Author Archives: Paul_

A NEW ARRIVAL of the week: Cardina cf. propinqua!

This beautiful orange shrimp arrived yesterday. The latin name is Caridina cf. propinqua. We got a limited number of this extreme nice shrimp. Basically they are easy to keep, but if they will start to loose their colour, you just have to reduce the pH. This wild caught item will arrive in the coming weeks in bigger numbers.

This shrimp is really amazing!

From Corbicula sp., a maximally 3 cm long mussel, we can offer 2 different colour types. They are hermaphrodites, whose larvae do not, contrary to some other kinds of mussels, exhibit parasitical stages. Since they filter their food from the water, they clean it of suspended matters, bacteria and protozoa. So they can be called called with good right bio filters. About 40 l water per shell should be present. With a higher population density a suspension from e.g. wheat meal should be fed. The water should have at least a small carbonate content, also pH values under 6 should be avoided, since otherwise the shell structure suffers. A fine sandy soil comes to meet them, on the basis of their trails, the mobility can be well reconstructed. (Photo K. U. Genzel, Text K. Diehl)

From the coasts of West and Central Africa originates Cardisoma armatum. The bright orange colored legs form a strong contrast to the blue body and let this crab become an attractive ornament. With a carapax diameter of approximately 10 cm it does not belong to the smallest crabs, therefore a spacy tank has to be offered for it. This species predominantly lives on land and needs only a small water-part in the aqua-terrarium. But one should keep in mind that these landcrabs breath through gills and the water – preferably slightly brackish water containing about 5-10 grams salt per litre water – in the gill-chamber must be renewed quite often. This is the reason why the water in the water-part of the aqua-terrarium must be always of top quality. These omnivorous crabs do not have high requirements on their food, they feed on a great variety of food, but fruits and vegetables form a large part of their diet.

For our customers: the animals have code 482003 on our stocklist. Please note that we exclusively supply the wholesale trade.

(Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)

The eastern Atlantic from Portugal to Angola, is the origin of the fiddler crab Uca tangeri, where they inhabit sand and mangrove coasts. The to an enormous size grown major claw of the males is remarkable. It is used for attracting the females and to the fight between rivaling males. In their periodically flooded habitat they inhabit muddy burrows, which they leave at ebb-tide for the intake of food. As omnivores they are not discriminating anything and feed on nearly each organic matter the sea is offering them. With the domestic care, frosted and granulated food can be fed, also different fruits and vegetables. For maintenance it should be tried to imitate their habitat, i.e. a land part with sand and gravel and a water part filled with brackish water should be present in the aquarium. Some hiding places give them retreat possibilities.(Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)

There are more than 60 species, all of them exclusively inhabitants of freshwater, in the genus Aegla, which belongs to the family Aeglidae. All Aegla species are inhabitants of southern South America. To date they have hardly ever been seen in the aquarium hobby. The specimens recently imported by Aquarium Glaser demonstrate, however, that Aegla are thoroughly interesting aquarium occupants. Aegla are relatively small crabs – A. platensis grows little longer than 5 cm. The tail is carried folded beneath the belly, as in the short-tailed crabs. A number of sexual differences are known in Aegla. The males have a longer, broader carapace, the pincers are larger and the left-hand and right-hand pincers are unequally developed. Aegla platensis is sexually mature at an early age. The eggs undergo direct development, and the hatching young immediately look very similar to the parents. There are no free-swimming larval stages. In Aegla platensis in particular egg-carrying females are found year-round, and this species is thus not restricted to breeding at particular times of the year. In the aquarium the first (obviously very short-term) observations indicate that these little creatures live a very secretive life. If they are given fine sand as substrate then they like to bury themselves, disappearing tail-first into the bottom. Aegla crabs don’t appear to have any special food preferences, and both frozen foods (mosquito larvae, Artemia) and dry are taken. The specimens now imported originate from a river called the Arroyo Pozo Hondo, 137 km to the east of Asunción (Paraguay). Like fishes imported from Paraguay, Aegla may also appreciate a slight “winter rest” at 16-18 °C, and in general they should not be kept too warm. If possible the maintenance temperature shouldn’t exceed 24°C even in summer. (Photo: Aquarium Glaser, Text: Izaak den Daas)

