Can i have PP and Ecuadorian?

[Jelly Bean]

Hi

I have 2 fairly new (just over a week ago) PP and love them (although they are still setting in and hide a lot) at home.

the problem - - At work my boss got me two Ecuadorian crabs....unfortunatley she didn't wait for me and she got bad advice on setting up the tank for them from a pet store while i was away. they do not have salt water just fresh and i know they must have salt water. Also there is not enough room to add another dish of water. I am thinking of just bringing them home with me but not sure if i can mix the two kinds of crabs. Please help i dont want either set of crabs to be hurt but know that they need the salt water. the PP are smaller then the Ecuadorian crabs.

also i have a 10 gallon tank with my two PP crabs, they have two bowls of water - fresh and salt. would they be able to live together and is that enough room for 4 crabs????

The Ecuadorian's have been with out salt water for at least 2/3 weeks....who knows how long before the pet store got them.

thanks for any advice i can get.

[CrabbyJo]

PP's and Equadorians can live well together. While PP's can do without the ocean salt water most of the time (but they DO use it, I've seen mine in it a lot!) the Equadorians do require it. It's great you are bringing them home, and a 10 gallon is fine for 4 crabs. But I think what will happen is you will start wanting a larger tank for them, as the Equadorians will be very active all over the place and you will feel sorry for them in that small area.
But it will be fine, and they will love you for giving them the ocean salt water they need!
I have E's and PP's together and they do great.

[Jelly Bean]

thanks! I don't want to really stress my PP as they are still new and destressing but i also dont want the Ecuadorian's to suffer! they are also in a very small 5 gallon tank (yes i know TOO SMALL) so they will be happy to move...now to convince my boss she needs to let me take them home lol! She got them for me knowing that i wanted some but sadly she hadn't done any research on them and trusted a pet store who gave wrong and bad advice.

I knew the PP didn't have to have the salt water but all my reseach said they would like it and do better.


So it won't matter that the two PP are smaller then the Ecuadorian's?

do i have to do anything special to introduce the new crabs?? i have heard that you should bath them but i am not sure??

thanks again

[emmac350]

The crabs will do fine together regardless of size. I have 2 small PPs, 1 small E, and 3 tiny Es together in my 30g tank with only one slight issue (beginning of a shell fight between 2 of the tiny Es).

As for introducing the new guys, it's kind of up to you how you do it. Generally we urge owners to keep the new guys ISOed from the original ones for at least a month before putting them together (to ensure no diseases or mites can be passed from tank to tank and to learn that food, water, and shells are no longer in short supply and require no fighting). Given that all your crabs are relatively new, leaving them all in their current tanks will give them some time apart to learn how life works in your tanks. Once they've gotten used to it and have molted if they wish, you can then introduce them all in the main tank. Take whoever you can find on the surface and put them into the fresh water bowl together so they all 'smell' the same.

However, if you are certain no one has mites, if I were you, I may just put them all together as if you'd bought them at the same time as they are all new together. They could all destress together that way. Marie, please correct me on this if I'm wrong.

[ladybug15057]

To destress together would also depend on what the temp and humidity levels were both at the pet store and compared to the boss's hermies. If the temp/humidity ranges varied that much each 'set' should be permitted to adjust according to the PPS article.
Other than that if there are not mites and surely no illnesses noted IMO no reason why they should not be able to destress together after they were all bathed together.
A little note too about PP's, they also require ocean/sea water. This does help them with their salinity levels in their shells which does help them kill/control many bacteria due to living in a warm humid climate as well as it helps them to adjust/maintain their body temps.
For years it was said PP's did not need the ocean/sea salt water. Research one crabber shared showed that to make up for not having an ocean/sea pond the PP's were recycling their own urine for the salinity within it. Where as they may not be observed in the ocean/sea pond as frequently it is a MUST as well.
A little O/T too. I have 5 jumbos and they do have their own main tank. The jumbos are PP's and when one is in premolt sure enough the ocean pond needs filling a LOT more often.

[Jelly Bean]

Thanks again for the info. I am still trying to convince my boss they should come home with me or just get a bigger tank and add the other water dish. do you know how long they can go without the salt water??

[Wai]

I agree with Marie. Don't all hermit crab species need sea salt to moult? It's just that some species prefer their shell water more saltier than others.

[ladybug15057]

They all do need it for molting, it helps them to build the 'fluid' up between their old and new exo's for easier shedding of their exo's.
And they do return once a year to the ocean to fling their eggs into it. But even at this they do not move too far from the shores of the oceans/sea's, some closer than others. Not sure if anybody has researched this, but where as rain is considered fresh water, near the ocean/sea's even the rain water has a higher salinity level than further inland.
And hermies do stay near the ocean/sea their whole lives, (unless captured) not ponds or rivers.

[HermitOrCrabs]

Theres a girl on youtube who said she used to have 30 PPs and 30 Es in her 150g tank.