Thanks for saying that 😊 I really appreciate it! RU-vid is a strange beast sometimes but I'll just keep chipping away and hopefully helping people make nice little homes for these cool critters.
I know!! Dr. Plants has only had his channel for a little over a year and only 10 or so videos and is already at over 2 million subs. I don't get it. This channel has the same camera and cinematography quality as him and better narration.
Need to start doing RU-vid short content, I've found a ton of new channels through that Avenue. Also maybe start trying to reach out to other creators and have them give a shout out. Also I found your channel through a comment you left talking about a video you made. So maybe keep commenting and people will find you that way.
@@DoorsToHideBehind156 Thanks for major compliment! I don't do as hyped up content though, it's a little more chilled. The RU-vid algorthims do favour his style a lot more than all the others. There's sadly a lot of clones popping up to emulate his videos these days which is a shame because it sucks away genuine creativity in favour of gaining the algorithms attention. I've seen a few channels now that are almost exact copies of his videos. It's kind of hilarious but they are getting a lot of traction which is a let down.
never in my life have i made a terrarium or paludarium, but i stumbled onto your videos randomly one night and ive been loving them so much! Makes me want to work on projects like this, someday! Thanks for all the care you put into making sure the crabs are happy, its really great to see :]
Thank you very much for the comment 😊 I was pretty much the same and stumbled onto one of serpadesings videos and it all went from there! It's quite a relaxing process.
I swear if someone said to me after i watched this video that you have 2 million subs i would believe it no question. Amazing quality man, subbed instantly!
Kind of reminded me of a fallen deer with huge antlers. It was a really strange growth to find coming out of a branch of birch. Normally they are quite straight.
Thanks so much for this! I've been tying myself in knots with other people's needlessly complicated builds and endless problems on various forums before I found a link to this...now everything makes sense! Also it's great that you've added footage over time so we can see how happy the crabs are in their crabitat! Thanks again.
No problem! I have a lot of other builds you might want to check out as well which are similar and also fairly simple but in different styles ☺ If you have any questions just drop a DM over on Facebook or Instagram and I can give you a hand.
this is amazing already! i am a fishkeeper and have 8 60L tanks to fill. and saw a water plus beach kind of thing... research begins as it looks pretty cool
Thank you very much 😊 still plenty to learn as always. Hopefully I'll get to learn a little more about some different species of vampire crabs as well. I'm sure they all have little differences to cater for.
Beautiful build and great info. I like the addition of the ferns and the mushrooms are super cute. It's pretty interesting that they're using the hovels in the front and back for different purposes, and very cool if in fact the crabs are learning to trap isopods in the hovels! Great video 🙂👍
Ferns make everything look good I reckon. The crabs seem to really like climbing them as well which is interesting as they go right out to the end then it drops down low and the climb off
Just discovered your channel while doing research on vampire crabs. I can't beleive you aren't a larger channel!! Subscribed and can't wait to follow your journey 😊
Thanks a ton for the comment and compliment ☺️ i really doing understand youtube sometimes.... But I'll just keep chipping away at it. So long as people are getting plenty of help to keep their crabs alive and healthy that's the main thing. They are super cool little critters!
Thanks for the comment ☺I've been experimenting with a few things lately. Trying to see what the crabs like most and what still works to make life easy to the people caring for them 🙂
@@IndoorEcosystem No official plans yet but I saw someone do a waterfall that falls through a hole in the ground directly into the reservoir for the water area and I’m considering recreating it. It would solve my fear of a waterfall soaking the substrate while also catering to my want of a waterfall
@@shannarafryer3111 That sounds really interesting. I always find the longer you wait and plan the better the outcome so there's no harm waiting till you have the perfect plan.
Fantastic work...and love the use of mostly natural materials...For the fabric you can use both natural raw silk and wool felt fabrics as each has a 10 to 20 year life span and get naturally replaced with both plant roots and related biomass...
