# Red Chilli Crabs



## schoolzoo (Apr 5, 2012)

I'm hoping that someone can offer some advice, as this is new territory for me. I have a 25 gallon tank set up that is currently housing a pair of red chilli crabs. I did have fish in it also but have moved them out. The tank is divided and has some land where I've planted some plants. Nothing fancy as this is my first attempt. 
I have a male and a female crab. The female is carrying eggs, and has started to release some into the water. Any suggestions for ensuring that the young grow.
I should also mention that this set up is in a science classroom. My students are responsible for all of our tanks.

This is a picture of our tank (before the fish moved out), and of the female on a rock in the land part of the tank.


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

From what I remember reading... very good water quality and a source of calcium (like a piece of cuttlebone or supplemented prey) help. Not sure on pH /water hardness/etc etc.


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## exboyz04 (Mar 20, 2009)

Do u know what country thay come from! Found a Link but not that much info,Red Chilli Crabs





might be worth giveing some Aquatic shops a phone call for some info.


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## schoolzoo (Apr 5, 2012)

Thank-you both for your thoughts. I'm unsure where they originate from. Our local pet store brought them in special for me, and are relying on me giving them any feed back that I acquire. On then plus side if I can get some of the young to grow to any reasonable size my pet store will likely "buy" some back - could work well to support the tanks in my classroom. 
This is proving to be a great learning experience for my students - as I learn more info on them, I share it with my students. We've had some great discussions form it. 
Another point of curiosity is that the male likes to dig and tunnel. Any reading that I've found says that they will climb and try to escape. So far it is almost a daily task to find him, and carefully dig him out of his cave/tunnel. The most resent on was about 4 inches deep and 6 inches long. We will see how big it is by the end of the weekend.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Why do you dig him out of his tunnel everyday instead of letting him come and go as he pleases? Seems like that could present unneeded stress.


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## schoolzoo (Apr 5, 2012)

The 2 crabs that we currently have are our second pair for this year. I has 2 others that seemed to be doing well, then we did a water change and some maintenance - and one disappeared. I pulled everything out of the tank thinking that it was under our plant container - no luck. The following day the second one had disappeared. My best guess is that they tunneled into the dirt and their tunnel collapsed on them. I did have my students look though the dirt when they didn't reappear after a couple of days - no luck. (I think that they were in the dirt, but when the students were digging they weren't being very observant. Anyway now we/ I dig him out. I have given them a black container to hide in - it seems to help with the digging.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

Just a thought, as it seems he likes tunnels, how about a burying a pvc pipe with the mouth exposed for an entrance? You could cap the end if you are afraid of him digging in past the end.


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## Lurkerz (Jan 4, 2012)

The pvc is a great idea. I would suggest having both ends open back out of the soil. In my experience most burrowing critters liked to have a backdoor. The backdoor should open somewhere out of sight. The burrow and the backdoor all provide security for them which will lower stress levels.

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## schoolzoo (Apr 5, 2012)

Hadn't thought of a pipe - I'll try something along those lines. Thanks


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## tradaroo (Feb 23, 2007)

The red chilli crabs are hard to breed.I shoukd say , hard to raise the young. The young need to go through a saltwater to brackishwater stage before the go back to freshwater. If you are looking to breed crabs you should try thr vampire crabs. they are completly freshwater


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## schoolzoo (Apr 5, 2012)

What salinity will they need? I do have a reef tank in my classroom, so we have lots of salt on hand.


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## tradaroo (Feb 23, 2007)

schoolzoo said:


> What salinity will they need? I do have a reef tank in my classroom, so we have lots of salt on hand.


Its not that important that you get the salinity right, they need to go through a plankton stage. Its almost as if they float through the ocean. thats why the females carry 5000-10000 eggs. only a few make it. Im not saying you cant try to breed them, if you do you would be the first.


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## schoolzoo (Apr 5, 2012)

Thanks for the feedback. My students added some liquid calcium to the water today, tomorrow we will add a bit of salt. We also added a aquarium log to the land. It has a few holes in and out of it to help reduce their need/desire to tunnel. However today climbing was the issue - I'm just glad that they are observant and question when things don't appear right. Fortunately we found the escapee on top of the filter before he crashed to the floor, and were able to return him to the tank. The holes around the filter inlet and outlet have now been covered. As far as raising the young I guess that I'm going to lead my students on an adventure. This is inquiry based learning at it finest.

We have acquired a bigger tank, and will start the set up on it next week. First we need to build a stand on wheels to make it easier to move around. I think that it is close to 70 gallons. (its about 48" long, by 15" wide and 20"tall) Then our plan is to make a false bottom for part of it with a slope that will lead into the water. I'll try to post pictures as we go. Any suggestions for what to do, or use would be great.


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