Help Me With My Watermelon Crabs

[jash93]

Hi I'm New To This Forum And New To Taking Care Of Pet Crabs...
I Recently Bought 4 Watermelon Crabs Which They Are All Males~
I Can't Find Any Information On These Fiddler Crabs...
So I Had To Ask Here...
I Now Have A Tank That Is 18" x 8.5" x 8"...
I Put In Some Sand And Some Fresh Water In It...
I Made It Like A Slope So That They Could Access Land And Water...
I Had Some Plants And Rock For Decoration...
I Was Wondering Whether They Need Brackish Or Fresh Water...?
And I Don't Know What Food Do They Eat...
Lastly I Want To Know If These Watermelon Crabs Are Native Hong Kong Because I Live In Hong Kong And Do They Have Any Tank Mates Besides Other Fiddler Crabs...?
Anything Else I Should Know?
Thanks In Advance And Sorry For Asking Too Much,
Jash

[Krabbert]

Hi Jash, welcome to the Panzerwelten-Forum.

Nice to have a chinese crab-fan in here.
I have to admit, i don´t know a "so called" watermelon-crab, so could you post a picture
of the crabs? I´m sure it would be helpfull for the crab-experts in here. Its always better to have more females in a
group of crabs, but maybe the watermelon-crabs are very social and you can´t keep males together.

Greets
Marco

[Ollie Mengedoht]

Welcome Jash!

I don't know the vernacular name Watermelon crabs but if they are fiddler crabs please give them brackish water fast. Some fiddler crab species are damaged permanently even from short contact with fresh water.

The tank sounds alright from the other aspects but the moisture must come from salt water. Maybe something between 15 grams per litre and the marine concentration, 34 gr/l.

Crabs abundant in HK You can see here, 6 species of fiddlers listed: http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/conservat...html#crabs An essay about fiddlers in HK You find here: http://www.afcd.gov.hk/english/publicati...les/12.pdf There is much information about their life, behaviour, habitats etc. You should be able to find out if Your Watermelon crabs are one of these. They will eat nearly everything: Flake food (for fishes), algae, dead fish or little crustaceans…

Sozialicing crabs normally is no good idea. Some Sesarmids can be sozialiced as well as specimen from one species but there still we be some aggressivness because they are territorially. Nevertheless, some fiddler crabs also can be sozialiced but we don't know much about this topic yet.

[Beetz]

why do you buy the animals first and then you inform yourself?

[jash93]

Thanks Guys For Your Help~ ^^
Re Krabbert : http://www.littlefishcompany.com/Little_...mage_1.png <----This Is A Picture Of A Watermelon Crab (A Fiddler Crab)... Their Color Of The Body Looks Like A Watermelon Skin And They're Claws And Legs Are Red... I Wanted To Take A Photo Of My Crabs But It's Too Blurry...

Re BEASTIEPENDENT : Thanks For Your Information About Them... Now My Water Are Brackish... And I Actually Saw Some Watermelon Crabs In The Beach Where I Used To Live Near There Before... But The Only Fiddler Crabs I Saw Was Watermelon Crabs And Some Fully White Colored Fiddler Crabs... They Were A Swam Of Them Living Together With Some Mangrove Crabs From The Website You Just Send Me~

Re Beetz : I Actually Search For Some Information About These Crabs Then Bought Them... But The Pet Shop Guy Said That These Crabs Are Also Fine With Fresh Water... I Just Wanted To Make Sure If He's Right Or Not So I Made This Thread...

PS. Sorry For My Bad English And Many Thanks To You Guys Again~

[Krabbert]

no problem. thats what the forum is there for...

[Ollie Mengedoht]

http://www.littlefishcompany.com/Little_...mage_1.png <----This Is A Picture Of A Watermelon Crab (A Fiddler Crab)

Ah, Uca crassipes then.

The infosite for fiddlers is www.fiddlercrab.info/ but there is not much about keeping them.

[Clemens]

wow those look great ...i would love to have some!

[Ollie Mengedoht]

Ah, I forgot: They turn white when displaying against each other. So white ones are not ncessarily another species but it is a sign of a certain "mood" they are in the sun.

[jash93]

Thanks Again For Some Extra Information~ ^^