hi, im planning on building a vivarium myself for vampire crabs. wanna know where do they sell vivarium tanks and stuffs like background panels, plants, eggcrates, rocks, drift woods, substrates and most important vampire crabs. i would like some tips on how to build it. im planning on making a false bottom with a waterfall feature, and would like to design it as close as poosible to a natural rainforest. thanks in advance!
btw anybody knows of anyplace that sells vampire crabs? and will they sell it in future? cause im planning to build my vivarium 1st, it will be ready after around a month, i dont want to finish building my vivarium only to find no vampires crab to keep.
Firstly, welcome to AQ and to the Vivariums Section.
As you know, Geosesarma sp.’vampire' originates from Sulawesi, Indonesia and they're a primarily terrestrial species which dwells amongst the forest floor near streams. Their nature of feeding being that of scavenging for plant and animal scraps. Being true freshwater crabs, they do not have to return back to the sea to reproduce. Instead, the hatchlings are immediate replicas of their parents and thus making it possible to breed them in captivity given the right environment and feeding.
The last i saw vampire crabs was at C328. You could enquire with Mrs Toh if the stock's coming in or when's the next season. Bring a photograph along to better aid in the enquiry.
Mock styrofoam backgrounds, eggcrates can be purchased at Clementi Florist & Aquarium aka C328. Seaview has also nice fibreglass backgrounds which mimicks tree trunks. As for corkbarks, flat huge pieces are available at Nature Aquarium. Spaghnum moss, clay pellets and peat moss, you can get those at local nurseries.
A normal glass tank would suffice, just with a custom lid that's all or a Terra tank (whichever suits your fancy). You can purchase the Terra tanks from pet shops around Serangoon North area. And to add, i suggest an open bodied of water relatively in the range of 60-70% of the entire setup which may or may not end up as a paludarium.
So moving on to the setup. We'll run through a few basic pointers so you could have the best options out of it.
Tank Size
Given the nature of these crabs being sociable in a group, i suggest you give it a ratio of 6 crabs per 2ft tank size. So if you decide to have it in larger groups, provide a bigger tank size.
Cover
As crabs are notoriously known for being escape artists, a well designed lid is much in favoured of. Ventilation will also have to be incorporated into the design. These glass lids can be done at your local frame shops. A rough gauge of 6mm of thickness would suffice. Also, your choice of filtration will determine on how your lid design will turn out as you've to include the output and input of your wires or your tubings. Below are few options of a lid with ventilation on it.
The above diagram shows a typical glass lid with a strip of stainless steel for ventilation and a drilled hole (for outlet of wire, or tubes ; no. of holes varies on choice of filtration system) on the upper left side. Hinges provide the option for you to lift up the front pane to allow easy access for maintenance and feeding.
As shown here, these parts are broken down to better facilitate your planning. You can put the width of the stainless steel strip to be of 1inch with an allowance of 5mm at the sides to adhere to the glass.
Shown here in detail the 2 glass panes and how the stainless steel strip is attached to it.
Regards,
Phillipe.
Last edited by Wild Ginger; 8th Sep 2009 at 13:27.
For the false bottom system, it's fairly straightforward. Below are 2 basic setups. You can alter the shape of your land area to suit the respective needs and the placement of the pump varies as well. Either way, the outlet of the water can be chanelled on a piece of bogwood or built a terrace against it to act as a waterfall. There's so many possibilities, so have fun in getting creative with your design. Research through the web for pictures and inspirations, it'll give you a broader perspective on how your tank will turn out eventually.
Also to add, the eggcrates are supported by pvc tubes (which can be found at hardware stores; they come in variety of widths) siliconed in place to the bottom of the tank.
Hope these'll give you a clear understanding of the building process.
Regards,
Phillipe.
i just got my crabs.. i got few questions. they dont have females ones, if anybody knows where to get pls let me know.. thanks alot.. haha..
and i wanna know if my current setup is ok or not.. this is just a temporary 1.. maybe for more then a month.. i used some gravels, added some moss.. place a 'cave' for them.. but them dont seems to like to hide in it.. they are eating.. i got two of them.. can anybody tell me if there is any better substrate or is my substrate good enough for them? thanks alot.. i wanna keep them in good conditions..
hey.. and btw thanks wild ginger! your explaination is really clear and helpful.. thanks!
I suggest you take out the sand and have a piece of bogwood in there. It'll be easy maintenance for the debris and waste matter. Also changing of water have to be much frequent as you've them in such a small enclosure. If you can find a big plastic tub, that'd be great. Install a small internal filter to provide the most basic filtration.
If space is a constraint for you, do regular water changes to prevent toxic build ups in the water. If left as it is, it'll destabilize the pH and will eventually kill the crabs.
Regards,
Phillipe.
Just to add, instead of getting bigger tubs, you can check out your neighbourhood hardware stores if they sell those big plastic round tubs. Those are cheap and deep enough plus the crabs can't crawl out either.
Regards,
Phillipe.
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