Sara how do you keep them alive for so long?
well i will tell you how i keep them that might help a bit ask anything if you can think of something
I keep my colony in a 5 gallon aquarium with lots of space to get out of the water "the key to fiddlers is air space" I have the tank filled half water half air space. Make sure they can get out easy and there is no places they can get stuck in they dont breath under water. I keep one male per 3 females. I plant the tank heavily with java ferns, marimos "moss balls" and a few sprigs of green bamboo.
If you have multiple males in a tank make sure you have equally high vantages they is blocked from visual view of each other. They seem to only be territorial over there land spaces. "at least mine seem to be that way" Also make sure they cannot get stuck in any of the decor. The females have no problem navigating anything but the males with that huge claw seem to have a problem getting stuck here and there. "i had a male get stuck in a decoration and had to take it apart with a dremel tool to get him out."
I used a 5 gallon whisper filter to keep the water nice. I add sea salt to there to the water when i change it. I keep it at Specific Gravity 1.025 for your salt to water ratio. If you don't already have aquarium salt i recommend getting some
Mine last so much longer with it.
Have a separate tank setup for the shedding females they will stress if they can't get away from the male at that time. It takes them about 1 week to harden fully after they shed then you can plop them back in.
Make sure there are no mirror like surfaces that the male can see his reflection in. You can put one close buy to show people how they do the cool arm waving thing but don't leave it on them all the time. Males will "forget" to do anything else besides that waving thing.
They are social and when the males are interested in breeding will step out on land area and blow a mass of bubbles to get the females attention. I have had females lay eggs but haven't figured out how to get them to hatch.
THe temp in there tank in the water 75-78 on one side i have a small basking light that hits the highest rock and heats that area to 85 degrees. you can check your basking spots with a reptile thermal temp gun, "they sell a nice one at home depot also"
I feed them deli meat ham, shrimp pellets, algae wafers and a few kennels of frozen corn they seem to like it best if u alternate the food items frequently . I feed them a tiny amount twice a week. They will spend allot of time cleaning the plants. All of the food items I toss in the water.
hope that helps
Sara
I keep one male and 2 females in a 5 gallon with a cycle fliter.