I've been experimenting with and without them. This is my second build without. It's been 106 days without issues so it can be done without a filter quite easily. But there are a few things to take into account. (I'll make a video about it soon). 1. Basically you need to make sure the water completes the nitrogen cycle fully (as with aquariums) 2. Stay on top of water changes and use a lot of aquatic plants and mosses. In this tank's case the entire surface is loaded with salvinia and I have aquatic moss in a lot of the cracks between the rocks. This plus the huge amount of surface area for bacteria to grow on (clay balls) seems to do the trick. A filter is still a good idea if you have the space for it and I suggest people who are new to still use one.
It's probably obvious I'm binging your videos lol but I plan on also putting in some of my neocardina shrimp in here, would it be the end of the world to fill the water more to 30%?
Great build. It's inspired me to go for a natural build the next time I build a paludarium. I used a lot of synthetic material for my first go. I'd also like to do a filterless build as you did here. Great content as always! Keep it coming!
Thanks for the comment 🙂 This build has been a pleasure to work with. And going filterless hasn't had and downsides. You just have to be paitent for everything to establish and use aquatic plants (like salvinia) to filter the nutrients out. My last big build "Beaver Graveyard" I used expanding foam etc which looks amazing and works well but it's a lot more work to create and I kinda felt guilty for the amount of waste it creates. This one is almost entirely natural and sustainable with the exception of the weed matting but another person suggested some alternatives for that which would make things even more natural. One the ferns grow in along the back I won't even need a background!
@@IndoorEcosystem The Beaver Graveyard was awesome! I had seen another user (I think on Reddit) give a discouragement on using synthetic materials and I initially rebuffed his critique. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw that user's point (I think I saw him comment on this build as well). So, I definitely would like to do a natural build on my next go. Not sure when that will be as my current build is only a few months old.
@@RMBohmYou remember that conversation too 😂 he was right just with bad delivery I've been experimenting with a few different things here and there to get things as natural as possible without having a crazy cost blow out. That's where it always catches you.
@@IndoorEcosystem Yes, the delivery was lacking lol. I remember it well. I'd love to learn more about what is working/not working regarding a natural set up. I have far less experience, but that is the route I want to go in the future. Might be a better conversation on a different platform though....would it be alright if I hit you up on Facebook Messenger?
Thank you! I think the ferns made it 10x better as well. Normally I use a filter but this has been an experiment without one that has worked well so far. There's a pinned comment with my explanation for it as well as a section in the comments 🙂
They are super cool but they are banned species in Australia (biosecurity risks) They would become invasive really really quickly. I'm in Europe if you're wonder how I have them :D
@@johnnydubbsaquascaping there's a couple of native species coming out of NT that would be cool to try. I forget their names though. They would be a good alternative
As far as feeding, I've never had crabs but someone just dropped a panther crab on me. I have been feeding him along with the fish, but I added sinking pellets to the mix. I bought some dried shrimp, and can feed him with a long grab claw tweezer thing. I want to set up a calsium crushed shell feeding bowl, to help with his shell, but I'm not sure if a bowl that is always full is correct. I bought a terra cotta boat (about 6 cm long) and was thinking fill the bottom, and then just place that in the water, and he can dig as he wants, but I'm not sure if that is correct. Any advice? We found a 4cm deep bowl about 8cm across, and it fits perfect inside a fishtank pumpkin, we filled it with sand, so I'm hoping this is a safe place for him to molt. Basically a kittie pool with a tent on top, to keep the fish from bothering him.
great video. I built a cloud forest paludarium last year and have been searching for the best inhabitant. Do you know if a heater is required for vampire crabs please? cheers
Thanks 😊 Yep! A heater is compulsory for Vampire Crabs. They like it nice and warm and humid. They primarily live in the soil so as long as your build has a lot of soil for them to burrow into it should be perfect for them. The biggest thing outside of a heater though is a lid and no gaps! They are escape masters and will find a way out of just about any tank if you don't lock it down 👀
i have a paludarium of 150x80x60 with a paired up red eyed crocodile skink, also have mourning geckos in there and a lot of guppys. now the tank would also be perfect for the crabs as it is now. but i have one question tho, will the crabs try to eat my croc skinks eggs? the eggs are pretty big like the same as their body but i heard they are quite the savages when it comes to food. oh and also a new born skink is like 6 cm ish, will they grab? there is plenty of fod in the viv for the crabs tho.
