This is a red claw crab. In today's video, I'm going to be saving this crab and building him his dream home. So, I was walking around my neighborhood the other day when I saw someone put a fish tank out for trash with a sign that said free.
I mean, who would throw out a perfectly good fish tank? So, I brought it back to my room and put it on my rack, but it was extremely dirty. So, I took the tank outside to scrub it and even sprayed it down for over an hour.
But somehow it still has some marks. It's not the prettiest tank, but I figured I could take this abandoned tank and transform it into something cool. I did get a lot of comments in my swamp ecosystem about saving the crabs from the pet store.
So, I drove over to my store to see if they still had the crabs. And I was hit with a huge surprise. The guy at the pet store told me they need to get rid of everything because the store closes in 10 days.
So, I went to the back to check it out and the fish section was almost empty. I checked everywhere for the crabs, but it seems like they are all gone until I spotted this guy at the bottom of a predator tank. At first, I thought he was dead, but then he moved a little, so I knew I had to save this crab from dying in this tank.
So, I called over the employee and rescued the crab. They even gave me the crab for free cuz he was so sick and injured. My goal is to raise this crab back to full health.
So, I got back to the house and put our crab into a quarantine tank I had set up while we nurse him back to health and start to build his dream home. I also placed a piece of spiderwood that is breaching the water surface so our crab can get out when needed. Redclaw crabs can live on land and water, and the perfect enclosure for them would be a 70% water and 30% land.
So, I was thinking about placing a divider in the tank to create a land and water area all in this one tank. So, I grabbed an extra piece of acrylic from the giant shrimp ecosystem build, and it fit perfectly in our tank. First, we need to silicone this divider into the tank and wait 24 hours.
>> One day later, >> I came back the next day, and our silicone divider looks like it is locked in place. So, for our landside, I picked up this bag of clay balls from my local gardening store. These clay balls are designed to soak up moisture and prevent mold.
So to start the foundation, we are going to start with a nice amount of clay balls. We'll need to leave some room to add in some top soil so our plants get the proper nutrients. Once the clay balls were in, I grabbed a chunk of garden screening to separate the clay balls from the top soil.
The screen allows water to drain through while still providing a nice layer in between the two substrates. I then grabbed a bucket of organic top soil and poured it all over the garden screen. Then I grabbed some wash sand to cap the dirt so our crab doesn't rip apart the roots of our future plants.
I also filled the water area with sand so everything stays simple. Then I decided to add some rocks for our crab to hide under for protection. Rocks are actually super important in a red claw crab tank.
They don't just make the setup look natural. They give the crabs places to climb, hide, and claim as territory. Plus, crabs love to dig around and explore.
I decided to take a drive over to Walmart to find some plants. When I got to Walmart, I found this section with these cool looking plants. These plants are called succulents.
Succulents are plants that store water in their leaves, stems, or even roots, helping them survive in places where it doesn't rain much, like deserts, rocky hillsides, my bedroom. So, I decided on these two and took them back to our tank. When I got back, I placed our two succulents into the land area, and our build felt like it was almost complete.
But that's when I realized the distance between the land and water area is really far. It's going to be pretty much impossible for our crab to climb the acrylic wall. So, I went to my 3D printer and found this design of a mini turtle ramp for freshwater turtles.
I think it'll be a perfect fit in our crab tank. If you want to see me get a pet turtle, then like today's video and comment the word turtle. So, I printed our mini ramp and attached it into the tank.
It's not a perfect fit, but we can fill the water area up to the ramp, so it's easy for Jorge to get in and out. I also got an extra piece of spiderwood and created a natural ramp for him to climb. Once that was all done, I started to fill up our water area.
After about 15 minutes, I came back to the tank and everything looked perfect. I also added our lights that simulate sunlight from our first video so our succulents get the proper lighting necessary. Now, let's give the tank some time to cycle.
I woke up the next morning and realized we have a huge problem. I must have missed a spot siliconing the acrylic divider and the water is leaking into our land area. As long as the water in the land area doesn't reach the top soil, we are okay.
