so you get a piece a crab fits into and push it into the above-water substrate, or cover it with moss and place it anywhere.



I redid the tank according to your recommendation for burrowing.. I used the extra live moss that is very thick to give them areas to burrow under the secured rocks.. this also gives them a larger and area less water though .. Feedback anyone!


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

I like it! The reduced water doesn't matter, they are pretty much land dwelling but occasionally go into water.


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## Zincubus (Sep 6, 2010)

BSteell said:


> I redid the tank according to your recommendation for burrowing.. I used the extra live moss that is very thick to give them areas to burrow under the secured rocks.. this also gives them a larger and area less water though .. Feedback anyone!
> 
> image


Well it looks absolutely amazing to me !


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

FishForLife2001 said:


> I like it! The reduced water doesn't matter, they are pretty much land dwelling but occasionally go into water.


Thanks .. I was reading more about them and i heard that some iodine is helpful to their molting process.. after thinking about supplementing them with some i decided to add some algae from my fishtank.. i read that algae is full of many proteins and iodine .. it helped allot when i was breeding Orange crayfish some years ago even though i wasn't supplementing iodine... the crabs seem to munch on the algae every now and then.



Zincubus said:


> Well it looks absolutely amazing to me !


Thanks .. here are some pics i took today .. i added a branch i had in a 10gal "greenhouse" setup for growing moss on objects..


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

BSteell said:


> Thanks .. I was reading more about them and i heard that some iodine is helpful to their molting process.. after thinking about supplementing them with some i decided to add some algae from my fishtank.. i read that algae is full of many proteins and iodine .. it helped allot when i was breeding Orange crayfish some years ago even though i wasn't supplementing iodine... the crabs seem to munch on the algae every now and then.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I wouldn't bother with iodine. You have to be careful because it can be deadly if overdosed which is easy to do, especially when it is impossible to calculate water displacement and evaporation. You could get some freeze dried shrimp. These still have shells on so the crabs can eat the shells to get the chitin which can be used in making their own shells. I haven't found that iodine supplementation is needed with my crabs (Psuadosesarma moeshi) and these are bigger so use more to make their shells.


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

BSteell said:


> Thanks .. I was reading more about them and i heard that some iodine is helpful to their molting process.. after thinking about supplementing them with some i decided to add some algae from my fishtank.. i read that algae is full of many proteins and iodine .. it helped allot when i was breeding Orange crayfish some years ago even though i wasn't supplementing iodine... the crabs seem to munch on the algae every now and then.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I wouldn't bother with iodine. You have to be careful because it can be deadly if overdosed which is easy to do, especially when it is impossible to calculate water displacement and evaporation. You could get some freeze dried shrimp. These still have shells on so the crabs can eat the shells to get the chitin which can be used in making their own shells. I haven't found that iodine supplementation is needed with my crabs (Psuadosesarma moeshi) and these are bigger so use more to make their shells.

Looking good! I am tempted to try these as my next tank.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

FishForLife2001 said:


> I wouldn't bother with iodine. You have to be careful because it can be deadly if overdosed which is easy to do, especially when it is impossible to calculate water displacement and evaporation. You could get some freeze dried shrimp. These still have shells on so the crabs can eat the shells to get the chitin which can be used in making their own shells. I haven't found that iodine supplementation is needed with my crabs (Psuadosesarma moeshi) and these are bigger so use more to make their shells.
> 
> Looking good! I am tempted to try these as my next tank.


I didnt use iodine but i used algae which is a natural source of it.. it also helps keep nutrient levels down in the H2O portion. I remember this being useful for my shrimp n crayfish.. no pure manufactured iodine for the reasons you stated though! Thanks for the feedback!!

I never heard of ur crabs.. do you have any pics of them and their setup?


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

BSteell said:


> I didnt use iodine but i used algae which is a natural source of it.. it also helps keep nutrient levels down in the H2O portion. I remember this being useful for my shrimp n crayfish.. no pure manufactured iodine for the reasons you stated though! Thanks for the feedback!!
> 
> I never heard of ur crabs.. do you have any pics of them and their setup?











I will get some better pics and setup pics soon.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

FishForLife2001 said:


> image
> I will get some better pics and setup pics soon.


Really cool looking forward to seeing more .. they look like red claw crabs.. how do they compare?


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

BSteell said:


> Really cool looking forward to seeing more .. they look like red claw crabs.. how do they compare?


They are red claw crabs. Many English websites use the incorrect name of Perisesarma bidens or Sesarma bidens but the correct name is Pseudosesarma moeshi. They are mangrove crabs and so need brackish water.


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## BSteell (Feb 10, 2015)

FishForLife2001 said:


> They are red claw crabs. Many English websites use the incorrect name of Perisesarma bidens or Sesarma bidens but the correct name is Pseudosesarma moeshi. They are mangrove crabs and so need brackish water.


im already inspired to create another setup .. 10 gallons with a ugf (under gravel filter) some crushed black lava rock or very coarse white sand with larger peices of black lava rock coming out of the water directly under the output for the ugf .. plant it with some java moss and fern growing on it and some pothos with roots holding onto the rock where water spills over from the ugf.. place some Malaysian trumpet snails and of course the crabs perhaps some guppies too!


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

BSteell said:


> im already inspired to create another setup .. 10 gallons with a ugf (under gravel filter) some crushed black lava rock or very coarse white sand with larger peices of black lava rock coming out of the water directly under the output for the ugf .. plant it with some java moss and fern growing on it and some pothos with roots holding onto the rock where water spills over from the ugf.. place some Malaysian trumpet snails and of course the crabs perhaps some guppies too!


Sorry to say but these too are mostly land dwelling. Guppies are freshwater and although both the crabs and guppies can tolerate incorrect water brackish really is important for the crabs and freshwater for the guppies. It is recommended to go 60cm length and 40cm height for these minimum so I think this would be more than 10 gallons but not sure.

These are best kept in a 80cm tank with 1 male, perhaps 4 females. Coco humus substrate (burrowing. Although small species like yours are fine with most things to burrow in this larger species need coco humus to burrow). Live plants and plenty of wood and other hardscape to divide the tank up. A water source of brackish water, perhaps done with a large plastic container buried.

The setup mine are in is two males in a 35cm cube with sand substrate and rocks/shells/wood as hardscape. Nowhere near ideal but it is OK short term. They are being moved into a 60cm with shelves in for extra space. Unfortunately when I set this tank up I had based it off English information- pretty much all of this is incorrect for some reason. I now use a German forum and they are much better. Here is a link to check out:
http://www.panzerwelten.de/main.php

Obviously it is in German but there is an English section to the forum. There is a translator in my phone that translates things automatically which is helpful, I assume something similar will be available on whatever device you are on.


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## FishForLife2001 (Sep 23, 2014)

Ignore the dirty glass/thermometer, needs a tidy up. Used to have moss in which died. (taken from outside). I can't get any decent crab pics, hopefully they will come out fully soon.


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