# Other Aquarium Forums > Equipment and Accessories >  I need help with purple vampire crabs habitat

## butterflychild

Hello all i need help with setting up my purple vampire crabs habitat. I was told i need all this stuff but its just way to exspensive for me to get all. Please tell me what i need and what i can get ride of. I have not boughten any of the stuff yet exsept i ordered the tank so far.
40gal tank, tank lid (not sure what kind to get. I was going to get a screen lid but then was told i need glass lid), tank stand, grapevine, tongs for feeding, terraruim pump, terrarium filter, heat wave forest, digital thermometer, digital hygrometer, light cycle unit, fogger ultrasonic fog generator, waterfall, coco husk, turtle pebbles small, plantation soil, styrofoam Aquarium background, tree fern tropical backgroun, terra monsoon RS400 high-pressure rainfall, white repti-sand, repti calcuim, hubba hut, therm under tank heater, differnt real plants for land and water but dont know what ones, MOSS (java, peat, terrarium and stagnum), 2 tubes of Silicone ( not sure were to get these from), plastic screen(to put inbetween gravel and sand) and coconut shells. SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW THANK YOU.

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## cdckjn

just goggle this forum, several of the members in Singapore has relatively simple setup. But for you in Canada, you will definitely need the heater. the "waterfall" can be solved by having a powerhead moving the water and then flowing down.
good luck!

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## butterflychild

Thank you. What im wanting to know is what do i NEED from the above list and what do i NOT need. As im on a fixed income and dont want to spend anymore then i have to. I want to make the PVC a habitat that resembles its natural habitat as best that i can.

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## xeneryx

Hey, I've got several of them. they are hardy and easy to keep.
Basic needs are just water and land.
Remember to add anti chlorine..

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## xeneryx

for my setup, just half land, half water. normal gravel or any gravel will do. and just some driftwoods.
thats all!

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## fisherw

I think you have to answer your own question. I don't mean to be difficult but the your decision must be whether you want a full scale vivarium/paludarium (again search for them on this site) or just a simple habitat for the crab. As mentioned, there are very simple set-ups described and shown here (a recent one is http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...hlight=vampire and way classier than mine). There's one by a serious crab enthusiast and with considerable more experience than me that is (are actually as more than one were shown) just a plastic box.

Mine is a simple S$13.00 tank with S$1.99 of potting mix with two containers that came with dental floss picks (like see-through swimming pools chosen specifically so I can see them through the side of the tank), pebbles I had around, caves made from coconut husk I scavenge from dessert bought at a supermarket and from spawning caves I had lying around. The crabs cost me a lot more.

I don't have a lid as I don't have anything trailing over but they are climbers and escapers as I have lost at least 2 crabs (but not vampires but I think they are climbers too). My feeding tongs are thin nose tweezers I bought for around a dollar. 

The heater mentioned by cdckjn and which we don't need here, might be necessary. I don't know about humidity so cannot advise you there but most everything else on your list is "what you want" rather than "what the crab needs". Like the high pressure rainfall and the fog generator. Maybe the viv and palu people here can advise.

Sounds as if you met a high pressure sales person. 

Do an advance search on this forum and see the range from the simple to the elaborate. Apologies if this is not the point by point reply you are looking for but mine is a poor-man's set-up.

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## butterflychild

Thank you so very much fisherw. No your replay was not difficult i figured that 90% of the stuff the pet store out of my town told me i needed was bogus. But i didnt know anything about crabs then and funny part is they didnt have PVC or can get any either lol. That should have told me they dont know nothing about them.
Ok xeneryx what kind of anti- chlorine do i need would Nutrifin Aqua plus that you use for fish be ok to take the chlorine out of the crabs water.?
Thank you cdckjn for your help.
I think im going to stick to my list i made which is alot shorter and just has the basics it will cost me a whole lot less and be just as good thank you all very much i will keep you all posted as i built there habitat.

