# Breeding: Red Claw Crabs...



## clavo

Ey wassup, new to this forum, but iv been reading up on a few posts about RCC's and how to take car of them...i have a 10g tank freshwater w/4 RCC( 1m, 3f). about a week ago i was sexing them and it appeard for 1 of the females to have her little belly slightly open(im thinking theyr eggs, but theyr still verry small). iv googled on how to breed and take care of them and i was wondering what would i need to make my tank into a BRACKISH WATER TANK... if anyone can help, list the items i need...i bought them a couple of weeks ago, i keep the water at *78f and take water readings about every 3-5 days just to make sure nothin spikes(since i dont want to make anysudden changes, like change the water too often)...just beieng cautious...thanks...ill take pics as soon as i can of my crab thats "pregnant"...


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## clavo

I DONT KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE IT BUT IT LOOKS LIKE RED LITTLE BUBBLES...THYR EGGS RIGHT? (3F, 1M)


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## clavo

THIS ONE LOOKS BETTER, SORRY, CAMERA PHONE...


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## fishbone

Your chances of breeding these are about zero. Their offspring start out as microscopic plankton that need marine water. I'd say just enjoy the two you have.
Yes, they do require a brackish set-up and also access to land, above water
To make brackish water you need:
-a hydrometer (I recommend a refractometer because they are much more accurate at low readings, hydrometers are usually for marine tanks)
-marine salt, such as Instant Ocean
-salinity of around 1.005 ppt, this means about 2 leveled tbps salt per gallon

If you keep them in freshwater with no access to land you're looking at about a few months of life out of them. They will slowly drown over time and need the minerals etc provided by the marine salt to stay healthy, support their immune system and facilitate moulting. Therefore, brackish is needed for their well-being as an absolute requirement, not just for breeding.

By the way, you seem lucky to have docile specimens. I have one female red claw crab that lives by herself because she absolutely does not get along with anybody else. That's too bad for her, as she has to make-do in a 5.5g tank instead of my 75g fiddler crab colony.


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## clavo

Thanx. 1 of my females just molted on monday. For a hyd. Meter reading- dont you need at least like 6in of water or sum.? Whats the cheapest but most accurate(brands)? And how should i ease them into a BW env? Thanx for your help fishbone...


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## fishbone

I'd say a good hydrometer will run you around 6-12 bucks.
When I used to use one I had an Instant Ocean hydrometer:
http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Ocean...e=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1184814969&sr=8-25
You're probably thinking of the ones you float. Yeah ... have one of those too and never used it because it's too big, lol. But with the hydrometer in the above link, you just fill it with water and get a reading.

One thing I don't like about them is that the grading/scale on the low-end is imprecise. They're good for marine set-ups but kinda inaccurate for brackish stuff. It depends on what you want to invest in. Personally, I purchased a refractometer off e-Bay for 40 bucks. It's accurate to +/- 0.001
As long as you keep the salinity steady on the hydrometer, you should be fine. Anything above 1.004 and below 1.010 is perfect. I just found myself guessing a lot so I said screw it and shelled the 40 bucks. If you wanna go that route, let me know and I'll tell you which seller I and a bunch of other users from other aquaria forums got ours from. But basically the rule of thumb is, go with 2 leveled tablespoons of salt per gallon and that will give you a gravity of 1.006 ppt. Get a gallon that way and see what the hydrometer says and try to stick to that general range.

Now as far as acclimation goes, some people have taken as much as a week during which they raised the salinity slowly. It's hard to say, it depends on how much time your crabs have spent in freshwater which is impossible to say since you bought them from the LFS and not gotten them yourself from the wild. I acclimated mine using the drip method [do a search, you'll find out how] over a period of 2 hours. Crabs basically are fairly well adapted to salinity changes, they can go from freshwater to full marine in the same day. 

That being said, if you convert your tank from fresh to brackish within a day, you'll most likely end up killing your nitrifying bacteria and end up with a mini-cycle. Therefore, I recommend that you slowly raise the salinity over a period of about a week or two. So it's not really an issue of crabs getting acclimated as much as your bacteria getting used to the salinity. If you acclimate the little guys over the course of 2 hours it should be fine. I've done so with 14 crabs so far and I have yet to have a fatality related to osmotic shock. As a matter of fact, back when I was a total n00b I just plopped a RCC from fresh to brackish water and he was just fine. He did die though because I didn't cycle first, I didn't even know what that was 

And for the well-being of your crabs, I do hope you're already cycled. If not, you should know these little guys are VERY sensitive to water parameters, as most all inverts out there. Get some Seachem PRIME for all your water conditioning needs. It detoxifies ammonia and nitrite and also neutralize chlorine, chloramine and any metals you may have in your sink water.

