How much do fiddler crabs eat

Male Fiddler crabs have one small claw and one large claw, while females have two small claws. When purchasing Fiddler crabs for your tank, do not overcrowd the tank. The recommended female to male ratio is , which means 2 females per male. Keep in mind that the crabs will grow. This means that every once in a while they will shed their exoskeleton to grow. During this short period, the crab will act slow, and then finally flip over onto its back to finish the process.

It is important not to bother or touch the crab. Afterward, there will be an exoskeleton left behind. Also, do not force the crabs to be active. They are not pets that you can hold or handle and are extremely fragile animals.

It is their natural instinct to hide behind rocks and burrow into sand most of the day. And finally, Fiddler crabs should be kept in groups of two or more. They are social animals and prefer to be together.

However, keeping fish in the tank with them is not a good idea. The crabs will try to catch the fish as an instinct for food. Over the years I have kept many tanks, and have recently begun getting more serious in wanting to become a professional aquarist. Note : Do not remove the old exoskeleton from the tank. It contains lots of minerals and your crab will eat it later.

Fiddler crabs can be a variety of colors, ranging from violet to black, with the males usually being the most colorful. This genus of crabs gets its name from the asymmetrical claws seen on the male crabs. One claw is much larger than the other and is held up by the crab, similar to the way a fiddle would be held.

Fiddler crabs are relatively small when compared to other crabs species in the aquarium hobby, though they are a bit larger than Micro crabs. The average adult size for all Fiddler crab species rarely exceeds 5 cm 2 inches across the leg span. Their carapace is usually about 3. The females tend to be slightly smaller than the males. Scientists presume that is because the growth of females slows or ceases temporarily once they attain the size of sexual maturity.

Determining the gender of your fiddler crabs is easier than with some crab species. Fiddler crabs are sexually dimorphic. The males have one claw that is drastically larger than the other, while female fiddler crabs have two small claws.

The males are often more brightly colored than the females, though some females may be exceptionally colorful. The average lifespan of a pet Fiddler crab is 2 — 3 years. Some specimens have been reported to have lived longer. As with any pet, the quality of care plays a major role in life expectancy. Fiddler crabs are omnivores feeders that require water for the feeding process. In their natural habitat, they survive on bits of organic matter, insects, the detritus of decomposing plants and benthic algae they find in the sand along the shoreline.

The best foods are those that easily sink to the bottom of the tank, or can be sprinkled along the edge of their dry land, to stimulate their natural scavenging habit. Ideally, you need to give them different types of food to get all the necessary microelements.

When you decide to give Fiddler crabs vegetables, you need to do it the safe way. It is normal for Fiddler crabs to consume decaying matter. Therefore, Fiddler crabs should be supplied with Almond leaves, dead beech, or oak leaves regularly as they feed on these and require the detritus from the leaves. Note : Always keep an eye on the nitrate levels in your tank and remove any uneaten food. Fact : Some Fiddler species have modified mouthparts that allow them to feed on the sand.

They possess specialized setae that scrape off the organic material so that the sand particles are discarded before the organic material is passed to the buccal cavity. Therefore, crabs that feed on sand consume fewer indigestible particles than crabs that feed on mud. Fiddler crabs are not fully aquatic, they require an enclosure that offers both water and dry land.

The best setup for their needs is a paludarium tank. A paludarium is an aquarium that has one half designated to dry land, which slopes gradually into a water-filled area and resembles a shoreline in appearance. When done properly a Fiddler crab may also be housed in a fully aquatic tank that has a floating land area, with a dry substrate where the crab can exit the water. A partially filled aquarium with large rocks above the water level can also be used.

These kinds of setups need to be done carefully to ensure the crab has easy access to the dock, but can not escape the enclosure.

Because of this, a paludarium is the best choice. Note : Fiddler crabs are more than capable escape artists. They will use cables, tubes, or other items that go in and out of the tank to climb out and escape.

In their natural habitat fiddler crabs burrow into mud and sand along the shoreline. Sand is the most popular substrate choice. Ideally, Fiddler crabs need a substrate that is deep enough to allow them to burrow, while at the same time providing a gradual transition into the water portion of the tank to allow easy access to both sections.

Small gravel can be used as well, as long as you provide sandy burrowing areas. Fiddler crabs, like all crabs, enjoy having a safe place to hide during their molting periods and reproduction.

