Crabs...social??

My local fishhouse is selling freshewater tropical crabs at the moment.
They look very pretty and might add interest to this trop tank I hve
inherited. The aquarium is in my wifes place of work, so is a display thing
more than a personal interest one and these little red crabs would certainly
be intresting. But would they live in peace with the other fish,
particularly the albino cories that dwell on the floor? Anyone got any
experience?


David

>Subject: Crabs...social??
>From: "david" david_perry DeleteThis @btconnect.com
>Date: 11/5/2003 8:35 AM Central Standard Time
>Message-id: <bob1s5$1d8$1@sparta.btinternet.com>
>
>
>My local fishhouse is selling freshewater tropical crabs at the moment.
>They look very pretty and might add interest to this trop tank I hve
>inherited. The aquarium is in my wifes place of work, so is a display thing
>more than a personal interest one and these little red crabs would certainly
>be intresting. But would they live in peace with the other fish,
>particularly the albino cories that dwell on the floor? Anyone got any
>experience?
>
>
>David

Hello David.
If we are talking about Fiddler Crabs (aka Mini Crabs), they need a place to be
able to get out fo the water and dry out a bit. This is often not told (or not
known) by shop keepers. Their tank need to have a tight fitting lid, as they
are magical escape artists. Let me tell ya.....it's a scary sight to be walking
in your bedroom at night and catch a glimpse of a good sized male Crab
scurrying sideways across the room.
(I wasn't aware I could reach that pitch)
After realizing it wasn't a huge spider (hence the scream), I was happy that I
found the little Houdini (sp?) instead of my 2 cats or Rott.
They're usually ok with fast moving fish and cause no harm, however, they can
catch fish and eat them.
Usually it's either sick or dying/dead fish that are caught and eaten. However,
I had been told by other hobbyists that they had seen fish being caught that
were swimming by. I saw it with my own eyes a few years back too.
Ihad this pair of Fiddler's in with my Angelfish and female Bettas for long
over a year. These guys are as comical as Clown Loaches are. The males
communicate with their enormous claw by moving it around in the air,
well...water. Anyway, one day the bugger was doing his territory claw signals
and just snatched a female Betta that was swimming past him.
As uncommon as this is, it needs to be kept in mind and know it's a
possibility.
As for the Cories....they should be fine with them.
The questions I have are what are the other fish in this tank, and what size is
it?
If it's a good size, there are these little shelf like things that suction onto
the glasswall of the tank (at the surface) that can be used for the Crabs to
crawl up on.
They're usually geared more towards Newts.