I do feel that you're a tad bit overstocked, RCCs like to roam a lot and like space, in a 10g I'd only go with 2 or 3 pushing it, but if yours are happily living together, then you have a winner combo 

I love RCCs, like them even better than fiddlers, but I found that fiddlers are:
-more sociable
-less aggressive
-less territorial
-less eager to get into fights
-have less of a space requirement
But that's just my experience. All in all, I love crabs, more than fish even!
If you have any other questions, post away!

I have a real weakness for them. As much as I am a grown male, when I saw your pics I couldn't help but have a girly "aww" moment.


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## Corydora_FREAK

hey fishbone do you think you could get a picture of your fiddler crab colony i think it would be awesome to see. thanks man


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## fishbone

Sure, you can see all my pics of my 75gallon, along with the progress on how I built it here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/fishbon3/Crabitat
I post new pics every now and then
Also look in my signature link, you'll find a few videos with my crabs and more to come
Total, I have 3 males and 6 females


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## clavo

Damn this deeper than i thought. A couple of questions how important is bacteria and why? Then how should i clean my gravel? Should i have sand? why? I put mine in the water right after i baught them but i added ""TOP FIN tap water dechlorinator". So i guess i got lucky that theyre not dead. And whats "cycled"? You must be laughing by now huh? My per(MARDEL water test kit, test strips): amo:.25 nitrAte:0 nitrIte:1.0 hard:120 alk/buff:180 ph:7.6 and youve been real helpfull...thanx


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## fishbone

You're currently cycling which is not good for the crab. You should have NO ammonia or nitrites and keep nitrates below 20-40 ppt.
All you can do at this point is daily partial water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites in check.
Google for "cycling an aquarium" but it basically means that you build the beneficial bacteria to convert toxic ammonia and nitrites into non-toxic [unless at high concentrations] of nitrate. Your crabs are most likely stressed due to ammonia presence and like I said, are very sensitive to it. Your bacteria lives primarily in your filter so it is important that you do not replace the padding during this crucial time. Look at your local fish store for some Bio Spira [the only proven product] live bacteria but do NOT allow it to get warm. Keep it cold until you get home and you will basically be able to cycle your aquarium in 24 hours instead of weeks.
Sand is better because food and waste doesn't settle on the very bottom and also will allow crabs to sift through it as they do in the wild. Don't put more than an inch and a half of sand or 2, otherwise you will have anaerobic gases which are also toxic. Run your finger or something through it about once a week or so. I use pool filter sand and recommend the same to you. Settles right away, does not cloud water.
As far as cleaning waste will basically settle on top of the sand so just hover your gravel cleaner over it.


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## Guest

There is a good post stickied in the freshwater section regarding the nitrogen cycle....I suggest you read it a few times.


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## clavo

Oh and i was about to change my filter(the white spongy pad). But i rinsed and shook of the bad stuff off. And it doesnt look dirty(still dark tho) a lot of debris came off...then how should change my filter when it gets too dirty. So that sand works with salt?


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## micstarz

you shouldnt do that.. thats where most of the bacteria that to the biological filtration reside... ;D thats what you cycle the tank for


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## fishbone

Only lightly rinse your filter in old aquarium water that you are replacing, NOT sink water.
Later on, after your aquarium has cycled you will be able to replace the dirty filter media, just not now.


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## clavo

Do i have to prepare the filter sand in any way? How? And can you tell me wich is the best refractometer and the cheapest? I really want them to live the longest that they can. 1 of my females got 2 of her legs chopped(she only had 3 on that side :-/) off by the male when she ran into his little hole. Shes still doin everything normal. She even defends her little cave like nothing against the other females. She has 1 on 1side and 4 on the other and still chases after them...amazing. Even pinches at the glass when i put my finger on it. Gotta lovd them...iam gettin my aqua. Some salt this weekend but iam worried about the bacteria. How should add the salt without harming it? And iam gona use the drip method for my little ones for 2hrs like you said...


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## clavo

(ppm)Amo:.25 NI:0 NA:20...i think iam cycled right?


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## Clerk

If you have ammonia in the tank, you are not cycled.


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## fishbone

clavo, what's the update on your little tank?


