Strawberry with Aussie crabs?

[POPPIT]

Hi All.....I was curious about getting a Strawberry hermit crab further down the track....I have only had my 3 medium Aussie crabs 3 1/2 weeks so i want to get to know them for a while first....My question is if Strawberries get along with Aussies and if i would need to get 2 Strawberries or if the Aussies would be enough company?....I could always set up another tank for a few Strawberries...Has anyone had experiences with these two species? Also if you have had a Strawberry i would like to know a bit about special care, behavior, food etc

[appps]

Wai is the only aussie I can think of with them. He has a thread about them here somewhere.

[emmac350]

Strawberry crabs are notoriously hard to care for, so I wouldn't recommend getting any until your setup is 100% stable. They are very sensitive to minute changes in temperature or humidity and have more stringent requirements for their diet. Even very experienced crabbers have had problems keeping straws happy. They need a LOT of room for exercise as well.

[POPPIT]

Yes i have read they can be pretty fragile and need close care...my tank is pretty stable atm...but i would like to write down daily/nightly checks to get a more accurate idea...Yes i read they like room and are very active...if my current tank 18gal/68ltrs with my 3 medium Aussies isnt big enough for 1-2 Strawberries then later on after gaining more experience and confidence i might get another 18gal or so for Strawberries...Obviously im not ready to own an exotic yet but am trying to gain knowledge about them for the future...I wish we could get more species of hermits sent to Aus like purple pinches,violas,blueberries and indos...They are shipping Aussies all over now hopefully they have great homes...

[POPPIT]

I wouldn't mind Ecuadorians and Ruggies too

[emmac350]

Strawberries are supposed to be kept in a tank no smaller than 80 cm long (approximate, from several exotic pets care sheets), or about 30 inches long. I don't think the tank you have right now is properly sized for both your Aussie crabs and additional strawberries because the straws need so much room on their own. I'd say take some time to get more confident with your setup and once you've had more time you can expand to a bigger tank and look at getting exotics.

Keep in mind that crabs grow, so even if the crabs might all fit in the tank right now (if you found tiny/small strawberry crabs), they won't later on. I've got 3 crabs in my 30g tall and I am not sure if I could fit in any more unless I started them out as tiny additions. The 30g was great when I had a bunch of tiny/smalls but now...not so much.

[POPPIT]

Thanks for that info on size of a tank for Straws Emma...I have just moved my tank onto a desk which is ideal for a bigger tank lol...not quite sure how big though....I toyed with the idea of one Strawberry in my 18gal long with my 3 Aussies but i agree with you Emma on the lack of space now that i know that Straws need roaming room...Im not sure how big your crabs are but i found a site that stated a small crab needed 3gal per crab a medium crab needed 4gal per crab..I didnt really look at the other crab sizes as i wasnt planing on getting any bigger but im assuming it may just increase 1gal per size of crab...Depends on ground space for moulting you might be able to get more then your current 3

[emmac350]

I've got a large, a medium, and a small in a 30g tall. I know what the charts say but I don't agree. Based on that I should be able to have 10 smalls in my tank, but I don't think that would give them nearly enough space, especially if all of them decided to molt at the same time. At the most I had 4 tinies, 2 smalls, 1 medium, and 1 large and it felt REALLY crowded to me.

For an idea of exactly HOW active they were and how many were everywhere at once when my tank only had 1 large, 2 smalls, and 3 tinies, check this out:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rtbDyiiARY

It's time lapse photographs stitched together of my tank overnight, photos taken every 30 seconds.

[aussieJJDude]

Personally i go with a standard 120cm (4ft) tank with house around 2 straws and two aussies each; as they are rather active compared to PP's for example. Like a few members have 20 - 50 crabs in a 100g tank; each with the same sized tank I would only have around 10 aussies/straws MAX.
Of course this depends on crab to crab; tank sizes and other influencing factors but for me; less is more!

[POPPIT]

Nice vid by the way Emma.....I love the big one....The tall tanks have less "ground" space so seem more crowded if they were all down at once like you stated....Following the crab space guidelines i can have 6 small crabs in my tank....I now have 3 mediums(not very big mediums) and 1 small(new addition i got today) and i would be comfortable buying one more but that would be all as they do grow.....I think its partly individual choice part whats right for the crabs and of course depends on the species you have too
Thats very reasonable AussieJJDude a lot of running room.....I have future plans on getting a 3ft tank which will be 150ltrs(close to 40 gal) and i would love to have 2 Strawberries along with my current 3medium 1small Aussies.....I have seen a few crowded tanks on youtube but most are responsible with their tank space.