Will fiddler crabs eat guppies? This is the type of question many newbies ask. I have seen this particular question on Quora and I decided to help newbies by answering this particular question. Fiddler crabs by nature are scavengers because they could eat anything they could see and any animal they could be able to kill. They are Brackish water dwellers and are classified as semi-aggressive, especially the male ones. If you are planning to keep them with Guppies, which are small and non-aggressive fish, you might be interested to know if Fiddler Crabs will eat them or if they could live in peace.
Will Fiddler Crabs eat Guppies? Fiddler crabs are scavengers and would eat any animal they could kill including Guppies.
Guppies are small and gentle fish, they have no atom of aggression in them, but they are very fine fish to keep in the aquarium.
They are freshwater fish, and so live in freshwater, but they could be able to tolerate some levels of salinity.
Fiddler crabs too can live in the freshwater, but not for long because they are brackish water dwellers.
Being two different water dwellers, there is no how fiddler crabs could get to guppies unless both the fish and the crabs are kept in a kind of Brackishwater too, which both could tolerate, but to some level.
Let’s say Fiddler crabs are kept in slight Brackish water with Guppy fish, what will happen is that the crab will kill and eat the fish as time goes by.
Fiddler crabs and Crabs in general normally kill and eat small fish like guppies, but not all small fish because some small fish do kill then too if they get the chance.
Keeping guppies with Fiddler crabs is a bad idea because the crabs will kill and eat them.
Killing them doesn’t necessarily mean killing them at once and swallowing them etc. Well, it might not work like that because that’s a mere exaggeration.
Crabs have the habit of curiosity and so will always like to pinch any animal that lives with them with their claws.
In the process of pinching them, they will injure them, which may either weaken the fish and later kill it or the fish might contact infections and diseases, which might later kill it.
When the guppy dies because of the injuries sustained from the crab’s pinch, the crab will now start eating up the dead fish (carcass).
Apart from fish, crabs, which fiddler crab is inclusive will eat anything and even the decaying animals and plants, etc.
So, Fiddler crabs will eat Guppies when they die or when they kill them with their claws.
Can A Fiddler Crab Live With Guppies?
Learning that Fiddler crabs could kill and eat guppies, you might be wondering if they could still live together in a tank.
Can a Fiddler crab live with guppies? Yes, guppies can live with fiddler crabs. They can only live together if the tank is large and properly set up.
Guppies are freshwater fish, but they could be able to tolerate some level of salt.
This means they could comfortably live in fairly Brackish water which could comfortably house fiddler crabs too.
Normally, Fiddler crabs might try to pinch them, thereby harming them when they sleep, but they could still stay together if certain precautions are taken.
First, if you want to keep fiddler crabs with guppies, you must keep only females.
Second, they should be far less in population than the guppies.
Third, Make sure to have substrates, gravels, live plants, and hiding places such as caves pipes.
With all these in place, the fiddler crabs will comfortably live with Guppies without one trying the kill another because both of them, especially the crabs will be occupied with all in the water and won’t have time for the fish and the fish will do same too.
So, if you ask me, female fiddler crabs could live with Guppies or One Male Fiddler crab could live with Guppies because he will be intimidated by the population of the Guppies so, he won’t try anything funny (lol).
Conclusion
Fiddler crabs could eat guppies when the opportunity presents itself, but they could be able to live together too if certain precautions are taken.
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