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Thread: My first vivarium

  1. #41
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    Re: My first vivarium

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    Some morning updates.
    Bought 3 trophy female vampire crabs for the male, as well as added moss to cover the substrate to further simulate its natural habitat (after watching the videos).


  2. #42
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Top down shot.


  3. #43
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Angry male staring at me showing who's boss.


  4. #44
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Meek females enjoying themselves amongst the flora.



    Will continue updating this thread, hopefully I can get them to breed.

  5. #45
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Some good news to share.
    Found baby crabs in the tank! If I'm correct, it should be a hybrid of red male and purple female species.
    Still not sure if I want to seperate the babies from the adults as I read about the parents feeding on their offspring.



  6. #46
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Hello tetra. Any updates on ur crabs? I have just started keeping vamps myself. I cant seem to find most of my crabs now in the 1.5ft tank.

  7. #47
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Quote Originally Posted by Junneh View Post
    Hello tetra. Any updates on ur crabs? I have just started keeping vamps myself. I cant seem to find most of my crabs now in the 1.5ft tank.
    Hi, thanks for asking. Thought no one was interested in this thread at all. Why dont you share some pics of your setup as well? Also provide some info like how many crabs, males and females etc.
    My crabs are always active even during the day. Heres one of them attempting a spiderman tint!


    I dont do anything but dump in food like dried bloodworms and hikari crab cruisine daily. Other than that I just leave them alone.

  8. #48
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Hello mate. Yeah, crabs are pretty interesting in my opinion. Don't understand why they aren't popular with hobbyists though. I have a total of 7 vampire crabs in my 1.5ft tank. 4 juveniles (2 males 2 females) & 3 adults (2 females & 1 gender unknown). I feed them solely Hikari Crab Crusine and change water every 2-3 days. I'm not too sure whether I'm doing everything right though. My sand's water absorbent so there are puddles of water, apart from the crater i made.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  9. #49
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Hey there great setup! These crabs were popular back in 2010-2012 so the interest may have died off locally.
    Do your males fight? For your tank size I would stick to 2 or 3 males max. My dominant male always kills any new male crab that I add in. So I only add in females.

    As for the substrate, your sand is more for mangrove/fiddler crab setup but it will do fine. Maybe you can create a larger pool of water for them to have more space for molting.

    Also, you can give them some variety in their diet so they wont get sick of the same food. Your setup seems fine so just leave them alone and they will eventually breed. Feel free to ask any qns or post more pics here and I will try to answer them best to my knowledge and experience keeping them.

  10. #50
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    Re: My first vivarium

    The juveniles are fairly peaceful...however I'm noticing some hostility between the adults. No missing limbs or casualties as of now. I'm unable to identify one of the adults, due to bad eyes? Haha. I can't tell its gender despite looking underneath it. I'm actually thinking of setting up a 2nd tank this around, housing only purple vampire crabs. I see that u have successfully bred them. Can u shed some light to encourage mating and where did u get ur vamp crabs from?
    Last edited by Junneh; 15th May 2016 at 21:26.

  11. #51
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    Re: My first vivarium

    From my experience (due to small tank size), the male adults will fight with each other whenever there is a chance, while the females will get chased all the time by the dominant male.

    What I did was ensure there are enough hiding places with plants for them to hide to limit them from seeing each other. As long as the crabs are healthy and feeding its just a matter of time that they will breed. Patience is the key and its not adviseable to disturb them too much. Just leave them be on their own. Feeding them different kinds of food will also help.

    I usually get my crabs from c328 or seaview. C328 crabs are 50/50 survival rate due to stress maybe, being in a bucket with others. The ones I got from seaview were more seemed healthier.

  12. #52
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    Re: My first vivarium

    My intended 2nd tank is probably 1ft or smaller.. i believe thats gonna cause more issues right? Cannibalism and hostility. Currently, the 1 adult i bought from C328 is extremely aggressive. My 4 juveniles are still no where to be seen. The remaining 2 adults i got from seaview kinda took over the juvs' hiding spots. I leave 4-5 pellets on the driftwood nightly and all disappeared the next morning. Not too sure if they are eaten or dumped somewhere in the tank.

    Patience is a virtue they say. I hope i dont have to wait years for them to mate.. another issue is i dont know if i have a mature male in the tank.. dammit ><

    Vampy stock at seaview is often sold out or left with a handful whenever I pay a visit during the weekends. Couldnt find any males there too. C328 has plenty but the crowd makes it difficult to check the crabs at my own pace.

    Do u have any low requirement plants to recommend? My current plants arent faring too well. Rotting leaves etc. My emersed HC kinda died out recently.

