# Thai micro crab, Limnopilos naiyanetri breeders in Toronto?



## arc

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=60









Image from practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Just wondering if anyone has these or have experience with them? Information on them seems pretty scarce but it seems not too different from other low level breeding inverts.


----------



## Alexpatrascu

There was one a long time ago....
http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23193

AFAIK there is a problem with getting the babies to grow past 2 weeks old !!!


----------



## arc

Yeah, I was hoping the people who were part of that had some insight on them. They are not available in Canada as far as I can tell and importing them from the states is an issue now since its so cold now.


----------



## Alexpatrascu

Well if you go/come by car I don't think it would be such a big problem.


----------



## arc

I wish I could do that but customs will be asking some questions on the way back.

edit: I just read the part about having to someone drive over and drive it back. Wow you guys really wanted those crabs, the shipping cost plus more gas/time for someone to bring them back most have been high.

I'll keep looking into them and maybe a LFS will have them on their shipping lists.


----------



## mrobson

all mine died fairly quickly, on the brighter side it helped convince me that i do need a SW tank


----------



## arc

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31913

Looks like PJpets at Square one is stocking them now, great price as well! 3 for $8. There is a bit of bad news though, It seem to date no one has been able to breed them in captivity. Still worth a try though.


----------



## joe

so these are available at pjs pets in sq one?

how hard are they to keep and
max size? are they okay with shrimp? any land needed?


----------



## arc

Call them to see if they have any left.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/shrimp-other-invertebrates/164548-thai-microcrabs.html

not much local info though, the few people that did get them a while back had troubles with them.


----------



## mrobson

i got some a while back an they all died in my cherry tank maybe someone who raises higher grade shrimp might have better luck.


----------



## joe

so you kept them with your shrimp?

did they every try going for one of your shrimp? how slow are they

im thinkin of getting some..


----------



## laurahmm

I have 6 of them in my CRS . You do not have to worry about them at all. They are very small and very slow and very shy. Not aggressive at all. They ignore each other completely. I'm thinking that they seem to be filter feeders like vampire shrimp. I have yet to see them grab any kind of food. They just stay in one spot and wave their arms and legs around then bring it to their mouths. I've been dosing baby CRS food into my tank every other day in hopes this is sufficent food for them. Hopefully they survive! Let me know if anyone else has seen them eat and if so what? I Was told they eat flake food but when I throw it in...they just ignore it....oh and in answer to your question...they dint need land...but based on what I've observed...I think they need a well established tank to feed off microorganisms in the water column? Just a guess though...


----------



## Will

If they are as you say, filter feeders, like fan shrimp (vampire, armoured, wood/bamboo) then you may have to powder some food into water, and use a pipette to slowly target feed them, or distribute the food into the flow or at them. This works best if you turn the filtration off, but still have gentle circulation flow within the tank.

Keep in mind I've no experience at all with these crabs, but this is a feeding method for filter/fan shrimp. I've used Powdered Coral foods with good successes also.


----------



## laurahmm

Hi Will...thanks for the advice. Do you know if them powder coral food is similar in size as the CRS powder baby food or the granules are smaller? I'm thinking I may have to get smaller granules even than the powder baby CRS food...


----------



## Will

I don't know anything about CRS specific foods. The Coral foods are micro powders, not granules. The one I have has 6 ingredients which range from 5-200 microns in size. The small end of this scale might even be too small, but it worked well. It's "Pro Reef: Coral and fish nutritional supplement" and it contains; freeze dried rotifers, dried daphnia, golden pearls, arctic copepods, spirulina powder. Pic. I have a couple bottles of it because I didn't know how ridiculously long it would last.


----------



## joe

does anyone have these crabs for sale? i gotta throw some in with my crystal blacks crabs are awesome


----------



## Will

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31913
Perhaps PJpets at Square One stll has some. That seems to be a great price.


----------



## joe

whats there max size? and for those who have kept them with shrimp, how long have they been in there?

do i not have to worry about anything? not even the babies?


----------



## laurahmm

You don't have to worry about your CRS babies...they ignore them...my babies are fine... PJ's north of yonge street are where I got my crabs. 3 for $14 or one for $5. You have to go inside the fish room and they are on the counter next to the fluval flora tank displays I almost missed them. Where did you get that food Will? Which local fishstore or you to order online?


----------



## Will

A LFS, which is since closed. I know you can get it online if you copy and paste the name i wrote above into google. Or I might be interested in a trade or sale of one or two of my jars.


----------



## Bwhiskered

I have not yet had or seen the Micro Crabs but if they are a filter feeder I would try Brewers Yeast in water. Using this I have raised thousands of frog tadpoles that were filter feeders. This may possibly work but I would only do it in a tank by themselves and not with shrimp. Wardley's Liquid Fry Food may also work or powdered egg yolk. Snails my be needed to clean up excess yolk.
If tank starts to cloud cease feeding until it clears. A good infusoria culture should also work.