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## butterflychild

Does anyone know whats the difference between organic top soil and organic potting soil. As i was told to use organic potting soil for my PVC habitat. But my LHWS only has organic top soil. Or should i find something else to use. Please help.

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## cdckjn

I would rather stick with normal sand or gravel as if you run water through the potting soil, the runoff will be brownish and turn your water into a nightmare. If you keep the potting soil dry and only for plants, then that's all right but in the long run it really depnds on what kind of tank you want, real plants or emmersed plants or submerged plants or fake plants, the list goes on and on, so I think if you post a picture of your tank, we can give you a run-down or a step-by-step advise as we go along. Cheers.

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## butterflychild

Well right now i dont have my tank its coming next Tuesday. I am going out to buy what i can next week after tanks her it will be a 40gal. What i was planing on doing for the land part was put gravel on the bottom part, then some plastic screening (so sand wont fall through gravel) on top of the gravel, then sand on top of that then soil for plants and digging or something like that. The water part is going to have small pebbles a wee bit of sand on top of the pebbles, and some med size rocks to look like a stream with a waterfalls. Im going to have plexiglass siliconed to the wals and bottom to divide the land and water. Im hopefully have real plants. When i get my tank and stuff i will let you all know. As of right now i just have one PVC in a 5 gallon tank.

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## stormhawk

To save yourself the trouble of planting with real plants, especially since you're on disability, it's best to rely on plastic plants in the land zone, and you can do planting in the water zone with easy plants like mosses, ferns and water wort.

The LFS was not giving you bogus advice, however, what they were advising you to get were high end stuff. Crab habitats can be made easily and cheaply if you're not too fussy about how it looks. Just think of a moist freshwater forest stream. I gave you a link to read in your introduction thread, so it will help you if you decide on what to do.

Land area can be planted with marsh plants or you can attempt to grow aquatic plants in emersed form.

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## butterflychild

Oh wow thank you so very much storm i dont have alot of money and was thing of maybe some really nice looking plastic of silk plants. but was wanting a bit of real ones. What i was wondering was can i use any house plants.? I was sent a plant web sites with plants you can use in terrarium. But i dont know wether you an use them for a vivarium were crabs may nibble on then.

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## butterflychild

Im sorry i have been given so many links i dont know who sent what lol.

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## stormhawk

House plants are not recommended as some will produce sap when a stem or branch is broken, that is usually toxic to animals, including humans. My advice on using plastic plants is fairly simple. You want a fuss free, yet decent looking home for the crab, so plastic plants will do just nice. You don't need to worry about planting etc, because it can get cumbersome over time, and you might have to figure out a way to create the land area and water area. 

Plastic plants sold for use in terrariums/aquariums will do great because they are meant for such applications. Try not to buy any random cheap plastic plants that you might find at Walmart and such. Make sure they contain no toxic paints or dyes or your crab will die if it takes a nibble, or the dyes run out into the water zone.

You can do up the land area with some egg crate and corkbark or something similar to create a platform of sorts. Use Google and search for turtle platforms or DIY paludariums, and you will get some inspiration from there.

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## cdckjn

The othyer simple way to creat a land area is to get a simple slate slab where you support at the bottom with some PVC pipe, the plants can be moss in the water and some plastic plants at the top. Get a simple powerhead with plastic water tubing to create a simple water fall that flow down some rocks. the rocks can be sued to hide the plastic water pipe. That should be simple, cheap, nice and easy to maintian.

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## butterflychild

Thank you stormhawk but theres a problem we dont get plastic egg crates here. Then i guess silk plants would be a no no then. Oh what about silicone plexiglass to the tank to divide the land from water it sounds pretty easy and cheap to do that. And i can get pieces of plexiglass from my LHWS for nothing and the silicone is around $9.99 or less for a 10.3 oz. I was planing to glue sand or something to the sloped plexiglass so the crabs can get in and out. Sorry im NO handy woman your two idea sounds to complecated for me. I was going to find a wat to glue some rocks together to make a waterfalls. Ok when i get my filter do i get one that says for 40 gal tank even though i wont have 40 gals of water in my tank or do i get a smaller one.? Im going to have pebbles and some med size rocks in my water with plants.They say bamboo and water lettece or good plants to use are they ok to have in the tank and wont kill my crabs. I sort of like the idea of some real plants that wont harm my crabs do you have any sugestions.? Sorry if i sound so dumb and stupid i dont know anything about reptiles or ampibians or any other critter like these. I have to learn as i go. I usually sick to dogs, cats, rabbits, birds and fish lol. Aswell im a very slow learner. But i thank you for being patent with me. So please forgive the stupidness.  :Smile:

