Aquariums: Recently began keeping a panther crab. Any advice?
Recently began keeping a panther crab. Any advice?
Posted by Accomplished_Gas404
5 Comments
Outrageous_Ad472 on
It will literally hunt anything ypu put in there with it. Have fun feeding it random fish and what not. They are pure evil muder crabs. And mine offed itself with a daring escape plan. Probably wouldve survived if its claw didnt get stuck on an air vent. Rip lil smoky
SillySauroid on
Treasure it! The lake they come from is being polluted by mining and they may go extinct in the wild soon. Normally you might say: doesn’t this mean we shouldn’t be taking them for aquariums? And normally that would be true, they need every breeding member they can get. But this kind of pollution doesn’t do the real damage by chipping away slowly at the population; it comes when one day the toxicity level reaches a point that suddenly they all die together, which you can’t outbreed. So having a good captive population may end up saving them in the long term. You could end up donating dna samples someday (doesn’t hurt your crab).
SillySauroid on
Treasure it! The lake they come from is being polluted by mining and they may go extinct in the wild soon. Normally you might say: doesn’t this mean we shouldn’t be taking them for aquariums? And normally that would be true, they need every breeding member they can get. But this kind of pollution doesn’t do the real damage by chipping away slowly at the population; it comes when one day the toxicity level reaches a point that suddenly they all die together, which you can’t outbreed. So having a good captive population may end up saving them in the long term. You could end up donating dna samples someday (doesn’t hurt your crab).
technojerk on
I’ve had one for awhile now, he’s awesome! They’re fully aquatic so they don’t NEED land area but some like it. Yours looks like he would probably appreciate something to crawl out on but almost certainly needs a lid too lol They’re hunters, mine isn’t great but that doesn’t matter late at night because your fish barely move when resting. The crab will eventually eat every single fish you put in there, hard stop. Some it may take until they’re old or sick but eventually they’ll slow down and the crab will get them. I keep small cheap quick fish in there and I would guess he gets less than 1 a month.
They’re scavengers when not actively hunting, they love to dig up snails and plants to eat roots, I have 2 types of sinking pellets specifically for him. I cannot recommend Hikari massivore delite highly enough, it made an immediate noticeable reduction in missing fish. 1 pellet is plenty and you can skip feeding for 2 days afterwards because they’re DENSE, overfeeding these would destroy water quality.
They also get pretty big and love to cruise around, I’d say a 40 breeder should be your minimum end game for an adult crab. Love them, they have so so much character, know they’re probably the apex predator in your tank and plan accordingly!
Flumphry on
Tight lid, hard water, and be ready for any other livestock to be food for it.
5 Comments
It will literally hunt anything ypu put in there with it. Have fun feeding it random fish and what not. They are pure evil muder crabs. And mine offed itself with a daring escape plan. Probably wouldve survived if its claw didnt get stuck on an air vent. Rip lil smoky
Treasure it! The lake they come from is being polluted by mining and they may go extinct in the wild soon. Normally you might say: doesn’t this mean we shouldn’t be taking them for aquariums? And normally that would be true, they need every breeding member they can get. But this kind of pollution doesn’t do the real damage by chipping away slowly at the population; it comes when one day the toxicity level reaches a point that suddenly they all die together, which you can’t outbreed. So having a good captive population may end up saving them in the long term. You could end up donating dna samples someday (doesn’t hurt your crab).
Treasure it! The lake they come from is being polluted by mining and they may go extinct in the wild soon. Normally you might say: doesn’t this mean we shouldn’t be taking them for aquariums? And normally that would be true, they need every breeding member they can get. But this kind of pollution doesn’t do the real damage by chipping away slowly at the population; it comes when one day the toxicity level reaches a point that suddenly they all die together, which you can’t outbreed. So having a good captive population may end up saving them in the long term. You could end up donating dna samples someday (doesn’t hurt your crab).
I’ve had one for awhile now, he’s awesome! They’re fully aquatic so they don’t NEED land area but some like it. Yours looks like he would probably appreciate something to crawl out on but almost certainly needs a lid too lol They’re hunters, mine isn’t great but that doesn’t matter late at night because your fish barely move when resting. The crab will eventually eat every single fish you put in there, hard stop. Some it may take until they’re old or sick but eventually they’ll slow down and the crab will get them. I keep small cheap quick fish in there and I would guess he gets less than 1 a month.
They’re scavengers when not actively hunting, they love to dig up snails and plants to eat roots, I have 2 types of sinking pellets specifically for him. I cannot recommend Hikari massivore delite highly enough, it made an immediate noticeable reduction in missing fish. 1 pellet is plenty and you can skip feeding for 2 days afterwards because they’re DENSE, overfeeding these would destroy water quality.
They also get pretty big and love to cruise around, I’d say a 40 breeder should be your minimum end game for an adult crab. Love them, they have so so much character, know they’re probably the apex predator in your tank and plan accordingly!
Tight lid, hard water, and be ready for any other livestock to be food for it.