# Tropical red crab - Dotilla myctiroides



## Markeh (May 1, 2007)

Has any one had any experience with these lil snappers?

I am keen to have something other than fish in my tank, ive been looking into shrimp but noticed these at a fish shop

I did a google search but didnt turn up much results

I have a 2 foot tank stocked with Dwarf Gouramis, Rams, Glass catfish, glowlight tetras, panda cory, ****** loach and a plecoooo (all adult size)

Cheers for any advise

Markehhh:jump:


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## intravenous (Dec 20, 2006)

Most crabs will try and eat your fish so you may end up with eaten, or mutilated, fish.


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## Kenorsanc (Dec 10, 2006)

Also they will nip at the plant stems and chop them off and eat them as they eat a fair amount of vegetation. 

If you want something that isn't fish in your tank then I would recommend shrimp if you go and buy the latest addition of Practical Fish Keeping or look on their website then there is a big article on shrimps for the aquarium and they breed easily too.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

if they can catch it they will either kill it or do some serious damage. crabs are technically scavengers they are very efficient predators, so its really not worth the hassle or risk to your fish.


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## Markeh (May 1, 2007)

Thats what I was worried about!
Ha and I think the sign on the tank said community (but not sure)
Cheers for the advise, will look into shrimp:smile:


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## reptilemanspoon (Aug 31, 2006)

yeahhhh crabs are a pain with most other species so should be kept on their own in a tank.


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## YELLOWFISH (Mar 30, 2007)

Like the others said, crabs will catch and eat anything that they can. 

On the other hand, my yamato shrimp have been perfect residents in my tanks. Happily grazing on hair algae and whatever else the other bottom fedders don't clean up. Even managed to get them to spawn. The only time they will eat fish is if it is rotting. I remember how I woke up to find one of my tetras dead. Before I could get my net in, the shrimps grabbed it and wedged the corpse under the bogwood and started scoffing it.

However if you are still interested in crabs you could keep them in a small setup. They are very entertaining. And just think of the innuendo value! 

I GOT CRABS!


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## lukeR (May 18, 2007)

isnt Dotilla myctiroides amphibious also? if so...youd have to enable them to be able to get out of the water at some point...which can be a pain to construct and would give them a diving board to grab whatever else they can from your tank


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## jon2thefish (May 5, 2007)

most species of freshwater crabs either want to or need to come out of the water, they'll sit for hours on top of filter or anything else stickin outta the surface.


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## Markeh (May 1, 2007)

These crabs in the shop were stuck at the bottom of a tank, so chance of getting to surface



YELLOWFISH said:


> And just think of the innuendo value!
> 
> I GOT CRABS!


O golly I don’t fancy that haha, it reminded me of a funny moment

I was at a birthday meal in a really nice restaurant and we had all ordered, the starters came out and the waiter said "Who ordered the crab cakes?" and I said .......... "Oh I’ve got crabs!!!" ....... Silence led to laughter and I’ve never lived it down!!!:lol2:


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## Art_Gecko101 (May 6, 2006)

I had a freshwater crab in my community tank when i had it up and running, he was no bother to the fish and a real character. He would climb onto the top of the filter (Jewel tank) and sit there for a while. If you do get one make sure you block up the wholes in the lid for the wires to get out, mine escaped and dried out.  I was so sad he was a dude.

I also had a shrimp (after the crab, i dont think they;d have got on well) and he was cool too, but i didnt like him as much as the crab.

Oh and just 1 thing, how can you have an adult sized plec in a 2ft tank?


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## Markeh (May 1, 2007)

Thats interesting about your crab considering everyone elses opinion!

ah ha well I found a tiny pleco species, dont grow any bigger than about 2 and a half inches, im sure its some type of tiger pleco? (maybe wrong)

I have had him for nearly a year and hardly grew at all, my dad had the same type and he had it for about 5 years and still small!


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## miffikins (Feb 25, 2007)

Lil' Markeh has crabs!!! The hilarity :lol2: Where did you see the crabs dude?? 

Oh yeah, I got some dwarf gouramis like yours the other week, gorgeous they are 

: victory:


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## Markeh (May 1, 2007)

Im down south at the moment, so the crabs were in an aquatics shop in a garden centre near Titchfield

Ooooo some dwarfs very nice


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## miffikins (Feb 25, 2007)

Ahhh! When are you comin home?? I think Owen misses you :lol2:

Somwhere Joe took me had some nice freshwater shrimps...you could get some of those....


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## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

theyre are a few out there that are veggies, ie fiddler crabs, but i'd still be wary.
anything too small the crab eats, anything too big eats the crab!


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## Bald Jake (Jun 1, 2007)

We've got one of a pair of crabs left. The other one carcked it a fortnight ago. Like someone's said, they've got plenty of character. It's a good laugh watching them climb the plants and then fall off, waving their legs like mad. 

They do a good job of cleaning up as well, shovelling flakes and that into their mouths with their claws. 

Ours is called gobshite because he's always giving it all that (you know the lobster goes into a bar joke? I can't do the actions online). 

They'll only nip sick fish. As long as the fish are healthy they just move out of the way. It freaked our plec out a bit at first because the crabs took over his bogwood speck. Now he just sits there while the crab crawls over his head. 

They will try to escape though. We're using an internal filter & heater and I had to close the top off with some cloth because every other day the crab would be stuck at the bottom of the filter. Since the cloth went up he hasn't been in there again.

Hi everyone, BTW


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