The Puffer Forum

Yes, I would love to hear how the newbies get along with Mike. So how big is the new tank that Mike is in?

I've decided to put off changing my tank around until the weather is warmer because, right now, I'm not sure how I'd heat the air and keep it humid inside the tank as it is now. And I don't want them to die from being too cold, as we tend to keep this house a bit chilly.

good news on the new crabs, they're great.

problem is tho, i think somethings up with mike. I noticed his eyes were down, so i picked him up and he sat in my hand as if he has no strength. His eyes stayed down, and he was making really loud clicking noises which i could feel the vivration of on my hand.
he also floats when he goes in the water, but after a while he can sink. Ive put him back in the tank and hes moved a little but with his eyes still down.

dno whats wrong with him???

Hmmm, not sure what to think about that. Are you keeping the tank warm enough? Been feeding him enough? I hate to say, but it doesn't sound very good, and I hope that he gets better soon. I don't take mine out of their tank ever ... I just let them do their thing. Personally, I would leave him in the warmth of his tank, as they need very warm temperatures.
Sorry I can't be of more help, but I'm still learning about these myself, and there's not very much information available unfortunately.
I'm glad the new arrivals are doing great though. Post some photos when you can.

thanks, the tank is warm, getting condensation on the glass and feels warm inside.
i'll leave him alone for a while, and i have been feeding him, but hes not really been eating. i dont think hes goin to be ok tbh.

will post photos when i can

He's lifted one eye, but it looks like his shell is coming off! hard to explain. He's only just molted though. i think something must have gone wrong, can they molt so soon after just molting?

I don't know, I read something about them molting when they are stressed, or if something happens, such as losing an eye or something they need to live, so they molt to replace whatever it is that they've lost. I hate to ask this, but did you move him when he had just finished molting? They need to sit still for several hours to let their shells start to harden, so it's possible if he was moved that maybe something didn't harden together as it should have. I'm only guessing here, so I'm not certain about anything. I really do hope he pulls through though, but yeah, the best thing you can do is leave him alone for a bit and let him try and mend whatever the problem is by himself, as he would in the wild.

Best of luck!

Bad news, Mike passed away last night/today.

I guess all i can do now is hope the new ones are ok, otherwise there is something wrong with the tank. Although i think the tank was at a good temp, i've bought a heat mat for the opposite end of the water, just to be sure.

What temp do you have your water at??

Here a some pics

RIP


RIP


This is Rainbow, very small!




A view of the whole tank





Could i ask, how do you clean out your water? do you completely change it, or just take some out?

Hi Ste, sorry to hear that Mike died, although it didn't sound very good with what you explained to me, but at least you've got the new crablets and that's something good.

I like the look of your tank, I am envious! I'm going to do something similar with mine, so they can have the best of both worlds, although at the moment, my water is only about 2-3" deep, the shallowest I can possibly have it and still have a heater in the tank and 2 small filters.

I keep my water temperature around 82F, afterall, these crabs come from around Africa, so I imagine they are used to very warm water. You asked about how I clean my water, well I use a small siphon and I take out nearly all of it, but I concentrate on getting the uneaten food out, however, I think it will become even easier when the land and water is separate.

Anyway, I am very sorry that Mike passed away, but you have done a very good job with your tank design, and I like it alot.

haha, thanks. Your not the only one who likes it, the crabs are lovin it!!!
I put some turtle food pelets in the food bowl, and found most of them were gone. I lifted up the hut to find that they had taken them and put them in there haha, then i looked on the ceiling of the hut, and rainbow was sitting upside down lol, they're so much more adventureous than mike and gary were. cant go near Arial though because her claw go straight up, and she doesnt back down haha.

im going to try and get some pictures of underneath the crabs, to see if you have an opinion on what sex they are. i was told they were female, but they look exactly the same shape as mike and gary's aprons.

let me know how your tank goes!

ive read that 74 is a maximun temp. But I you dont seem to have had any problems! Just thought i''d mention it jst incase

Really? Well, that seems a bit too cool to me, as my coolest temp is 79F, that's my red-claw crab's tank, but the Rainbow's I have at about 82F. Actually I think they like it because they are in the water quite often, and they've got lots of options for being out of the tank if they want.

Thats cool. Mine seem to like the water. Its good now, becasue the water is warm, then they get out of the water and theres a cold bit, then at the other end its warm because of the heat mat. gives them a place to cool down if they want i guess

Well I wish you the best of luck with your new arrivals ... so how many do you have now, 2 males and 1 female?

I wanted to cringe the other day because someone on this forum had bought a Rainbow to feed to his puffer and I tried to talk him out of it, but he said if it could not live in his aquarium (full of water, totally aquatic), then he would be feeding it to his puffer. There's no way I could do that! Heck, I have a difficult time thinking about feeding the red-claws to the puffers, and that's why I've ended up keeping every crab I've intended for my puffers to eat!

hahaha yeh, i know how you feel. When i hear about people eating crab meet, i hate it!

I have two crabs now. Im not sure on the sex, because i was told they were females, but they look like males to me. Will try n get sum pics of the underflaps n see what you think

Well I needed to clean the tank tonight, and once I had taken the filters out to be cleaned, I decided I would try to change things around a little. I didn't have a piece of glass like you have, so I had to fabricate something, and I ended up cutting up a plastic lid and sticking it in the tank as a retaining wall, only thing is, it doesn't retain very well as it's not watertight, however, it is a step in the right direction. I pushed all the sand up the one end, to make a "land" end, there's a big rock that the crabs hang out on most of the time there. Then I put the plastic in, and put big rocks on the one side of it, to hold it in place, then I took smaller pebbles and put them on the other side, so even though the water still gets through, it's not deep like it was, and with the rocks, the crabs are not submerged all the time. I think the sand will dry out some and they will have some dry land to be on in a few days. The other end is the water end, and I've just got one small filter in there and of course the heater to keep things toasty. The water depth is less than 3", so they can get into the water if they want, but they have the option of being out of the water too. I just hope the air temperature stays as warm as it was when there was more water in the tank. I plan on getting either a piece of glass (like you did) or a hard piece of plastic, and then siliconing it into place so that it's watertight. Then it will be a little more the way I want it, but for doing something on the spur of the moment, I think I did a right good job of throwing it together.

Surprisingly, I seen them in the water end not long after I turned the lights off. And here I thought they'd be wanting to be out of the water given the chance! They were playing in the mud when I first set it up, but I think they didn't know what to do with the water gone. I'm sure they will adjust.

So, how's your new ones Ste, still doing good?