June 2006: Is considered already nearly as rule: Every week we get an new crab. Under the trade name “goldenpincer crab” we could firstly import few exemplars of a new, still undescribed crab species from Southeast Asia. Further iInformation will follow. (Photo C.Luckhaup, Text K.Diehl)

July 2006: From the Amazon area we could import an rarely imported Macrobrachium species. Macrobrachium brasiliensis has a large area of origin from French Guyana to Peru in the basins of the Amazon and Orinoco. There they inhabit predominantly small creeks full of leaf litter. They feed mainly on detritus and are an important member in the food chain of these by nutrient poverty characterized waters. Because they are rarly kept in captivity we have no reports on their maintenance in tanks. Their requirements might be similar as for other Macrobrachium species. On the presented picture the larger male can easily be recognized by its striking color pattern.(Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)

An amazing variety of crustaceans can be found in tropical fresh- and brackish water areas. Only few species however are imported regularly. Recently this species was imported which comes from Sri Lanka, as one could guess from its name. O.ceylonensis is a pure freshwater species, with a carapax width of 6 cm and a colour varying from brown to red. Most crustaceans develop from free swimming larvae, a so called zoea phase, towards the adult and sessile phase. The zoea larvae of most brackish- and freshwater crustaceans float after hatching from riverine systems towards the sea where they spend their youth in seawater and migrate back to brackish or freshwater when they reached their sessile form. O.ceylonensis however stays its whole life in freshwater and has a direct development without a zoea phase. This makes this crab of course very suitable for the home aquarium.(Photo: Frank Schäfer, Text: Izaak den Daas)

Over an enormous range, that includes nearly the entire Indo Pacific those first as Macrobrachium “White Fingers” designated Palaemon concinnus can be found. Their bright white “shear-fingers” are very remarkable and give this from Sri Lanka imported species a special attraction. It is about a rather delicate, smaller species, thus one could try to socialise it with small fishes. Because it is a newly imported species we have no information to their behaviour in the aquarium as well as to their breeding. An opportunity to brake new ground is here offered to the Crustaceen Freak and surely interesting discoveries will approach.(Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)

The hermit crab C. brevimanus origins from coasts of the Indopacific, where it is found from the east coast of Africa to Tahiti. Coenobita brevimanus is the most terrestrial of all land hermit crabs. For the maintenance one needs a terrarium with only shallow water, because they do not like to get wet. Since they are very social, they should be held in a small group. A terrarium of 60 x 40 x 40cm for a small group would be ideal. The terrarium is good to secure, since hermit crabs are experienced escapees. Important are further a good ventilation and structuring of the terrarium. Since C. brevimanus climb gladly, also some stones or roots should be brought in. With a high sandy bottom you should give them a chance to dig. As expressed omnivores one can offer them different fruit and vegetables, as well as food with animal content. The species has code 483144 on our stocklist. (Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)

January 2006: The long arm shrimp Macrobrachium idae reached us from Sri Lanka. Remarkable are their extreme long, name-giving “arms”, which can give the full grown animals an enormous broad reach. With that they are able to track small fish successfully, which naturally limits their use in the community tank. Together with larger fish species or in a shrimp aquarium they are however interesting animals. Like all Macrobrachium species they need good water quality, otherwise however they are not demanding. All usual kinds of food are eaten greedy. A shrimp aquarium should not be lit up too brightly, and/or be easily darkened with some swimming plants.The roots of the swimming plants offer protection to the new generation against their sometimes quite predatory parents. Further there should be a lot of hiding places, with bogwood, coconut bowls and rocks beautiful underwater landscapes can be arranged.(Photo F. Schäfer, Text K. Diehl)