So I got a vampire crab and the tank for it is pretty basic, this kinda helped me. But the thing is that I didn’t know they had to come up for air so I just filled the whole tank up, so in general, I think I might be changing my whole tank…
Yep! They are actually a land crab that spends 99% of their time on land. I have tons of build guides and care guides here so feel free to check em out. If you have any more questions just drop a comment 😊
Cheers! I appreciate it! If you have any questions or even some advice I'm always happy to help or learn something 🙂 Just checked your channel out as well! Budgies are the best! Used to have them growing up as a kid! They are funny little chirpy things!
Nice! With this size I can imagine having it somewhere at home if I wanted and not having to redo any existing aquarium or paludarium (that one has no soil, plants grow aquaponically).
No link unfortunately it's just a generic 6 gallon you should be able to pick one up pretty easily in most places. As for crabs aquatic arts seems to be the best option in the states. But they are sold out a lot.
Something I really want to add to the paludarium is a waterfall. I've watch many videos on builds (yours being the best!) and of all the ones with waterfalls, they all have one thing in common - all of them have bio foam as the first layer with an area cut away for the pump. In order for this to work, would I put bio foam on the first layer, followed by the leca, then the mesh/weed barrier, then organic soil?
Thanks for the compliment! ☺ I haven't done too many waterfall builds so I'm certainly not an expert in this. Serpadesign is probably your best bet! But I'll explain my working anyway. I basically start with the pump before anything. Then make a little box around it with plastic or something sturdy. and make sure you get some stuff to dampen any vibrations because some pumps will drive you mad if they vibrate on the glass. Then you add some foam to keep the pump clean from big debris that might block the impella. Then you can cover it up. However! If you plan on having the tank set up for a long time you will want to make a nice little access hatch or something. Think of it like a little trap door. I generally just cover mine over as I rescape them every 6-12 months so i don't need regular access.
Ty! Oh another question about springtails, how do you keep them from coming out of the tank? Do they just naturally stay within the tank? I'm sure a lid does most if not all of the work, but the last thing I'm sure anyone wants is a springtail infestation in the home 😆@@IndoorEcosystem
@@thediplomat1124 don't worry about them escaping they basically evaporate in the air. They generally won't try to escape either they'll cling to the humidity.
I'm an Aussie living in Europe at the moment😆so a bit of an odd situation! I'm quite sure Vampire Crabs are illigal and banned in aus because of there invasive potential. They breed really easily and come from tropical areas in Asia so would happily call the northern parts of Australia home. There are some Australian fresh water crabs though "Austrothelphusa Agassizi" is one. And there was another one that comes from the northern territory that is similar to vampire crabs. LiveFish.com used to stock them but the link i saved to them is 404ing now so they might be out of stock or something. When i finally get back to aus sometime I want to keep some fidler crabs! They are super cool! You would have seen them roaming around in the wild before. I know have them everywhere up in FNQ! Along with mud skippers!
Thank you!! This video is exactly what I needed. Super straight forward and I love when there’s a list of items used. How many vampire crabs would you say can comfortable live in this tank? 1-3?
You're very welcome 🙂For a tank like this I would have 1 male and 2 females (all the same species) With smaller tanks you need to really add a lot of hides, climbs and line of sight blockers.
They will climb out very easily and even squeeze through gabs in the lid if they can find them. A lid is 100% required for vampire crabs. Especially baby ones. I have some shorts up of them trying to escape and climbing the glass.
Some species it's possible. But I've been experimenting with these guys for a long while now with sant gravel etc and I haven't observed any issues with it. That said I would avoid any of the shaper kinds. But any of the rounder river style stuff is perfectly fine. I used to use fine sand previously but it's a nightmare to clean and keep plants rooted in. This stuff seems to be the perfect balance. The most important aspect though is having soft soil for them to big and burrow in on the land portion of your scape.
It's listed in the description. It does the trick it's super low power though but that's what I wanted so it's less maintenance trimming plants. Any aquarium lights work well for paludariums. You don't have to spend much at all.
Love that! I have been thinking of getting vampire crabs but all the paludariums seem so expensive so I want to make my own one. What do you use to cover the tank?
You really can do it super cheap. I just use a piece of perspex and drill some holes in it for air. Nice and cheap and easy. You can even get them to cut it to size and put some holes in it at the shop in some places.
It's a tad too small, it would be fine for one crab but you really don't want to just keep one. A tank this size would be a good spare maybe as a hospital tank. I would go the next size up of you can. I have a video about all the different tank sizes and their benefits here somewhere. It might help you choose something.
Ordering online isn't ideal (high mortality rates during shipping) But Aquatic Arts seems to be the best option. They have a good success rate from what I have seen.
I have a old aquarium (60x30) and i wanna make a paludarium for vampire crabs. So I wanted to ask what kind of lid do you have? Do they need anything special? My lid has 2 big holes in the back. I thougt of closing them with some of these window screening. I couldn´t find any informations about the air-circulation.
Thqt my favourite sized tank to work in. I generally use a perspex lid and just a few small notches for the cords to slip through (no gaps) then just drill a few tiny holes for air around the lid. Your lid should work if you screen though holes up. Window screen is perfect. Air circulation is just keeping humidity high basically. There's no real guides in it because it's very specific to your environment. Room temps etc. You just have to experiment with your house micro climate
Can the vampire crabs use local trees (no pine) do you need to soak them for awhile? A local tree got stuck by lightning yesterday and there is a lot of tree branches available. I know driftwood is the number choice. Love the landscaping and outcome.