----------



## joe

why without shrimp?


----------



## Bwhiskered

joe said:


> why without shrimp?


If you screw up and feed too heavy you can kill your shrimp. This is not tried and true but a possible way to feed adults and raise fry based on what I know about filter feeders.


----------



## pcdawg

PJ Pets at Scarborough Town Centre has a whole bunch for 3 for $7.00.

They probably have 10+. They hide well in the substrate and can be hard to spot as they blend right in.

I picked up 3 for my cherry shrimp/pea puffer tank.


----------



## manmadecorals

Just grabbed 5 from Brent at PJ's SQ1 yesterday


----------



## Fishfur

You can get Invert food, to be specific, Phytoplankton, at BAs.. it's a liquid,and not cheap but I am feeding it to my clams, fan shrimp and newly morphed ghost shrimplets, along with spirulina powder. I found a recipe for making a food for clams, and that might work if the crabs are filter feeders too. If you're interested I'll try and find it, I'm sure I bookmarked the recipe.

Phytoplankton is meant for feeding corals, size varies up to about 50 microns, which is small enough for free swimming fresh water shrimp larvae to eat, so it ought to work for crabs. Does not foul water, near as I can tell. It does make a cloud, briefly, but it soon disappears, much as green water will.

I wonder if the crabs would respond to live micro worms ? My shrimplets sure did !


----------



## randy

Fishfur said:


> You can get Invert food, to be specific, Phytoplankton, at BAs.. it's a liquid,and not cheap but I am feeding it to my clams, fan shrimp and newly morphed ghost shrimplets, along with spirulina powder. I found a recipe for making a food for clams, and that might work if the crabs are filter feeders too. If you're interested I'll try and find it, I'm sure I bookmarked the recipe.


Hi Fishfur, where did you get spirulina powder? Are they expensive?


----------



## Fishfur

Hey Manhtu, did they have many left ?


----------



## Fishfur

I got a small amount of powder from Igor, when I got some plants from him and daphnia. He said he got it from the US, and it cost quite a bit with shipping, but it's fairly large bag.. half a pound, and very fine, about 100 microns, more or less. I was thinking of ordering some myself, it seems to be well accepted.

There is an online store here in Toronto that stocks spirulina powder. I've dealt with them before, they're pretty good, so I've written to ask if they know the micron size of either of the two powders they stock. Neither is cheap, but you can pick up orders in Toronto, out Danforth way, to save on shipping. Hopefully I will hear back from them, but probably not 'til after the weekend now.

Now I have done a more extensive search, there are a few sources here in Canada, but prices are high.. depends somewhat on brand, but a pound is around sixty bucks. One place offers free shipping but that assumes the powder is fine enough to do the trick. I wrote them too, they're in Guelph. I could likely stop there on my way to or from London when I visit my Mom.. but it's a lot of money to feed to clams and shrimp ! I'm thinking greenwater is much cheaper and probably just as good, but not nearly as easy.


----------



## randy

If it's $6/lb then it's not too bad considering every other shrimp specialty food are like $10/oz ;-)

Let me know if you find a good source, even more coarse ones should be good for shrimps.


----------



## Fishfur

Not $6. per pound.. $60. per pound ! But I am looking to see if there are better prices available.. even with shipping added in it might be cheaper in the US.. and the stuff Igor gave me was actually made for Inverts, not for human consumption. All the one's I've found so far have been for human consumption, presumably made to higher standards, and thus, costly. All the algal supplements for human consumption are quite expensive, but I'm still trying to find the link Igor gave me to look up the product so I'd know what it was he was talking about. I'll post when I find it. I have to admit, when I see the pics of the various products, they all look pretty much the same.. super fine looking powder, similar consistency to baby powder.


----------



## manmadecorals

Fishfur said:


> Hey Manhtu, did they have many left ?


yup lots left


----------



## Fishfur

They sure do have lots left, I got six today. Got a reply from one spirulina supplier.. I have to contact the manufacturer to find out the particle size.. but they gave me contact numbers, which I will try calling to see if they know how fine the powders are.


----------



## randy

Fishfur said:


> They sure do have lots left, I got six today. Got a reply from one spirulina supplier.. I have to contact the manufacturer to find out the particle size.. but they gave me contact numbers, which I will try calling to see if they know how fine the powders are.


Thanks and keep us posted.


----------



## Fishfur

I also learned it can be had in tablet form.. easier for humans to consume that way, but I bet tablets would be easier to feed to adult shrimps.. and could always be either crushed or ground and mixed with water to feed for filter feeders. Not sure if there is anything else in the tablets, like a binder of some kind. Have to check and find out.


----------