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## clavo

well its been okaaaay, but i lost one(escaped and hasnt been found) when i was cleaning the tank, 2 died from shock i think(they wernt moving or eating, and didnt even hide when i thouch thyere lil face) and found them at the bottem thinkin they were fine util i flipped theyere motionless bodies over and never moved...and my male huge now is getting a little aggressive. he seems to be the last standing but is actually very active. my female bettas settle at the bottom to sleep at night. he got his first victim 2 days ago, and last night found another in half on top of a rock out of the water. :C i love my crabs and i dont want to seperate them(betas and crabs). i just baught him a female to keep him company. a couple of days ago found my only male beta alive but with all his beautiful long fins cut short. iv had my bettas and crabs together for almost a month now. my male crab doesnt seem sick or anything thank god...he eats a lot! but i dont know why hes attacked my female bettas when they rest, i feed all of them generously(crabs too) and thing thats wierd is that i have ghost shrimp but i havnt found not even one dead!!!!!!!(??!?!?!?!) i dont get it. today my mother shrimps eggs hatched but the fry arnt movin, i think theyr dead. i seperated her a couple of days ago so that nobody would eat my baby shrimp. i put her in a seethru container but no heater or filter(change water everyday and dechlor.)...well thats it for now. hopefully u saw this and u can write back to see what u think...later


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## Guest

the crab ate the bettas because they eat whaever they can. a sleeping fish is a very tasty, and easy meal. same with the male. how can you resist all those fins?

the shrimp haven't gotten eaten cause they're to hard to find. that's my guess. 

i thought red claw crabs were brackish? either that or i didn;t know that bettas were brackish.

from what i've heard, it's generally not a good idea to keep male and female bettas together unless it's for breeding.


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## fishbone

90% of crabs are brackish, to keep them in freshwater with no means to dry off occasionally is torture, it could very well explain the aggressive and very active behavior. They have no business being mixed with betas, nor shrimp. They'll end up as meal.
If you're looking to keep happy crabs, then brackish and some means to get above water are the absolute minimum, also recommended that they don't get any tankmantes. There's basically no way around this.

I thought we already went over this 

Do you wanna make a bet with me? I give your red claw 4 months tops in freshwater.


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## Sowilu

Somebody gave me this really interesting link: http://www.aquahoito.info/sesarma/index.html


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## fishbone

I think that's one of the two documented cases of breeding in captivity


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## Sowilu

I think its really interesting. Is there another document about them?


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## clavo

yes i know we went over this already, and yes they do get out of the water(ill take a pic of my aquarium later) and i know iam risking it a lil bit by not giving them the salt they need but its only until i get a bigger tank then i will my my 10g into brackish...i will keep you posted how it goes...right now iam concentrating on get my bettas to breed...hard!!!!!


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## fishbone

You're not risking a little, you're risking a lot. Basically, brackish is required. It's like trying to breed bettas with no females around ... The longer you keep them in there, the more their health will degrade.
Going by the tank description in your signature, I see the following problems:
-firstly, already mentioned this, the crabs will harrass the bettas at night. Stressed bettas => no breeding
-2 males in a 10 gallon will cause aggresion issues between the two, possibly fighting to the death
-how are you prepared to deal with the fry?
-I don't think you'll get the bettas to breed unless you separate a pair in another tank

How did you figure to go about breeding bettas? It's not exactly piece of cake, like with livebearers for example. With livebearers such as guppies or mollies yes, you can dump males and females and they will most likely breed. Not so with bettas. They have an entire breeding ritual, requirements, etc. It involve work, planning and preparation and I'd say what you have going on is a recipe for trouble.


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## fishbone

fishbguy said:


> i thought red claw crabs were brackish? either that or i didn;t know that bettas were brackish.


Almost missed this. Bettas aren't brackish, they can't survive in the required low-end brackish for crabs. Their labyrinth organ becomes inflamed/irritated because of the salt and they die. While it's fine to keep them in water in which you add about a teaspoon of aquarium salt to every 2 gallons of water or more, that's nothing compared to 2 full tablespoons ofm _marine_ salt per gallon, as required by the crabs and what really means brackish water. Many inexperienced people, even at the fish store, think that dumping a teaspoon of aquarium salt to several gallons will make brackish. That is simply not true. Low-end brackish is considered to be 1.004-ish gravity, which means exactly 2 leveled tablespoons of marine salt per gallon, or 3.8 litres.


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## Nautilus

http://wrongcrowd.com/staticpages/index.php?page=crab

Some very interesting info.


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