@@unicornquasar8398 Thank you :D I don't bother boiling or soaking any of my wood for crabs. (I do fish for though) I haven't had an issues to date. The wood needs to be dead so if the tree that exploded was dead it should be ok. You just don't want anything green or still drying out. Any sap is bad.
@@IndoorEcosystem Thank You, I'm allergic to plants in general, so I had no choice but to let the branches dry and die completely out outside. The leaves on the branch broke me out, so I left it in a place to dry outside, I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing or not. Most sap in trees smell poisonous to me personally until its completely dead. Just an update I got 95% of the items I need for my 1st vampire crab tank, just waiting for the moss and plants to come. Love your videos so simple & elegant, I would of give up if it wasn't for your videos showing how easy it is.
@@unicornquasar8398 Thanks for the compliment 🙂I didn't know someone would be allergic to plants like that. I learnt something new. You'll have to post a pic here for me to check out your tank! Patience is certainly key to having a really nice tank and you seem to be taking your time and making sure it's perfect!
Most of the items has arrived I’m not sure how I could post the pictures in this comment tho. I’m waiting for a few more items and the vampire crabs of course
@@garywilson331 Nope 😊 Humidifiers are mostly a novelty in tanks that require lids (all vampire crabs enclosures) lids keep the humidity nice and high and you only need to mist a couple of times per week.
Are vampire crabs anything like the Red Clawed Crab? I have a Red Clawed Crab with like 20% land and 80 water. Can a canopied crab survive in it ? Also will it fight with my Red Clawed Crab?
I know this is old, but vampires need a land:water ratio of 80:20, and are freshwater exclusively (unlike red claws, which are brackish). Vampires also only get along with others of their own species (ie. Don't mix them with red devils). General rule of thumb for vampires is 2 females per 1 male
Ok stupid question, the clay layer and weed cloth is to simply keep thecsoil from touching the water? Basically, the clay is expected to be immersed to some degree?
The clay can be fully under the water it's just a light, safe layer to keep the soil above the water line. The mesh is to keep the soil out of the water. If soil gets into the water to much it will poison the water with nutrients
@@thediplomat1124 silicone or super glue work well just make sure you don't get silicone with any mould inhibitors etc. They'll be a problem. But plain silicone will be fine.
Cheers! Land area clean up just depends on the plants and stuff you use. With a springtail and isopod colony you are basically just trimming plants that grow. The animal and food waste is taken care of by the clean up crew. As for misting I only mist about 2 times a week. With a lid humidity stays nice and high. And you need a really good lid for vampire crabs becaue they are escape and climbing masters!!
The cycle and time frame is exactly the same as an aquarium. You can even speed it up using media from a tank that's already set up. The only extra thing is making sure you add springtails. They are super important for the land section.
I use heat mats primarily and day temps temps sit at 25-27c a bit cooler at night. I have full guides on the more detailed parts of the ecosystem on my channel if you want a deeper dive 😊
I have to wait 🙂 This is a new grow-out tank for the next batch of babies to come along. By the time they are ready, this tank will be well established. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZKmRgRkXR00.html Here's a nice big crab introduction for you!
From what I've seen red claws require brackish water and a bigger area of water in their tank. They can live in fresh water but it will reduce their overall life span. I've never kept them though so can't be a lot more precise.
Thanks but It works perfectly! Been using it for plants and crabs for ages. Here's the same substrate, bucket loads of crabs, (no deaths), plant growth is insane: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qDK4U39JlI8.html&t= I'm curious on what you would have suggested as an alternative though. Peat mix, among a few other things?
@IndoorEcosystem same thing minus the white styrofoam balls www.google.com/search?q=is+perlite+toxic+to+reptiles&sxsrf=APwXEdfYhGwrlUZg2wsgWO7BAt-E26tSaA%3A1684252721221&source=hp&ei=MahjZPabC_mt0PEPjY-ksAE&oq=is+perlite+toxic+to+reptiles&gs_lcp=ChFtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1ocBADMgUIABCABDIGCAAQFhAeMggIABCKBRCGAzIICAAQigUQhgMyCAgAEIoFEIYDMggIABCKBRCGAzIICAAQiQUQogQyBQgAEKIEOgcIIxDqAhAnOgcIIxCKBRAnOgcIABCKBRBDOgcILhCKBRBDOhEILhCABBCxAxCDARDHARDRAzoLCAAQigUQsQMQgwE6DgguEIAEELEDEMcBENEDOgQIIxAnOggIABCKBRCRAjoKCAAQigUQsQMQQzoNCAAQigUQsQMQgwEQQzoKCAAQigUQyQMQQzoICAAQigUQkgM6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOggIABCABBCxAzoLCC4QgAQQsQMQgwE6CAguEIAEELEDOgsILhCKBRCxAxCDAToICAAQgAQQyQM6BQguEIAEOgoIABCABBAUEIcCOgUIIRCgAVCgBVi7emC-e2gDcAB4AIABqwGIAewZkgEFMjEuMTOYAQCgAQGwAQ8&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-hp
I just used the left overs from an old aquarium mat but polystyrene works good as well. But it's usually a little thicker. But that can work out well too if you want to get a little height boost.
@@xenokitty normal soil is best aquasoil isn't great for this. I suggest some organic potting mix, mixed with some coconut fibre or just organic soil. Aquasoil is too granular for the crabs to dig and burrow in
