mini crabs

[Sara0229]

I'm thinking of getting some mini crabs (Uca Spp.) for my 55 gal brackish set up. I currently have 2 F8's and 4 BB Gobi's in there. How do you think a few crabs would do? I'm looking at getting them to help with tank clean up and algae (I've been getting thick green sheets of it). I am reading different things on them though. The supplier says they keep then in full water where as other sources says they need some land?

Anyone have any experience with these and how would they fair with my other fish?

Here is a link for what I'm looking at buying:

http://www.azgardens.com/p-1842-algae-e ... crabs.aspx

[Iliveinazoo]

I'm thinking of getting some mini crabs (Uca Spp.) for my 55 gal brackish set up. I currently have 2 F8's and 4 BB Gobi's in there. How do you think a few crabs would do? I'm looking at getting them to help with tank clean up and algae (I've been getting thick green sheets of it). I am reading different things on them though. The supplier says they keep then in full water where as other sources says they need some land? http://www.azgardens.com/p-1842-algae-e ... crabs.aspx

It's one of the many species of fiddler crab. Your F8's will either demolish them or get seriously hurt if the crab manages to grab them with his large claw.

Fiddlers are really cool crabs but require a species only set-up, some suggest keeping them with the smaller species of mudskipper because of the similar requirements but I think that you're running the risk of the crab becoming dinner (keeping them together did not work for me and I had to set up a new species tank at great speed - though I have P. Barbarus).
A fiddler needs to be able to get out of the water and the male will sit on top of a large rock or sloped sandbed and wave his claw about for hours.

As far as algae eaters go some people on here have success with nerite snails and F8's but mine constantly nibbled at the snails foot and I had to take them out and put them in another tank.
Other methods to reduce algae growth - lower lighting levels, shorter photoperiod, well fertilised heavily planted tank, surface plants to block out the light, plenty of water circulation, regular filter cleaning and water changes.

[Sara0229]

what floating plant would you recommend for a brackish (1.005ish)? I've already reduced my lighting output and hours the lights are on.

That's what I was really concerned about with those crabs (needing land). I've always heard fiddlers need land but these were advertised differently. I don't know if my F8's would pick at them or not. Good point because they are on a mainly snail diet. And I wasn't sure id the two would leave each other alone as they both have "defenses" or not. Thanks for your input!

[jus85411]

just about everyone here would say the combo wouldnt go well. puffers naturally eat crustaceans so that includes snails, hermits, crabs, shrimp etc. some things he might not know is actually food at first but will figure it out. also some items seem to be instinctually known as food. my gsp viciously attacked a crab the first time i tried feeding one. he knew immediately what it was there for, or if he didnt know why i put it in there, it was dinner time regardless of my thoughts lol. also another reason people wouldnt recommend this combo is the fact that puffers tend to sleep on the bottom of the aquarium which is where the crabs will likely frequent the most and while the puff is sleeping you run the risk of the crab sneaking out and taking a shot at the puff. if you really really wanted to keep them, i would suggest doing a fiddler tank of a decent size and have some nice sized sections for water and land. breed them, use some of the offspring for food, then observe and keep some as pets

[Sara0229]

Thanks jus, I guess it sounds like a good idea to scrap this idea.

What would you recomend though for algae cleaners?

[jus85411]

no problem! unfortunately there isnt much you can do for cleaners with puffers especially brackish water. only real solution people would say definitely works is some elbow grease lol. snails - if your puff already eats them chances are that they would torment the snails you put in regardless of size. my GSP used to dig for snails cause he found out there were some nassarius snails in my sand bed lol. im not the best with brackish and the different types of fish that can make that transition. i know plecos cant and are a risk to begin with to put with puffers, PP i think had her puff bite off some of her plecos face, and they have armoured skin! but even if there was some type of algae eater that could do brackish, your puffer has the final say whether the fish is ok or has to go. so you might find an algae eater, but if your puff doesnt like it then it will harass and most likely kill it. puffers are funny(not literally funny but i mean strange) with tankmates

[Iliveinazoo]

Ceratopteris thalictroides (water sprite) or Ceratophyllum demersum 'Foxtail' (hornwort) are both floating plants that do well in brackish set-ups but do best at or below SG1.003 at 25DegC - your fish will be absolutely fine at SG1.003. I'd recommend Ceratopteris thalictroides as it covers more surface area and in my opinion is a better looking plant.

[Sara0229]

I had some hornwort but it turned into a BIG mess the leaves slowly turned brown and shedded. But I will look into the other plants you've mentioned. I have some sag grass that is doing well and my java fern is just now slowly starting to die? it has holes all over it? hummm....

[Iliveinazoo]

I had some hornwort but it turned into a BIG mess the leaves slowly turned brown and shedded. But I will look into the other plants you've mentioned. I have some sag grass that is doing well and my java fern is just now slowly starting to die? it has holes all over it? hummm....

The higher the SG the more the plants will struggle, that's why I suggested SG1.003. But it could also be down to your fertilisation regime, what do you feed your plants? what is your lighting level in terms of watts per (US) gallon

[Sara0229]

my sg is 1.005 so that could have something to do with it. as for lighting i'm not sure just what it is now because i've changed it out to hopefully hinder some algae growth but it was at 1 watt per gallonish using florescent plant bulbs when i had the hornwort. i use seachem florish once a week (that's what the directions say to use) or every other week.

[fugu99]

Ceratopteris thalictroides (water sprite) or Ceratophyllum demersum 'Foxtail' (hornwort) are both floating plants that do well in brackish set-ups but do best at or below SG1.003 at 25DegC - your fish will be absolutely fine at SG1.003. I'd recommend Ceratopteris thalictroides as it covers more surface area and in my opinion is a better looking plant.

+1 watersprite. should be easy to find, i found it at my local Petco. Grows rapidly and persistently, and floats along the top. but prepare to have some tank scissors... this plant takes trimming once in a while. itll also branch off into many plants, so you only need to buy one bonus in my opinion!

[Iliveinazoo]

my sg is 1.005 so that could have something to do with it. as for lighting i'm not sure just what it is now because i've changed it out to hopefully hinder some algae growth but it was at 1 watt per gallonish using florescent plant bulbs when i had the hornwort. i use seachem florish once a week (that's what the directions say to use) or every other week.

Yeah hornwort won't survive that salinity but Java Fern will. 1Watt per gallon is quite low but Java Fern can tolerate low light and does well with my 1.5WP(US)G and has tolerated up to SG1.008 but it's growth did stop. Seachem Flourish is a trace element fertiliser only and given your relatively low stocking level I would think that your plants would need additional macro dosing, i.e. nitrate, phosphate and potassium.

Also the algae that you describe is prolific in tanks with inadequate flow,a decent indicator of good flow within your tank is if you can see the leaves sway in the currrent.

A good resource for plant demands is here:
http://www.tropica.com/plants/plantdesc ... px?pid=008
A good algae guide is here:
http://www.jsctech.co.uk/theplantedtank/algae.htm