Thai micro crab is one of the rarest fully aquatic freshwater crab. They have tiny hairy silver color bodies that can be perfect for tankmates or peaceful invertebrates like shrimps.
Thai micro crabs require very little care with perfection and they do not have many requirements. Here you go with all the required information for Thai micro crabs.
Quick overview of Thai micro crab
· Name
The Thai micro crab is also known as the false spider crab, pill-box crab, laos micro spider crab, micro crab, or freshwater spider crab the scientific name being limnopilos naiyanetri.
· Natural habitat and distribution
First, they were discovered in the roots of water hyacinths in the Chin River, Thailand. Due to their limited presence and being fully aquatic crabs, Thai micro crabs were not found outside of the river Chin in Thailand.
· Temperament
Thai micro crab is a very peaceful crab that can live with tankmates in harmony as their small size does not allow them to fight. With that being said they can be easy targets of aggressive fish and other crabs.
| · Size | The carapace can reach up to 1 cm with a leg span being 2.5 cm (1 inch) |
| · Color | Thai micro crab is semi-translucent, with silver, gray to light brown. |
| · Lifespan | 1 – 1.5 in captivity |
| · Diet | Omnivorous |
| · Sleeping | Nocturnal |
| · Breeding | Very hard |
| · Care Level | very easy |
| · Optimal temperature | 72° – 82° F (22° – 28° C) |
Some interesting facts about Thai micro crab
- From legs to carapace, the entire body of the Thai micro crab is covered with bristles which help them catch floating food particles.
- Their appearance resembles more like a spider in the water than a crab; that’s why they are often referred to as false spider crab.
- This crab was introduced and discovered and introduced in recent years (1991 to 2007, the phase of introduction and specification) which is a relatively new crab compared to other crab species.
- Differentiating between female and male, Thai microcrabs can be very difficult because of their tiny appearance. Some aquarists observed that the males have narrow and pointy bodies and females have relatively rounded bodies.
Thai micro crab care
Thai micro crab is not considered a beginner-friendly crab, due to their extremely small body some shops recommend them only for experienced aquarists. But I think this is a misconception, the care is very easy with proper knowledge making it a beginner-friendly crab.
Tank setup for Thai micro crab
Setting up the enclosure in a proper way means trying their best to mimic their natural habitat.
Tank size
The tiny bodies of Thai micro crabs do not need much space like other crabs. They can perform very well with 5-6 in a group, a minimum of 5 gallons of tank will be needed for this little group. Set up the size with the number of crabs accordingly.
They shouldn’t be kept in too big a tank as they will be very hard to spot.
Substrate
Don’t go too complicated with the substrate, you can even use a bare-bottom tank (tank with no substrate) as substrate plays no role for Thai micro crabs because most of the time they will hide in crevices of plants and stones. The bare bottom tank will also help you spot in the clean tank.
However, I’m not saying substrate will be bad. You can use gravel (the grains should be small) as substrate.
- Take an aquarium filter bag and fill it with substrate.
- Place the bag into the bottom of the tank.
- Cover the substrate with bigger stones or you can use black crushed lava gravel [black because it will be easy to find the white crab and considered suitable for freshwater aquariums]
Decoration and hiding places
The Thai micro crab will need a lot of hiding places, meaning really a lot. Sometimes you may find the tank empty as they love to hide.
Place some aquarium stones (the darker ones are suggested) and maybe one clay pot or other things with your creativity like a moss cave and a driftwood.
Plants are very crucial for Thai micro crabs, especially aquarium plants like the water hyacinths, wendt’s water trumpet, alternanthera sp, and anubias barteri. And then fill the tank with water.
Temperature and water parameters for Thai micro crab
Ensure your micro crabs have a temperature between 72° – 82° F (22° – 28° C). An aquarium heater is preferred to warm the temperature of water in aquariums.
The pH and KH should be kept between 6.5 – 7.3 and 6 – 15.
Thai micro crabs do not have much flexibility with water changes, so ensure the water condition is right.
Thai micro crab feeding
Thai micro crabs are nocturnal animals meaning they can eat anything. They will eat small plant particles and microorganisms. You can feed them a small amount of commercial food fish flakes or pellets. Don’t degrade the water quality by giving a lot of food. Nothing complicated with feeding, they can eat the same food as their tankmates.
Though being an omnivore sometimes they may act opportunistic carnivorous.
Choosing tankmates for Thai micro crab
Choose small peaceful fish like their size or smaller than them as bigger species will see them as food. You can take dwarf shrimp as an example. The best tankmates will be their own species. Here is a list of a few tank mates:-
- Tetras
- Bee shrimp
- Guppies
- neocaridina shrimp
- Small barbs
- Micro-Rasboras
- Bamboo shrimp
- Kuhli loaches
- Vampire shrimp
- Cherry shrimp
- Bloodfin tetra
- Pygmy Corydoras
- Small snails
Breeding of Thai micro crabs
Breeding Thai micro is way more difficult than other crabs. No successful breeding is reported meaning you have to be pessimist about their breeding and wait until someone discovers the right condition and process. Discovering their breeding will make them more available and stop the black market from catching them from the wild meaning the Thai micro crab you have was transported from the river Chin, Thailand to the US. This is a sad part though.
Related article – Rainbow vampire crab
