Fiddler Crabs For GSP

[alvarado1]

I dropped 3 Fiddler Crabs into my tank for the live food. My GSP got to 2 of them but they dont eat them all up. I'm not sure how long to have the dead remains in there. I have a 55 gallon tank with live rock and sand and also a 75 gallon filter. Should I take the dead fiddlers out... seems like a waste of a fiddler but don't want it to start to decay. Salinity is at 1.023 and they have nice white bellys with nice colored spots. Pretty much my questions is, how long after they kill the fiddlers should I take them out? I'm new to this forum and searched around but haven't found an answer. Thank you fellow GSP lovers

[bertie 83]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Carcasses should be removed promptly to avoid waste build up. Next time put them in one at a time and only add what they will consume in a single sitting, over feeding puffers is far too easy and detrimental to their health.

[bertie 83]

Another option, because they were added live you could remove large chunks and freeze for future feeding.

[Pufferpunk]

Do you see little "pods" swimming around at night? They are excellent for cleaning leftovers. Even without whold carcasses laying around, puffers can be very messy eaters!

[alvarado1]

Thanks for the reply... freezing the carcasses seems like a good idea. I usually feed them freezed dried krill, clams on a half shell, blood worms, prawn shrimp and some live snails. but I guess when I don't feed them they go on the hunt and kill the smaller fiddlers because the larger fiddlers I feel put up a fight. I like putting in many fiddlers because like yah said, their messy eaters and the fiddlers do an excellent job in cleaning up the remains and sifting through the sand. The puffers don't seem to bother the fiddlers as long as I keep them fat and happy. But if I leave the whole day and go without feeding them till the next morning, I find dead fiddlers and the puffers looking fat. I also have a turtle dock so that the smarter fiddlers retreat to that when they molt. I really don't care for the fiddlers (sorry to the fiddler lovers), I just keep them there to keep the puffers teeth trimmed down and as a clean up crew. How do you know if your over feeding your gsps tho?? They always seem to "beg" for food and seem like their always hungry. I guess I fell in love with my puffers so I care for them a lot.... Tom and Jerry

[alvarado1]

Do you see little "pods" swimming around at night? They are excellent for cleaning leftovers. Even without whold carcasses laying around, puffers can be very messy eaters!

What do you mean "little pods swimming around at night"? Like bacteria developing on the dead carcasses? Or like pods from the live rock that would kill the fiddlers? I also have a purple dottyback to take care of any worms that might have come in with the live rock.