You should provide a few hiding places for your fiddler crabs. In general, their length was about 10 — 20 cm 4 — 8 inches. Keep it in mind when you decide to provide them with some. In the wild, Burrows did not necessarily contain standing water but were usually only damp at low tides. Fiddler crabs return to them every 10 to 30 minutes during feeding to renew the respiratory water lost. Unfortunately, there is an extremely high chance that Fiddler crabs will damage your live plants.

They are not plant safe. Most Fiddler crabs in the pet trade come from brackish swamps with low salinity levels, because of this some pet stores mislabel them as freshwater crabs. Fiddler crabs can live in water with a low salinity level, but they can not survive in freshwater for a long time. They are not freshwater crabs. I would advise using Instant ocean marine salt link to check the price on Amazon for brackish setup.

Note : Chlorine is dangerous to Fiddler crabs, so it is important to dechlorinate any water before it is added to the tank. When finished your tank should meet these requirements:. Salinity level between 1. Adequate aeration from an air pump, or filter outlet. Although Fiddler crabs can osmoregulate powerfully over a wide salinity range.

They do not like the high level of salinity. In the wild, when salinities are extreme, they go underground and seal their burrows. Note : Sponge and Hang on Back Filters do not work well with lowered water levels. Keeping Fiddler crabs with other creatures can be difficult due to their semi-terrestrial needs, but it can be done.

Whenever you keep a community tank, it is important to ensure the needs of all included species are fully met. In the case of Fiddler crabs, any tankmates must be saltwater animals that can survive in the lower salinity levels of brackish water.

For example, Neon Tetras, Guppies, Mollies, etc. Fiddler crabs are small, so keep this in mind when choosing tank mates, larger predators may decide to snack on it. In contrast, smaller fish may be harassed and even killed by the crabs, so the options are limited. Basically , keeping fish, snails, and shrimp with Fiddler crabs can really be a game of chance, so it is not recommended unless you are prepared to potentially lose some fish, snail, shrimp or a crab.

Do not keep them with other crab species. For example, even Red claw crabs In the wild, they live side-by-side are more likely to win disputes against Fiddler crabs and harass them.

However, they can easily be kept in small groups of their own species. It is recommended that you keep this group as a harem, one male will multiple females, as males will fight. For each additional crab after 4, add gallons of space. Fiddler crab mating is an interesting ordeal. First of all, these species show two types of mating behavior in sex-mixed colonies. In both cases, males initiate the pairing by waving their large claw to attract females.

A male courts a nearby female, usually the nearest one. Release your crabs into the tank. Although you can initially release all of your fiddlers into the same tank, watch for aggressive behaviors that may indicate inability to live together.

Be aware that although fiddler crabs often travel and feed in groups, that they can be aggressive with one another.

Feed your fiddlers. Watch for how much your crabs eat and increase food as necessary, though be careful to not overfeed them because this can make the tank smell offensive and like ammonia as well as muddle the water. Add the following to your tank every day as food for your fiddlers: one brine shrimp or 2 plankton, a few fish flakes, place these only in the water.

Change the food up every few days by adding 3 freeze dried blood worms, a few fish flakes, and a couple small pieces of seaweed. Be aware that seaweed will promote algae growth in the tank, which your fiddlers will eat.

Recognize that it is not uncommon for fiddlers to eat rotting food. Change the water regularly. If you notice an ammonia smell or murky water, change the water and sand in the aquarium. Leave molting crabs alone. Crabs molt their exoskeletons in order to grow. Watch for molting and make sure to leave your fiddler alone during this time because she may be very fragile for several days. Avoid removing the molting or molted skin.

The crab will eat the skin for calcium. Watch for illness. Disease and illness are rare among fiddler crabs. You may find that simply changing the water makes your crabs more active. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube. Make sure the fiddler crabs get water because they will die without it. Helpful 44 Not Helpful 9. Do not put fiddler crabs in a fully submerged tank. They need to come out of the water sometimes, and can die if they can't get onto land.

Put some sand in their habitat so they can come out when they need to. Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0. Related Articles How to.

How to. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: May 17, Categories: Crabs. Article Summary X To take care of fiddler crabs, start by adding a few centimeters of sand at the bottom of a 10 gallon tank. Italiano: Prendersi Cura dei Granchi Violinisti.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read , times. The the display tank was full to the top with water.

My crab is now happy and skitters around the tank bottom, happy as a clam.