# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Invertebrates >  Mandarin crab setup

## lucasjiang

Hi, i just got 3 mandarin crabs. they are very cute, though quite shy. here is a pic of my setup. i am also hoping for some ideas as to what i can put at the right part and bottom part of the tank as it is quite bare.

Set-up

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## kian

post some pictures of your crab?? :Razz:

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## lucasjiang

Pics of the crabs

male

male

female 1

female 2

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## fishpoo

oh very nice crabs... where did you get them? for how much?

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## lucasjiang

hi, i just added some emmersed plants to my setup. here is a pic of my new setup

whole setup

downoi

crypt.parva

glosso

crypt. wendtii

unknown plant, can someone help me ID it?

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## ash

bro, did *you* give them any source of water?

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## lucasjiang

of course. all living things need to drink water.

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

Hiho  :Wink: 

Yes, the second "edition" is better because it gives the specimen more possibilites to hide. The gravel is no problem, better would be terrarium humus since it better takes the moisture, doesn't get moldy and allows the crabs to dig (although Geosesarma notophorum seems not to dig very much but instead uses given hidings).

You could add some leaf litter – it's a good hiding place either and another food resource for most crabs (although – again *g* – Geosesarma species seem not to feed on leaf litter).

The plant You ask for looks like some grass, if it is out of an aquarium like Lilaeopsis (here it is called New Zealand grass).

I don't see a water dish or something like that either but it shouldn't be necessary IF the substrate is moist enough. You should however cover the "terrarium" since the crabs could escape (in a tank the silicone is enough for them to climb) and it would better for the air humidity.

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## lucasjiang

i think humidity shoudnt be a problem as the humidity here is always about 70% and above.

as for water, i fill the tub with water until it is around 1 cm under the gravel. then, i dig a small hole in the middle so that the water in the hole will be above the gravel. thats why the middle of the tub seems bare. it is because of the water hole.

BTW, the crabs always munch on my plants and wouldnt touch the pellets that i give them.

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## lucasjiang

Hi Beastie, in another thread, i saw that you were keeping 5 crabs in a 30cm tank. my tub is 46 cm. how many can i keep in my tub? currently, i have only 3 crabs.

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## andrewtyr

wont crabs rip out the plants?

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## Quixotic

These are really small crabs, about a couple of cm across the carapace, so ripping of plants are not likely to be an issue. However, some crabs do eat plant matter, not too sure on their diet of this species.

lucas, add more hiding places if you intend for more crabs. Some leaf litter as mentioned by Ollie, stones/woods would be great.

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## lucasjiang

i think as the plants grow, there will be more hiding places.

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

Good morning  :Wink: 




> i think humidity shoudnt be a problem as the humidity here is always about 70% and above.


Oky, I didn't count for that  I am in Europe  :Very Happy: 




> as for water, i fill the tub with water until it is around 1 cm under the gravel. then, i dig a small hole in the middle so that the water in the hole will be above the gravel.


I suspected something like that. Problem could become mold, but as long as that does not occur I see no problem.




> BTW, the crabs always munch on my plants and wouldnt touch the pellets that i give them.


Funny. None of the four Geosearma species with us ever was interested in plants. Very different from other Sesarmidae which are lawnmowers.  :Very Happy: 




> my tub is 46 cm. how many can i keep in my tub? currently, i have only 3 crabs.


If it is 46 x 46 cm I guess from G. notophorum You could keep up to about 10 animals. But then it becomes a little overcrowded when they are starting to reproduce.

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## lucasjiang

by the way, how long does the crab need to grow from egg to adult?

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

We don't know it for sure by G. notophorum but from experiences with other G. species it should be eight to nine weeks.

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## lucasjiang

then how long must the female hold the eggs?

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

Hideho ;-)

As I wrote, eight to nine weeks probably. Then the youglings climb on the back of the mother for two to three days before they are released, states Peter K. L. Ng.

But I have misunderstood Your former question. Adulti they become with several months, I cannot say more speciic since we did not yet have younglings from this species ourselves (still waiting and waiting and… *g*). When the pleon of the females gets broader and is covering nearly the whole sternum after a molt they should have become adult.

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## lucasjiang

hi, i have another question. my crabs are always hiding. in fact, i doubt they even come out at night. sometimes when i shine my torch into their tank at night, all of them are hiding. furthermore, the food is untouched and they dont seem to eat the plants anymore. is this normal? what other food can they eat?

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

Hi there, 

yes they are very hideous (what is why we don't advice them for the most people) and since they are so small the amount of food that visibly "disappears" is very small either – so You can't see very good if or how much they fed.

You can give tomatoe, cucumber, corn and other vegetables (must be good washed and or peeled, may not contain too much hydrocyanic or oxalic acid and no copper), fish (fresh or frozen), bloodworms, artemia, daphnia, cyclops etc.

EDIT: Since I had to type this twice I forgot: They pick up some food also from the detritus (micro organisms etc.).

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## lucasjiang

Hi Beastie, i have another question. do the crabs molt above land or do they molt under the sand? thanks for answering all my previous questions.

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

Hiho ;-)

They molt on land. Our G. notophorum did not yet molt but the G. krathing came out of their burrows to molt so I guess it will be the same with G. notophorum.

They need hiding places after molting, so You should have leaf litter in the tank, stones, moss…

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## hahab0i

Hi guys, i'm new to these crabs and i had 2 experience of keeping these crabs. 1st time i kept i bought 1 female whom died 2 days later which i think probably is because she's weak before she had reached my house. 2nd experience is when i bought a pair from another LFS which cost $2 more but in better condition but the male died 1 or 2 weeks later. Lucky the female is still active and alive now =)

Few days ago i bought another pair, 1 male and 1 female, at first they get along well even in the carrier when going home. Then i tested placing the old female with the new pair and the she started fighting with the male one where the new female just sit at the side looking scared. The old female is slighting bigger then the new pair.

So i seperated the old one and new pair. May i know whether you guys faced this problem of aggresiveness against each other? cause at times i would see the male chasing (" attacking") the female as well although they gets along well. Any idea why the new male can't get along with my old female? Will it be because of the size? or might be different species as Mandrian and Orange looks almost the same.

Hope to hear from you guys soon. Thanks =)

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## lucasjiang

in my experience, as long as you provide enough hiding places, they will not fight

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## BEASTIEPENDENT

Hi there  :Wink: 

Might be the different species, they are probably highly aggressive towards one another.

Another thing is: If You put new crabs in a tank (doesn't matter which species You keep) You should take out all specimen, change the decoration and hiding places a bit and then set them in again all together. That way each specimen has to seek for a new hiding place and territory and not only the new ones.

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## lucasjiang

Heres an update of my tank




One of my females molted, heres a pic of the molt

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