  13. #53
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    Re: My first vivarium

    For plants I will go for money plants, easy to care for and needs very low light. I usually cut a few stalks from around the neighbourhood to use for the tank, some die off, others thrive. You may also get some java moss and spread it out over the substrate as ground cover.
    A check today shows no sign of the babies. I suspect they may have got eaten up by the adults and my 3 froglets in the tank.

  14. #54
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Hmm.. roger that! Darn. I just gave away all my moss not too long ago. Lol. Frogs? U keep them with vamps? Wouldnt they attack each other? Hopefully the baby vamps are alive. They are too precious to lose. Haha. Hopefully my new setup wouldnt cost too much. Intending to reuse as much as possible.

  15. #55
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Thats right no sign of the babies at all. Lost them all over the weekend. You can keep frogs with crabs but beware that when they grow bigger the frog will eat the adult crabs.
    Will post some pics tomorrow if you'd like.
    To setup and maintain a vivarium is cheaper than keeping a planted tank. All you have to do is top up water once every few days. I dont even change my tank water at all. For deco you can get cork bark, fallen branches, leaf litter, stem cuttings or moss from the local flora for free. All you need is a tank, substrate and a cheap lightset will do.

  16. #56
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    Re: My first vivarium

    A vivarium huh... it sounds too much work to set it up. Saw some videos online and it doesnt seem cheap to get all the necessary equipments and decorations. Haha.

    Local flora? U mean those from the public? To my knowledge, i know that not all plants are suitable for aquatic invertebrates due to the sap from plants. Would be interesting to setup a self sustaining eco system though. However, will that be doable for a normal plastic container for food instead?

    Yes, please guide me through a simple setup and some pictures if u may. Sorry for the trouble though ��

  17. #57
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Quote Originally Posted by Junneh View Post
    A vivarium huh... it sounds too much work to set it up. Saw some videos online and it doesnt seem cheap to get all the necessary equipments and decorations. Haha.

    Local flora? U mean those from the public? To my knowledge, i know that not all plants are suitable for aquatic invertebrates due to the sap from plants. Would be interesting to setup a self sustaining eco system though. However, will that be doable for a normal plastic container for food instead?

    Yes, please guide me through a simple setup and some pictures if u may. Sorry for the trouble though ��
    You may not know it but your tank is already a vivarium. If you take out all the fancy misting systems, water features etc, you don't even require any equipment except the lights like what your current setup is like. I wouldn't worry about plant saps. Just wash the stem cuttings thoroughly will do.

  18. #58
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Ahh.. understood.. I probably have to find those cheap tanks or perhaps just a huge plastic toyogo container to house the new crabs... Its gonna be more for breeding instead of admiring the crabs.. Any suggestions where I can find cheap tanks? Also, is "lapis sand" recommended for vampire crabs? Its sand is mixed so the substrate tends to look really messy/complicated. If I don't change the water, wouldn't the TDS only surge up? Also, considering the ammonia and nitrite build up due to the waste and leftover food.

  19. #59
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Lapis sand will do fine as substrate. As for the water, I wouldn't worry much about it as long as you have suficient plants that will consume the ammonia/nitrites/waste.

    I believe that in their natural habitat, they do not have pristine water like our tap conditions so they will do fine in aged and seasoned water. However it all depends on your setup and if you find that the water is murky or dirty then it would be best to perform a water change.

    So far for all my setups I dont see a need to do water changes as my water still looks relatively clean. Having springtails and isopods also help to clear up leftover waste and mould/fungus. The crabs are scavengers, they eat whatever food scraps lying about, so going a little messy is all part of their natural habitat.

    Some good news to share, saw a couple of the babies coming out from under the driftwood. I'm assuming they are all cleverly hiding and able to take good care of themselves.


  20. #60
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    Re: My first vivarium

    Hmm.. Thus, the reason to add more plants into the scape.. Im actually intending to put my new tank near the window for natural sunlight...saves my electricity bills.. is it possible to to use "Dwarf Hair Grass" to scape the land? I was told its suitable for beginners due to its low requirements. If so, how do I ensure the hair grass survival and propagate it? I have tried several times to carpet the land but most ended in tragedy.

    As of now, Im still unable to find any juvenile crabs. My adult crabs are always hiding still. I hardly noticr any movement in the tank apart from the missing pellets i left for a day or two. I hope this doesny mean that my crabs arent adapting new to the new environment. At night, the adults are often seen hiding in the plants or under the driftwood. Likewise, no movements from them either apart from moving away slowly when I shine the torchlight at them. Lol

    Good to know ur juveniles are still alive. I hope they thrive well and produce more babies snf the generations to come. Haha. Hope my new breeding community works well for me. Im a tad nervous because the crabs at C328 aint faring too well when I lasted visited.

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