Honestly, this wasn't in the game plan, but we can still make this tank work. I'm also going to take out the sponge filter since the water level is too low. Meanwhile, I found Horge chilling in this moss tree I have in the quarantine tank.
I dropped some protein pellets in for my secret pets, and Jorge must have smelled them and wanted to try some for himself. So, he grabbed a pellet and ran off to try it. Check him out ripping apart the protein pellet.
It looks like Jorge is slowly starting to regain his strength. After a couple days, I came back to our tank and we are almost ready to add Horge to the ecosystem. But first, I grabbed some extra rocks and I want to build a rock platform for Jorge to be able to get out of the water area without having to climb up the ramp.
So, I placed all of our rocks in the back corner. Stacking rocks lets them get out of the water and feel secure, which reduces stress. Once I finished placing all the stones, I went to go check on Jorge and couldn't find him anywhere.
That's when I looked up on top of the tank and found him just chilling on the stick. He kept making this motion like he was hungry. So, I gave him a fish flake and it looks like he loves it because he started to rip it apart.
In just a couple more days, we can finally move Jorge into his new home. It's finally time to add Jorge to his new home. So, I scooped him out of the quarantine tank and got him ready to enter his new home.
It looks like Jorge has grown a little bit since we got him from the store. He was eating a bunch of protein pellets, so I guess he got some muscles. So, I carefully placed Jorge into the tank and waited for him to crawl out.
But after a while, I had to give him a little push to explore his new home. At first, he was very confused since this doesn't look anything like his previous home. He just crawled into this corner, trying to figure out his surroundings.
I didn't want to stress him out, so I left him to explore his new home. I came back the next day, and I found him hiding in the rocks we built in the back. I see that there's some sand on top of the rock.
Hopefully in the next couple days he will get more comfortable and potentially explore the land area. Speaking about the land area, our succulents are looking good, but it's probably best to add some water to our plants. And now it's time to see if Jorge is hungry.
I'm going to leave him some protein pellets on the rock. And I came back a couple minutes later and found Jorge eating the pellets. It looks like he's starting to get more comfortable with his new home.
I came back to our tank and couldn't find our crab anywhere in the water area. So that's when I looked up in the land area and I found Horge hiding under the succulent plant. I wish I would have got him climbing up on the ramp.
But after 30 minutes, he decided he was done in the land area and it was time to go back to the water. At first, Jorge didn't want to take the ramp, but after some courage, he decided to crawl down. It's pretty cool seeing him enjoy this cool build.
I think he's way happier here than at the pet store. When I come back, I'll be bringing a surprise food for Jorge to see if he can hunt like in the wild. So, I grabbed an old bottle and made a homemade fish trap to catch some minnows.
I used to do this all the time as a kid. And once the trap was ready, I grabbed some pellets to bait our trap. I then walked over to a local lake and it was loaded with little fish.
I placed our trap here under the dock and placed a rock so our trap doesn't float away. While I waited for our trap, I brought a fishing rod and decided to try and catch a fish. After about 20 casts, I caught nothing.
But if you want to see me build a tank for a bunch of fish, I catch myself then like today's video. Anyways, while I was fishing, I looked over at our trap and saw a bunch of little fish around it. So, I carefully walked back to our trap and found it loaded with some minnows.
These guys are going to be a snack for Jorge if he can hunt him. This is purely just a simulation of what would happen in the wild. So, I grabbed a bucket and filled it with some lake water and even saw a bunny eating some grass.
After I brought the bucket back to the tank and took a closer look, our three minnows are actually only one minnow and two mosquito fish. Mosquito fish might look like your average feeder fish, but they actually play a big role in the environment. So, I added our three fish to the ecosystem.
After a couple minutes, Horge spotted the minnow swimming through the shallows, started planning his attack, but then he trapped the fish into a corner and got him. It looks like Jorge is becoming king of his new ecosystem. The next morning, the mosquito fish was gone.
Jorge must have been busy while we were sleeping. It looks like Jorge is loving his new home, and I'm glad we saved him from the pet store. If you want me to try and save many other animals or start different crazy builds, then let me know what you want to see in the comments below.
Stay tuned for future videos.
