Equipment for 1gallon

[ProcelainPinay]

I want to start a crab-only one gallon tank. I have an arrow crab, and a porcelain crab in my five gallon. But I want to make my five gallon a zoo and ricordea tank and just afraid my crabs (especial the arrow) will pick on my coral. At first I wanted to make the 5g just an invert tank, but I want corals!!

 

My wants as to crabs are:

Decorator crab

Emerald crab (had one, but gave it to my friend)

Pom Pom crab

Teddy bear crab

 

Is that too much for a 1g? It might just be four crabs.

 

BUT, I have like a corner 1g tank I used for my beta, and have no equipment for a SW tank. I'm just curious as to what I need to get and if you have any suggestions on what I should get (brand, kind, etc)...

 

Thanks in advance!!

[brandon4299]

If you could manage the physical restrictions of the tank (crabs not picking on each other too much) which may be not hard to accomplish, I think you'll find food/protein additions the number one tax to the system. The basic corals you are considering for the 1 gallon system won't harm anything, but you'll really see in time (weeks or a few months) that the crabs require a rather consistent (but small) amount of regular food additions and you'll have to keep up your water change regiment to accomodate this.

 

Pico reef aquarists spend the majority of their planning addressing temp and SG issues...when that is taken care of and the system is humming right along, the aquarist tends to start slacking off on water changes (compared to their initial habits) because the corals look well, the inverts look well, and no microalgae is found in the system. The aquarium will actually run in a state of minor neglect (neglect in this case being anything less than weekly water changes) for quite some time...but when the system becomes eutrophic and full of algae strands there no going back to the clean system, a crash is iminent. The #1 thing I cannot stress enough is consistent water changes in the pico as a preventative measure, not an address of current water quality issues. So, if you keep up 100% water changes weekly with that kind of crab and feed/waste bioload then I think you'll be just fine if you can keep them from picking on each other.

[brandon4299]

By the way, I'd really like to recommend you try using a reefbowl for your crabs. I say this because you don't have any particular equipment ready for the task, and a reefbowl is the cheapest reef system by far.

 

PM me for me details, but in short it's just a decorative 1.5 gallon vase form Wal Mart...used for betta bowls. You take the plastic lid that is normally used to set under potted plants to catch the water, a 6 inch diameter lid, and invert it over the top of the vase and use it for a lid. It sits just inside the diameter of the neck of the vase and most evaporated water condenses on the top and drips back into the system. Not 100% sealed, but it will expand your topoff requirements to every 2-3 days depending on your ambient humidity and geographic location and this is much less topoff than most pico aquarists can boast... A simple airline is ran down the back wall of live rock and bubbles the system for circulation. A common 6 inch heater is also installed keeping temps stable, as long as you have a very reliable AC in your home. ANy common 9 or 13 watt system will run the lights, I've kept one of these alive as long as two years running with zero algae and several SPS/LPS/Soft coral specimens packed full to the brim.

 

It's hard to find pico reefs that have ran past the cricital cycling period (few months) and well into their natural lifespans...by cycling I don't mean bacterial but rather a test to see which animals/inverts are really suited to a long life in the small container (no more systemic dieoff).

 

year-old + picos are by far not common but there are many. A highly interesting aspect of this type of reef keeping is the possibility that corals become sensitized to the confined spaces and quit using chemical warefare. There is no current research on it, but that's just one more testament that pico reefing is valid to science and not just novelty. I have never been more amazed by coral than to keep montipora, acropora frags, hammer corals, frogspawn, leather frags (very small) GSP and several mushroom varieties all in this 1 g container for years without them killing each other...of course there is physical warefare if they touch but it was always a fun challenge to move them as needed but still see them share a given water column for up to two weeks while fully extended and growing--I interpreted this as sensitization and a toning-down of their common checmical warefare tactics found in larger system. So, add some corals to your crab bowl!!

B

[brandon4299]

lemme see if this pic transfer will work:

 

Reefbowl at two years of age, all corals at least 1.5 years old:

[brandon4299]

just one more:

[mushroom head]

brandon4299,did u make that stand and hood for that small tank?Not the reef bowl the other one.If u did make it i might want u to make me one.

[brandon4299]

I don't think I'm enough of a woodworksman to craft one of those...that was a lucky find one day at a local fish store. The only thing he ever told me was they were an 'R' aquarium from some dealer, meant for bettas. I bought two and paid $50 to a glasscutter to fabricate two sealing lids for them, and it really developed into one stable system. Several sps and lps, my favorite centerpiece was a boxer crab and juvenile banded shrimp, that's how I know picos make fine crab/shrimp houses but do require consistent feeding. Kinda wierd..the LFS doesn't get them anymore, never found anything on the net about them. They 1/2-3/4 gallon systems depending on the #'s of LR used in the system layout.

[mushroom head]

What are the demensions?

[brandon4299]

I'm at work and must guess, but I think I recall it being 9 inches long, maybe 4 tall and about 3 front to back... soon I'll post a thread with exact measures.

 

B

[brandon4299]

Porcelain did you decide to go with all those crabs or just one or two? Also, if I'm not mistaken harlequins must be fed starfish to survive for the long haul. Although I've never had one, I think their feeding habits are adjusted to this specialty...meaning I think they might not forage and pick detritus and associated small particle food like fellow shrimp but I'd have to keep one to see. The reef books say they are obligate echinoderm feeders, and obligate doesn't leave much wiggle room (then again that wasn't written by aquarists who always find an alternate way)

[ProcelainPinay]

Hey Brandon!! I love the reef bowl!!!! =o)

 

But I decided to just keep the arrow crab I have in the 1 gallon. I had a small frogspawn in my tank and he tore it up!! I want to get an emerald and I might put him in with the arrow, but I don't know yet.

 

I have the gallon up and running. Just sand though in the tank. And I bought a filter from Walmart. I'm not sure about lighting. I pretty sure the arrow doesn't need much light, so I might leave that out.

 

How many crabs do you think I can keep in the one gallon? I kinda want to put my damsel in there so I can get a clown for my 5 gallon, but still debating.

 

Oh! Thanks for all the advice earlier!! =o)