How do you build one of these if you don't want huge rocks? Can't figure out how to keep the balls from rolling all over the place and the dirt separate basically
You need to use rocks there's no real way around it. You don't need big rocks necessarily smaller ones will work. You'll just need a lot more. Keeping everything separate is simple. Rocks first. The clay balls. Then weed matting. 😊 I have a ton of other builds using the same process
I use heat mats pretty much exclusively these days. Saves having wires in the tank. But you can just cut a little notch in a plastic lid for the cable to slide through and you'l be safe. I have a guide on heating in a playlist as well that you might find helpful.
Raki są trudniejsze do zdobycia (przyjmuję, że jesteś w Polsce), ale rośliny i kamienie można zdobyć w sklepach zoologicznych lub ogrodniczych. Mech można pozyskać prosto z lasu. Zachęcam do odwiedzenia kanału @DomowyEkosystem po więcej informacji.
Looking to set my tank up this week. I live in Tampa and we have some nice parks here. Any problems in putting rocks and wood (with moss already on them) in the tank?!
@@IndoorEcosystem sorry to return but i want to make sure i do this right. 1) How do I know the moss I am going to take off the trees/rocks near me will be okay for the crabs? 2) You mentioned not using pine species for the wood. I want to grab some from my local forest. Whats the best way of identifying what wood to grab? Im going to aim for birch but not sure we have that here in Central Florida or not. Thank you!
@@ec8776 No problem! I'm pretty sure most mosses are safe. I generally soak mine fully under water for about 30 mins to an hour before adding it to flush out any critters that might be hiding in it. It's not entirely fool proof but I haven't had issues using this method. As for the wood you can tell pine by the smell very easily. It has a very unique smell that stays with the wood even when it's rotten. Just scratch it or break it and you'll smell it. As for other species you knid of need to know the trees your looking at in the surroundings then you know roughly what's going to be on the ground in that area. I'm not familiar with what grows there so I can't really give you any extra tips... But the main thing is to avoid any sappy woods with strong smells. and to make sure that they wood is fully dead and dried out.
This works great for a beginner just add a small filter and you're set. It's easier with a filter when you're new. This is a good size tank as well as it give you room to build in easily. Smaller ones can be tricky sometimes.
How do you start with this sort of thing? Just start by putting together a terrarium that can run on its own, and go from there? I'd love to do something like this...
@@adgrimes1981 I just collect all the materials first. Then once I have everything start building. Then add a clean up crew and finally the crabs. I have a ton of different style build videos you might find helpful for the planning stages
Yes and yes 👍 I have guides on both those things so you can check them out in more detail. But just quickly. Feed a couple of times a week. For cleaning you need to do a weekly or biweekly water change about 30% and trim the plants when they get a bit chaotic.
I am considering a similar design but with double the tank size. Is it safe to use argonite sand for substrate and limestone rocks? I figured it would help with acidity quite a bit. I was also considering doing an L shape with my water and building up a small rock wall and then running a slow drip over plants embedded in the rocks.
I haven't used either of those two in the past so I'm not sure how high they would push the PH KH and GH but if you know how they react with the water you could use them. Vampire Crabs like there water pretty much the same as neocaradina shrimp so aim for water parameters like that and you'll be set. I have a full guide on all their requirments linked below if you haven't already dived into that side of things. Your tank plan sounds pretty good though, you can do soooo much cool stuff in a bigger tank! A nice slow drip wall works really well I've got a couple of new projects running at the moment with some small pumps in them. Just waiting for everything to grow in properly before I start editing the videos.
@@IndoorEcosystem did some research, aragonite alone will give you about a 7.4 pH, so right smack dab in the middle of the ideal range for neocardinia, I think it might be an ideal substrate!
