Hey all!

At work today we recieved some little red clawed crabs. I don't know if that's their "technical" name, but it's what was on the invoice. They're small, maybe 3/4 of an inch across. Their legs and claws are red, and their bodies are marbled white and green. They're gorgeous!

I haven't been able to find ANY info on the web. I would like to get one, but I don't want it to kill my fish... I have 2 tanks I could put one in. They are both 10 gallons. My pH is around 7.4.

One is a tropical tank, with small tetras, sparkling gouramis, otos, a female betta, and a female krib.

The second is divided to hold 4 bettas, 3 males and 1 female. It is unheated. The dividers are made of that plastic canvas used for crafts.

OK, so the questions I have - how big will it get? Will it catch and kill my fish? Does it need heated water? Does it need to be able to climb out of the water? If it does, it could be able to do so in the betta tank, it could climb the dividers... problem with THIS is, will it climb out of my tank?

Thanks!

EDITED for redundantness

I got one of these little guys to live with my newts about two months ago, they're very amusing

Ok, I'll try and answer your questions:
They don't grow much larger, if any bigger, than the ones you have now. I don't think you need to worry about it hurting your fish. My newts will sit on mine and he doesn't pinch them , they aren't aggressive. They don't need heated water but the DO need to be able to get out on land. My guy spends about half his time on the little 'beach' in his tank.

The final thing, if there is ANY way for it to get out of your tank it will! They are escape artists. If you put it in your betta tank, make sure it has one tight lid!!!!

Good luck!

PS. I found a bunch of info on the net about them. Here are a few decent sites:
http://species.fishindex.com/species_3312s...lawed_crab.html
http://www.clhs-chawks.org/loc_web/animals...clawed_crab.htm

For some reason, i wouldn't risk it.... I think you should go out and
buy maybe a 5 gallon or something for the crabs alone.
What do you feed the crab?, if its anything related with fish, then why would
you put it in a tank full of fishies.... (IMO)

Heh, now I've read that the crabs can wreak havoc on plants... but still conflicting opinions on if it'll harm my fish.

I actually can't find any photos of the crab I'm talking about. It looks sort of like the red asian crab.... but the body sure is NOT red.

I might get one and see what happens...

OK, so I got one. Here it is!

Now, that is a beauty, Squeeker! Did you put it in with your other fish? Anything aggressive yet?
I fell in love with some of the crabs as well, but I'll get myself a blue one. Btw, what kind of snake is that in your avatar? Looks cool...

hey Ranchugirl,

Yup, I put it in with my bettas. I figured the crab would hang out at the bottom, and the bettas would hang out at the top, so (in theory) there won't be much aggression. All is fine for now!

The snake in my avatar is a Tangerine Honduran milk snake. His name is Magma. I him!!! Snakes make great pets!