Fiddler crab with gouramis, neons, rainbows and a rainbow shark?

Question

I have a 56 gallon with a school of 11 neons, a pearl gourami, a blue gourami, 4 rainbow fish, two Bolivian rams and a rainbow shark. I know my tank is a little maxed out but I've been thinking about getting a fiddler crab(male or female, whichever is less dangerous) I am aware that fiddler crabs are brackish and that many of my fish can't handle that much salt in their water. I also know that fiddler crabs require a great deal of land. So here is my idea, I will construct a large plateau/platform in my tank (about 15" tall) and then lower the water level a little so the platform is above water. Now because fiddler crabs are brackish I would put a plastic container filled with brackish water up there on the plateau. Would this work? is the fiddler likely to kill every one of my fish? Would lowering the water and displacing water by adding large rocks make the tank unsuitable for the amount of fish?

Answer 1

No, this isn't really how it works, I'm afraid. First of all, fiddlers are carnivorous, so nope. Also, the fiddler wouldn't just jump in the saltwater when it felt like it, they need a constant large amount of it. They are also unlikely to just go into a plastic tub. They also need terrestrial sand, I think, to burrow in.

Answer 2

The crabs wont live long in that environment.



They need slighlty brackish water, and tio be able to climb out of the water when they want to.



Yes I know the shops sell them as "freshwater", but they also don't care how long they live for.



Like Alex says, a brackish paludarium is what you need.



Ian

Answer 3

Fiddler crabs are carnivores if you put it in the tank.



They do need brackish paludariums.