Tank half full (or half empty)?

[chasesng]

Here's what i'm thinking/wondering.

Currently have a 12g jbj with some basic tropical fish. When i tried to get some cool little fw crabs at LFS, i was told they needed a rock sticking up out of water so they could breath.

Now i'm wondering if i could have a tank 2/3 full with water (where the fish could swim)......and the top 1/3 where the rock sticks up from. I wanna keep this sane so probably no more than a 40g tank.

Could an AIO be used for something like this? But then the stock filter doesnt work cuz tank isnt full. Any other issues that would arise?

Somebody else out there must be doing something like this...no?

Would appreciate comments.

Steve

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

I used to have a few different set ups. I had one that was partitioned like a sump by an acrylic baffle siliconed in place w/ a land portion and a water portion. The land part was gravel on the bottom and all moss on top. I had newts, tree frogs,fish and some small lizards. I also did a set up like you are talking about with mudskippers. The answer is an internal filter like one of those fluvals or something of that nature. I used a fluval 1 back in the day it was a simple filter w/ a pad and carbon. I also used it in my turtle tanks. Maybe you could even use a canister filter depending on how you rig it and the size of the tank. I wish I had pics it was years ago though. Good luck man I hope that was helpful and I want to see pics in the future.

 

[Moonstream]

I assume the crabs you saw were fiddler crabs, which are brackish. some people will say they need sand to burrow into, but personally I think they'd be fine with some exposed land. unfortunately, however, fiddlers ARE NOT freshwater crabs; they're brackish.

I think you should go for it- I'd say use a 20L, standard 30, or a 40g breeder with a sponge filter hidden behind some rock. fill the tank 2/3 full, and place rock so that their is enough room for the crabs to completely get out of the water. I, personally, would also have some mangroves, and for fish have some bumblebee gobies and guppies in a small tank, or if its a little larger, go for a dragon goby, some mollies, and maybe a knight goby or two.

 

[KarlMann]

I assume the crabs you saw were fiddler crabs, which are brackish. some people will say they need sand to burrow into, but personally I think they'd be fine with some exposed land. unfortunately, however, fiddlers ARE NOT freshwater crabs; they're brackish.




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[JonnyJ]

Any tank can be modded to work but filtration is important especially if you plan on having both crabs and additional livestock.

From my experience fiddlers need exposed land with sand to burrow in. They just don't do well without it an seem to always search for it. If your going to do a setup I suggest making it a priority.

Breeding in captivity has not been recorded (at least when I was researching them) ,everything is taken from the wild. They are brackish inverts but can live in full marine if acclimated.

If you do brackish water you will need to really stay on top of keeping your salinity stable.

I have had about 10 of them for around 8-9 months and the population is slowly withering away. I don't see them that much any more and don't think there is more than 2-3 left.

The females last longer then the males. I would suggest only one male because they will definitely fight and constantly look for ways to escape. Amazing what they can do with their giant claw lol.