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Ampullarias & Geosesarma crab update

Here's a few update pics


Overhead shot
crabitat9.jpg


One of the ponds made with a large reptile dish. Not sure why but I have to fill them from 1/2 to full everyday, could the emergent aquatics actually transpire that much water everyday? They're 1" thick faux stone dishes made of plastic resin so they aren't leaking...

crabitat10.jpg


One of the amps I think this is a seed grown from MT

crabitat11.jpg




Ampullaria "x harlequin", some have said mine is not the real harlequin, I don't care so much, I love the pitchers for some reason they make me think of the song "Sunset Superman" by DIO... :D

ampullariaharlequin.jpg


Caught in the act, almost, here is a newly molted female (R) and her shell in the water (L) looks like a dead crab doesn't it? I've thrown out several of these "carcasses" that look just like this, so perhaps I have actually only lost that first male crab who died the day the group arrived and the rest I've tossed were molts. If this gal starts wandering tonight I'm going to move her to a new enclosure I've had setup for a while now and then capture a male for her from the group. It's easier to keep an eye on them in pairs in 10 gallons. This molt is the first time I've seen any crabs in the amp tank in several weeks! LOL

femalemolt.jpg
 
First off, what a gorgeous setup you got there! You say that this is established and has been thriving for some time? Nothing short of amazing! I'm jealous! :)

If these crabs are anything like hermits, you may not want to remove the molts, as the newly molted adult will resort to eating the carcass to regain some of the calcium lost.
 
Aww what a cute little crabby!

If I were one of them, I'd be in paradise in that tank.
 
ditto what Brokken said.
 
I think the tank has been setup since April 23rd, or that's the day the crabs arrived. The Neps are still settling in as you can see from the rust spots and burns.... LOL

I don't know about the eating of the molts, nobody on the Geosesarma forums has mentioned them eating their molts. I've always tossed them before believing them to be a dead crab and not wanting to have the water get fouled. This is the first time I've actually "seen" it happen but almost every "carcass" looked just like this except the first one which still had white eyes. Funny how much a wet molt weighs, it's deceiving really making you think "Damnit I've lost another one!!"


Mostly these crabs eat bits of moss, peat, mud and leaf litter, basically "substrate" makes up 77% of their diet (according to autopsies done on wild Geosesarma crab stomachs) the rest of their diet is insects and other meats. They actively hunt small crickets (which I dust with ReptoCal once or twice a month) and they just love Orange Isopods. I add large groups of them periodically as tank clean up crew but the crabs seem to have them all eaten within a week or so.
 
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