Having frogs, especially the African dwarf frog in a tank is so cool and nice, but have you ever thought about placing it with a tank mate?, I think that will be awesome. But the problem is, what can they live with. I have read several threads in many fish forums, where some individuals raise a topic about having fiddler crabs in the same tank with African dwarf frogs. This article is to educate you on the possibilities of these 2 creatures sharing a tank.
Can Fiddler crab and African dwarf frog live together? No, fiddler crab is a brackish water dweller, while African dwarf frog is a freshwater dweller. Also the fiddler crab might try to kill the frog if they share a tank.
It’s a proven fact that no frog could live in a brackish water, or can at least survive on such water for a long time.
On the other hand, fiddler crab, unlike other crabs is a salt water dweller and will not survive for long if placed in a freshwater.
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So it’s a pure fact that there is no how these 2 creatures could be able to share a tank and survive.
Many people think they can make these 2 creatures to coexist by buying aquarium salt and putting it in a freshwater, in order to harbor the 2 animals in the same tank.
Well, trust me, that strategy won’t work because once you add salt into your aquarium, it will harm the frog who is very prone to salty water.
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Although both African dwarf frogs and fiddler crabs are amphibian animals, but the frog can’t survive for long in the kind of lower temperature the crab could.
Again African dwarf frogs although are water animals, but they can not stay submerged for a very long time, or they will drown, so they need to surface once in a while, unlike the fiddler crabs.
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Another reason why they cannot coexist is, if they do, there is every possibility that the crab will try to kill the frog or the frog will end up killing the crab.
Crabs are fond of going to the animals around then, in order to try to kill them and eat, so if kept together with an African dwarf frog, it will end up trying to kill the frog, and on the process might fatally wound the frog with it’s claws, or the frog might try to eat it, especially during it’s weakest moment when it molts.
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So it is nearly impossible to keep African dwarf frog and fiddler crab in the same tank.
Can Crabs and African Dwarf Frogs live together?
Knowing that fiddler crabs are brackish water crabs and African dwarf frogs are freshwater dwellers, you might also want to know if they could be able to coexist or share a tank with other crabs, ( freshwater crabs).
Can Crabs and African dwarf frogs live together? No, crabs and African dwarf frogs cannot live together because crabs are very likely to wound or kill the frogs with their claws.
It is totally a very bad idea trying to keep any type or specie of crab with African dwarf frog because they will definitely fight and wound each other, which could lead to death.
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African dwarf frog is partly a land and partly amphibian.
This simply means, they don’t live entirely on water, or they will die.
So even if you want to keep them with any specie of crab, you need to have in place a land (island) in your tank where they will be staying.
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African dwarf frogs stay most of their time on the surface, and crabs stay most of their time on the bottom, that’s why many people think they could coexist in one tank.
Well, they could for a little while, but I won’t advise keeping them long in the same tank, as they will finally get each other, which will be catastrophic.
Will Crabs eat African Dwarf Frogs?
As we have learned, no specie of crab can successfully cohabitate with African dwarf frogs. You may be curious to know what happens when the crabs finally succeeds in killing them.
Will Crabs eat African dwarf frogs? Yes, crabs will eat African dwarf frogs once they’re dead.
The fact is, crustaceans are known to eat anything they could be able to, this includes vegetables, plants, and animals they could be able to kill etc, so they will definitely feed on the dead African dwarf frog once they succeeded in killing it.
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Frog’s body is fleshy and meaty, so crabs normally find it very easy to cut and feed on them.So crabs will eat African dwarf frogs when kept together with them.
Conclusion
It is very risky to try to keep fiddler crabs and other crabs with African dwarf frogs or other types of frogs because they will end up hurting each other and might eat each other.
Try providing them separate tanks.