Do you have any recommendations for soil brands? How do you tell if a product has Fertilisers or pesticides in them? After some googling, I saw some people say some organic soils still have pesticides in them.
I haven't had an issues with soils here in Poland. I've just been using a cheap organic ones (forget the brand) but you can usually see if they have fertilisers in them (little pellets) if they have any. As for pesticides I have no idea. You would have to read the lables on each type to see what it says.
So do any of your setups have a heater? Seems like they prefer just above what indoor room temp usually is. If one is needed/recommended, where should it go?? Would a filter then be necessary to circulate the water for even temp?
All my tanks have a heater during the older periods. An aquatic heater works well but I prefer to use a heat mat as it's less invasive.i always stuck them on one side of the tank so that the crabs have a heat gradient they can move between. One side will always be a little warmer than the other. You can go filter less if you have experience with the nitrogen cycle and how to maintain water without one. Though if you're new I highly suggest a filter or some kind.
@@IndoorEcosystem I’ve got around 15 tanks, including neo and caridina so I’m pretty familiar. But this land/water business is new for me! I’m not familiar with a mat, can you explain it? Or suggest a product? Does the mat go over or under the soil? Sorry, the concept just isn’t clicking in my head lol.
@@ezbake6315 No problem, it really depends on the mat you get (There's a lot to choose from) I'm using a Happet Terra Mat G305 14x15 cm 5 W on the side of my 100x35x30cm tank. I just have it stuck to the side and set it to a relatively low temp. It's enough to keep the tank warmed but not too hot. Being smaller and on one side it allows some heat regulation options for the crabs. One side is warmer and it slowly gets cooler further way so they can move about to different temps as the please. The trick is to get something smaller than you actual tank, you don't need full coverage. I'm not an expert on how the different types of mats work exactly though. So you might have to Google reptile heat mats to get a really deep understanding. I will use the same size on this 60x30x30cm though just with lower temp settings. Just don't put the mats underneath the tank as they can cause issues with over heating without ventilation etc.
I've never had issues in my crab tanks but I have a few times in my aquariums. If you cut the feeding right back they will slowly go away. The crabs should eat them as well.
They are a banned species in Australia under biosecurity laws. So not available. But there are some native species of freshwater crab coming out of the NT that you might be able to try.
They are exceptional climbers and can even climb glass when they are small. I have a lid on this tank all the time. Just not when fllming as it causes reflections and changes the lighting.
beautiful work! this video got me really interested in keeping crabs in a filterless paludarium; in your opinion, is this something that a beginner could attempt? or are the dynamics of a filterless build maybe too challenging for someone without experience?
Thank you 😊 do you have any experience keeping fish at all? You basically just need to understand how the nitrogen cycle works then its easy. Plants will act as the filter essentially. For this build its the salvinia. Then it's just staying on top of water changes.
@@IndoorEcosystem I don't actually have experience with keeping fish, but I've been doing research on how to keep the cycle going in your tank, but I'm still confused about certain topics; do the water changes replace the need for moving water? How do you care for the moss? And how important is it for a paludarium to have a lid? If it's possible I would love to pick your brain about this over a discord VC, or however is convenient to you, let me know.
@@YADADADADADADAKABOOM I do have a Discord but finding time to use it is the tricky part. With cycling the tank the best way is to just put some snails in it and let is sit for a month. Change the water 3 times in the first week (50%) Then 2 times the second week 30%. Then just once a week 30-40% from there on out. Filterness will require aquatic plants to work. Floating plants work best Salvinia, Duckweed, moss etc. The plants will pull out all the nutrients thus acting as a filter in a sense. Having a tiny filter makes life a bit easier though I try to use them in bigger builds that have space. As for moss it's super simple, just don't let it dry out or let it stay soggy with water. having a lid with at least 80-90% coverage will keep it from drying out too fast. Just mist it a couple of times a week will be fine. A lid or doors is 100% required for two reasons to keep the humidty at the right levels and to keeps the crabs from escaping. They are escape masters! I just use acrylic plastic lids with some holes drilled in them or a square cut out with a mesh section added. That's my Discord link below (new) but I probably won't have time until later in the coming week to have a chat. Not sure what timezone you're in? discord.gg/vmjwcapZ
@@IndoorEcosystemI'm actually in Texas, so I totally understand not being able to sync up in terms of time zone. Hope you don't mind if I keep asking questions! Is there any kind of filter or setup that you can recommend for a tank with a top lid that won't allow the crabs to escape? Or should I just go ahead And get a tank with a front door? Thank you so much for all your help, this has been invaluable!