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## stormhawk

http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/...d-accessories/

Have a look at this site. Those movable ramps and stuff sold for turtles, will suit your crab for the land area. You can do the DIY on the plexiglass with sand or rocks siliconed in place. It's fairly simple but silicone does not adhere very well to plexiglass.

The Turtle Cliff product will take out the need to make a waterfall etc for these crabs since it's very much Plug and Play, then you can add some live plants in the water area like floating plants or hornwort etc. Something easy that can grow easily and is cheap to replace if it dies in the water.

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## butterflychild

Sorry what does DIY mean.? Do you know of some plants that are safe to put in with PVC.? Im looking for ones that if the PVC eats any of the plants they wont get sick or die.

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## stormhawk

DIY = Do It Yourself.  :Smile: 

Aquatic plants are generally safe with these Vampire Crabs. Most paludariums for these crabs typically contain mosses, ferns and Anubias.

See this thread for a super simple crab tank:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...-148262-2.html
Scroll down a little and you will see a post from a user named "siva".

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## RVizzle

First post gang, bear with me.

I have recently done a budget minded 10 gal viv set-up for vampires with less than half the tank water, the rest is done in jungle mix and sand (about 60/40). Used about 2" of clay pellets for base layer before substrate. (the plastic "egg crate" mentioned earlier is small plastic grid like they use with florescent light fixtures, not really egg crates you get eggs in. :Wink:  
Note: this little build was my first, converted my old hermit crab tank for a few of these little purple buggers. A friend is going to donate a 72gal bow-front to my cause
when he comes back from Zurich. Can't wait to build it.

Pond is about 2" deep with the gravel in it. Using a small turtle/amphibian filter in the pond as it only needs about 3" water to give w nice waterfall effect. Working on a craved out rock formation to hide it a little better.

You can use lexan/plexiglass for your ramp to divide your pond, you just have to hit the side you silicone your sand/gravel with some sandpaper. I used 80 grit and had no adhesion problems...only time will tell. 

Our local store had their vamps in with a few other crabs most notably a cpl panther crabs. I ended up with the LAST one, she was missing 2 legs and a claw on one side and another leg on the other.(panther attack I'm told) she has since molted successfully regaining all her lost limbs. :Grin: 

Did take pics of most of the stuff as I did it for a gaming forum I have been in for years.

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## butterflychild

Oh wow i love it thank you for showing me and telling me how you did it. I will be posting my viv setup as i do it. right now i have my 40 gal tank, play sand, organic top soil, silicone, plexi glass and a few silk plants. I have ordered most of the other stuff i need from PetSmart. I still have to get the light and my Tank stand. Which im haveing being build for me. Im going to be building a stream in the middle of my tank (if all goes well). Will see how that goes. Thanks a ton your tank looks great.

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## butterflychild

Oh i see your using a screen lid. I was told you need to use glass or plexiglass for humitity.

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## RVizzle

> Oh i see your using a screen lid. I was told you need to use glass or plexiglass for humitity.


I do have a pc of plexi cut to fit in the recess where the hood would sit. It fits under the screen. I left it short enough (about 3") so I could slide it back and forth to kinda regulate airflow/humidity a bit.

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## butterflychild

oh ok thats a good idea. Im not sure wether im going to get a glass lid or make a lid from plexiglass. If i use plexiglass im going to have a few wholes drilled in it for airflow/ventalation. And then a few for handles lol.

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