peeler crab farming?y

[maximo]

thanks toerag do you keep a marine aquarium yourself.

rgf i use hessian sacking but not as much water depending on whether im trying to hold thm back

[Guest jay_con]

Hi max,

 

sorry m8 I hadnt read this thread for a while.

 

My system consists of

 

(1). A small pond/tank built from breeze blocks and rendered with 50/50 silver sand and cement. About 6 foot by 2 foot.

 

(2). 1 green genie pond filter (40 pound from index stores) Filter has uv system/sponge and bio bed. I would advise you use uv as water goes cloudy without it.

 

(3). Pontec marathon pond pump. Mine just about does the job but I would prefer a faster flow. If Your going to have tanks at different heights youll need a better pump.

 

(4). 2 smaller plastic tanks roughly 4 by 2. These are plasterers baths. you can get them from builders merchents. 1 on its own would make a good tank. I have lots of peelers in summer so require the extra space.

 

(5) Plumbers overflow pipe and conectors so the water from the upper tanks can drain to the lower ones

 

(6). A hydrometer to check salinity of water.

 

(7) Dechlorinator so you can treat tap water to add in order to reduce salinity. (dont worry about reverse osmosis you dont need it for crabs as they are hardy.

Make sure you dechlorinated the tap water you add

as chlorine will kill the biofilter meaning you have to start again. Dechlorinator is a bout 2 pound per bottle from the pet shop and will last you a full year.

 

 

To get things started simply fill up your tank with sea water and turn on the pump which will pump the water thorugh the filter. If you let the water fall from the filter back into the tank this seems to oxygenate the water so you dont need an aerator. Stick in a couple of crabs straight away which will create ammonia in the water, this stimulates bacteria to grow in your filter which will in turn attack the ammonia and purify it ( look up water nitrogen cycle on google). After about a week you tank will be ready for use. The filter bacteria will be mature after about 6 wks so limit the amount of crabs you put in untill then- My tank held a lot of crabs at 1 point last summer so I dont think youll have any problems with overstocking.

 

Adding crushed cockle shells to your water keeps up calcium levels and thus a healthy environment for the crabs.

[Guest jay_con]

RGF - Isnt white worm the top bait up there?

[Guest jay_con]

Toerag - I understand your point. The colder the water the more oxygen it has? A knock on effect of heat is low oxygen. Probaby best to chill the water than oxygenate it ?

[maximo]

thanks a lot winter.

[skippytheroo]

http://www.glaucus.org.uk/wetthumb.htm

 

Found this while hunting for info on basic marine tanks

 

Interesting link right at the bottom by one Davy Holt

[skippytheroo]

Winter

 

How deep is the water in your tank? and do you have rocks in it to allow the crabs to climb out of the water?