Pom Pom Crab (Ptychognathus Barbatus)

Arrived in great shape and doing well,like to hide a lot,great place to deal with.

I originally ordered six of these guys for my first tank, a 14 gallon. I love them so much, I ordered six more to put in my new 29 gallon tank. It’s so fun watching them scurry around the tank. They never disappoint when I want to show them to anyone. If there isn’t one out in the open, I just drop in some sinking food, and within a few minutes they all come running out to eat. I highly recommend these crabs if you’re looking for a fully aquatic freshwater crab for your tank.

This guy arrived ready to go! He was lively and all over everywhere, and he still is. I don't know if this guy's ever going to slow down. He's one healthy happy crab. I love how he uses his little mittens to pick particles out of the water to eat, and how he uses his tiny claws to pick up bits of food, or to trim off bites of algae in the few places in the aquarium where it can be found. He's just a lot of fun to watch, and I have no regrets about buying him. He's more fun than shrimp, and he is friendly to them. They are good tank mates. He's also been friendly to my fish, which are themselves good tank mates. Hillstream loaches and cryptic cory's are his bottom friends. A small school of emperor tetras are in the mid-layer as well as a trio of German Blue Rams, which aslo get along well with the crab. I also have three clown killifish at the topwater, and I honestly don't think they know he's there. They just don't come that far down from the surface. If they do know he's there, they are showing no aggression toward him, nor he toward him. I have a bubbler in the bottom of the tank to add a little extra oxygen into the water, and he seems to get great amusement out of riding the bubbles up, then gliding back down. He'll actively swim into them, then hold perfectly still as he rides the bubbles up, then he'll paddle hard to get out of them, and then hold still again until he gets to the bottom. Then it's rinse and repeat, over and over until he gets bored of it and goes off to find something else to do. Before getting this little fella I had no clue that a crab could have such a big personality, or that they were capable of play, but he plays a lot. And not just in the bubbles. If all Pom Pom Crabs are like this guy, then you'll be in for a treat if you get one.

The tiny piece of screen material that was put in the bag was floating around the top while the crab was getting squished in the corners of the bag. When you ship any animal other than snails in bags, the bag should either have the corners heatsealed, taped, or tied to round the bottom of the bag.

The crab seemed to have paralyzed legs for a while after acclimation but then suddenly they began working again and he ran off and hid. Haven't seen him since. I hope he's burrowed in the sand and doing OK.

These little guys are adorable, i added them to my shrimp tank and so far they are well behaved. They like to hide a lot but when you see them they’re fun to watch.