@@YADADADADADADAKABOOM I have a front opening tank with doors and a couple of aquariums with lids. They are both the same really it's just a personal choice what you prefer the look of at the end of the day. Aquariums are generally cheaper though and a lid is easily made from acrylic. Filters are a little more tricky because you need to get something that works with your design. I generally use Sunsun HJ-111B filters. They are super small and super cheap but I don't think you will find them in the US. Even a simple sponge filter would work perfectly fine. Anything will work though but the most important thing is to plan for it in your space. Don't make a beautiful tank then try to add the filter at the end it will be a nightmare!!
@@IndoorEcosystemniestety to nie moja okolica, ale dzięki twoim filmom wiele się dowiedziałem o Geosesarmach i chyba zdecydowalem się za założenie własnej hodowli
Not in this one but i highly advise it if you are new to the hobby. It will make life easier for you as you learn how things work. Check out some videos on the nitrogen cycle if you haven't already 🙂
The width isn't enough unfortunately. You need at least 40 wide across the front. You'll have problems with fighting over the ground and water area and not much room to avoid conflict.
@@randomchannelz8102 no problem 😊 if you're new to keeping them I'd suggest a 10 Gallon long tank. Small tanks are a lot more tricky to get perfect for crabs. A little more space to work in will make things easier for you until you know what they are like behaviour wise
It's a problem for most species at a certain point. From what I have found researching and other people experiences from 3rd generation onwards you will have issues. So it's always good to be adding new males and females every so often to get genetic diversity up. I find the best way is to just swap with people in your area or from your local fish shop if they allow it.
@@IndoorEcosystem okay I’m really wanting to get some soon so I will keep that in mind. I want to get a separate tank for the babies tho I heard that’s a good idea because they eat the babies sometimes 😂. How long do yours in captivity usually live? And do you have a rough estimate on the survival rate of babies left in the tank with adults?
@@Landyn___ You've probably watched a few of my videos already. But if you haven't checkout the Vampire Crab Playlist it have a video on just about everything. If I don't let me know a topic I should cover and I'll make one about it. But to answer your questions they will generally live for about 2 to 2.5 years on average but I have heard stories of 3 plus though that's rare. The breed non-stop if you have a good environment which is great because the short life spans mean you always have a new crab around to replace the dying ones. They are highly cannibalistic so removing the babies or the adults (whichever is easier) is a good idea. However if you don't want tons and tons of them you can let natural selection run it's course and only a few strong smarter babies will make it to adulthood. A rough guess at survival rates is hard because it depends on tank complexity. I have had 0 to 5% in some more open tanks and at least 90-95% in my biggest most complex tanks.
@@IndoorEcosystem okay thanks for the info I appreciate it. I’m only 14 but my mom said she would help me make sure we do it all correctly and maintain it all so we don’t mess up. And yeah I saw your channel before and another video got recommended so I watched it just now and subbed. Keep it up!
Nope. Never had issues. Though that's always a possibility. Even buying stuff from stores isn't fool proof when it comes to mite etc. I've had more problems with mites and other bugs from store bought plants (indoor plants) than anything from the wild.
100% i have 3 females in here now from a totally different line. Inbreeding becomes a big problem after the 3rd generation with these crabs apparently. They have early deaths etc. The problem is they breed prolifically so swapping in new genetics can be quite a task. Most babies will get cannibalised by the parents if you don't separate them so you can always let mature take its course if you don't want an ever increasing population. Basically the same with fish.
It's best to wait about a month for everything to settle in and grow a little. And for the water section to cycle. The longer you wait the better though.
