# fiddlers are breeding!!



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

ok..ok ..i know, its not full marine but i wasnt sure where else to put this..

so i was sitting here yapping at my friend Styx and boom! My bran new giant boy is hugging my female fiddler... And with closer inspection it looks like they are exchanging the goods. lol

Its very neat, a triangle type part opens up on his belly and they seem to match up, face to face. The breeding took maybe 20 minutes.

He's a gorgeous big boy i -just- picked up today... i had -just- placed him in the tank and ping! Makin babies.. :3

Unfortunatly.... I really dont have a Sw set up going to even attempt to raise them. (plus bf said no...>.>)
But! this has started me on formulating a setup of some sort in the future. Fiddler babies dont hatch out as lil crabbies but actual larva that need to molt many times in the sea before they even start to resemble a crabby.

I have found one account of a woman breeding Red claws, and i think i can adapt sucha set up to work.









Here is the link if anyone is interested!
http://www.aquahoito.info/sesarma/index.html


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Good luck on that!


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hehe thanks brian...

I went and lost my mind and decided i would attempt to raise some. Just for my own personal enjoyment... Kinda.. like building a big jigsaw puzzle.. Very calming and somtimes increadably frustraighting lol


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Lol, how is it going and how is your betta spawn doing?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well i have about three weeks to get things together and cycled.. 
Would a sponge filter still work in SW? For the life of me i couldnt figure that out last night....

The set up required calls for a tall style tank, which i have ...and three or so bubble walls.. Which i will set up. I am going to put sand on the bottom as well. I need to figure out a breeder type of container that will allow my female to be able to get to air, and still hatch her eggs into the tank. I think i have that storted out. 

Some questions still brewing in my mind is If the crablets will be alright without accsess to the surface. I can always provide a bit of bog wood or somthing that pokes out of the water.... I think i have descided to lower the water and create a beach of sorts with the sand when the time comes to it. 

My first betta spawn fell through, Female dropped her eggs...built a nest.. but no boy action to make them hatch.  My fault... It was a borrowed boy and i couldnt condition him as long as i would have liked. 
However.... I do have a new DTCT...(dt not confirmed as of yet) and they are conditioning as i type  Everything is looking well too ^^


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Oookkay... Writing this stuff down just so i dont forget as well .. lol

Today i picked up the following.
25 gal salt mix
3lbs of play sand
three 5 inch blubble stones
new corner sponge filter

hooked em all up and guessed at the specific gravity. I know how much is in a 5 gal salt mix so i added untill i was left that amount. Hopefully i should have about 20gals of mix in there.

Things i still need... 
Hydrometer
Uv light.

Dug out my old plastic breeder with lid.. Its basically a rectangle with slots in the bottom. It also has a handy lid. I set that up in the tank with a lil medium sized stone on one side. 
Its sitting in the tank so that i have about 1-2 inches of water actually in the breeder.

Female will be going from brackish to the marine tank so i will aclimate her in a bucket before hand.
If i make a booboo.. i will definatly let you guys know what happened..


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Time to take a deep breath.......and curse. lol

So i was extreamly concerned about not seeing my female for a long while..
She normally shuffles across and picks at the rocks. 

My male, apparently caught her and cracked her carapiece in half. Devoured the eggs and a bit of her insides. I am extreamly dissapointed....

Not sure what to do with my set up right now... dont know if i should aquire another female and try another breeding and separate.

I did see some agression.. but i thought it was just over food. I didnt think he would kill her. 
Bf is gunna be so dissapointed cause that was his fav..


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Whoa...I never knew that they were that aggressive.

Sorry to hear that happened.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Holy sh*t, that sucks.

I say get another female that is bigger than the male so she can crack his carapace open and devour the eggs that he devoured!!

Lol, I'm joking.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

LoL brian... I had half a mind to boil him. I felt so bad to feel that way... but damnit! lol

Me neither wilson....I really didnt expect it. I was bawling... lol 

gunna think about things and myabe try again. Thing is.. i've got a 95% chance of failing.. Its just, it would be really awesome to pull it off.


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Why do you think your chance of failing is so high?


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Well... Because most of it i am just kinda, guessing. I located that one artical and i was just kinda using that as a bare bones to follow. Since the red claws are FW and fiddlers brackish i had a few things to change. 

Its just kinda exciting if i could pull it off... I mean they do only sell for about 3 dollars in the pet shops, so money is not my goal.. lol 

Sorry.. usually my bigest critic is myself when it comes to these things..


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## Brian (Mar 14, 2006)

Lol, I thought they were like 10$ at PJ's?


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## meow_mix450 (Mar 22, 2006)

Aw so sorry to hear!!!!!!! If you need to look for another I'll over some help

Meow


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

OOhh are they meows? lol

I've decided i am gunna try again! So jay lemmie know if you get a good size female in okie! i'll keep an eye out at the petsmart... Only place i can seem to find them.


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## meow_mix450 (Mar 22, 2006)

Got good news we have some halloween crabs!!!!!!! so if you can tell me how to sex them I'll take a look and let you know wednesday or thursday night, thats when i work haha. 

Meow


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

halloweens or the fiddlers meows? I need a female fiddler but i am at my max for hallows :3 What size? 

Oohh to sex the hallows the boys will be bright orange and black. Girls tend to look more "pastel" like.. Softer yellows, purples and black


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## MartinW (Mar 22, 2006)

Oh that sucks. It was exciting reading this thread, then the female died Kinda like a harlequin romance gone bad. Good luck on your next attempt. I'd love to breed my land hermit crabs, but from what I've read they've never been bred successfully in captivity, and I only have 1 of them, the other 4 escaped and ran away. I'll have to get some friends for the last one, because I'm sure he's pretty lonely.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

awwee martin i didnt know they ran away... I am sorry 

No worries about my plans.. Gunna try again


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