My first vivarium

[Cardinal Tetra]

You can use any plants you like as long as it can adapt and thrive in your setup. That's the fun part about having a vivarium. Making it too neat and organized will make your setup look unrealistic and 'manmade'. Natural sunlight is good and you don't have to worry about algae unlike planted tanks because the algae will add on to making your setup more naturalistic.

Missing pellets are a sign that the crabs are eating. The best way to breed them is to leave them alone apart from feeding daily and ensuring that they have a constant body of water to molt. Don't worry if they are hiding. I have another lone female crab in my 1ft tank that loves to burrow into the substrate and I've not seen her for a few months now.

What crabs do you have? Are they all red devils or do you have a mix of species?

[Junneh]

Hmm.. the ones I have are red devils. Well, some might not have achieved their full colors yet because body is still brownish but all claws are red.

Algae... I have no idea how to grow them but hopefully it does start blooming on its own. Also, I noticed that there's white fungi starting to grow on my driftwood. Looks like white hairy fur if I remembered correctly. Should I be concerned about it?

Im gonna shop this sat/sun at C328 again. Hope to get some cheap plants there in their submersed form. Also, males seem to be scarce at lfs now. Paid a visit to several lfs and no males spotted. Hopefully I have more luck this weekend. My main concern the plant being unable to adapt to my substrate.. my current ones are wiethering off.. somehow

[Cardinal Tetra]

I would advice that you get plants that are emersed if you do not plan to place them in water. Any mould/fungi growth helps to make it more natural so I wouldn't worry. Adding springtails and isopods will help to consume these though.

[Junneh]

Ahh... alright.. still, im not sure why my plants are dying.. perhaps because i stuffed the roots into the substrate? Sorry, the plants I bought are emersed form. I shall let the fungus stay on the wood then. Dont wanna meddle with the tank too much. Just hope the crabs will actually come out of hiding though :/

[Cardinal Tetra]

Some pics of my setup. Marshy wetland.

[Cardinal Tetra]

The water area.

[Cardinal Tetra]

Frog with crab in the background.

[Junneh]

Cardinal, ur crabs dont seem shy at all. Did u take the pics during the day? I havent seen mine ever since i had a driftwood. Some holes here and there.. they probaby hid in it all day.. also, it is normal if there are leftover pellets overnight? Should I remove the pellets and replace them with new ones during feeding time?

Im probably setting up my next tank tomorrow...im pumped.. i want my male crabs!!!

PS: ur tank looks simple and neat! Mine's just messy and barren. Lol

[Cardinal Tetra]

Cardinal, ur crabs dont seem shy at all. Did u take the pics during the day? I havent seen mine ever since i had a driftwood. Some holes here and there.. they probaby hid in it all day.. also, it is normal if there are leftover pellets overnight? Should I remove the pellets and replace them with new ones during feeding time?

Im probably setting up my next tank tomorrow...im pumped.. i want my male crabs!!!

PS: ur tank looks simple and neat! Mine's just messy and barren. Lol

Yes I took the pics daytime when the lights are on. Its normal to hide, I think it depends on the personality of each individual crab. Some like to climb, some like to soak in the water, some like to roam about, some like to hide.
I usually leave leftover food in the tank to let it rot for my springtails to eat. I can pass you a culture if you want. My tank is nowhere neat, really. I recommend using money plants for they give good shade for the crabs and provide places to hide. Many times I saw my crabs hiding between the layer of shaded leaves. Please update your setup when its done tomorrow!

[fireblade]

nice updates on the crabs...
makes my hands itchy too!

[Cardinal Tetra]

nice updates on the crabs...
makes my hands itchy too!

Haha let's start the trend again!

[fireblade]

no space for another tank lay

[Junneh]

Yes I took the pics daytime when the lights are on. Its normal to hide, I think it depends on the personality of each individual crab. Some like to climb, some like to soak in the water, some like to roam about, some like to hide.
I usually leave leftover food in the tank to let it rot for my springtails to eat. I can pass you a culture if you want. My tank is nowhere neat, really. I recommend using money plants for they give good shade for the crabs and provide places to hide. Many times I saw my crabs hiding between the layer of shaded leaves. Please update your setup when its done tomorrow!

Wish I had picked out the more daring crabs instead.. Its boring staring at a tank without crabs. Lol. Springtail culture? Those little critters? Im not too sure how to keep them alive, much less breed them. Wouldnt ur tank be infested with them if ur vamps arent eating them?

Sure, will update this post tmr. Its nothing special. Jist a really simple setup...on tight budget. Haha

[Luc Tango]

so hard to find crabs nowadays. just went seaview only left those big crabs. my girlfriend is making me travel there every week to hunt for vampire crabs.

[Junneh]

Hey Luc, u can head down to c328. I was there yesterday. There are vamps there but limited choices. Most have already been picked by others.

[Cardinal Tetra]

Hello Junneh, any updates on your new setup?

[Junneh]

Hey cardinal. I have only managed to setup a small holding tank for a pair of Red Devils. It's smaller than 1ft. Instead, I added some plants into my main tank. Noticed some signs of aggression, eg missing 1 leg on each crab. I might be heading to sv this weekend but it depends on my schedule.. Will upload more pics when I'm home.

Oh, will purple vamps and Red Devils interbreed? Couldn't find any mating pairs...thus 2 PVC males and 3 red devil females in main tank

[Cardinal Tetra]

Missing legs are normal for fights between males, if your females are missing legs do observe them to see that they don't lose any more. A crab can lose max 2 legs on one side or else it can't stand and will get killed. I would separate those with 2 legs on one side to be safe, until they molt.
Too small of a tank will cause aggression that is inevitable.
For your pair, as long as the male doesn't ravage the female, it should be ok. Chasing the female is also normal.

[Junneh]

I'm monitoring them closely.. Yeah I don't want any deaths in my tank :c . As of now, 3 adult females lost 1 leg each and 1 juvenile too. Added 2 plants on driftwood to provide more cover. 1 pvc seemed to have dominated that area. The rest remains unseen. My mating pair are somewhat inactive? They are sitting on the leaves on the java fern. I will try to make time to buy another tank to separate the remnants..

i guess it's safe to assume pvc and r.devil can interbreed? Lol

[Cardinal Tetra]

I'm not sure about the interbreeding, though my purple females have only been with the male for a few months.
Will have to wait for my babies to grow and show their colour to confirm this.