Thai Micro Crabs

Thai Micro Spider Crabs or Limnopilos naiyanetri are small freshwater crustaceans that originate from Thailand where they live amongst hyacinth plants in only one river. Their carapace is about the size of a pencil eraser giving them their trade name “Micro.” They are filter feeders which means they collect small particles of food on the little hairs that line their legs by sticking them out into the water current. We feed our crabs powdered food like GlasGarten Bacter AE.

You will receive five (5) Thai Micro Crabs, also known as Limnopilos naiyanetri. The crabs you will receive will be adults, having a size of around a quarter of an inch (.25 inches). 

The key to keeping these crabs is having the proper tank setup and ideal water parameters. Micro Crabs can live in both Neocaridina and Caridina parameters. Providing the matching substrate and remineralizer is important to keeping their environments stable. If choosing Neocaridina parameters they should be kept on an inert substrate with Shrimple GH/KH+. If choosing Caridina parameters they should be kept on a buffering substrate with Shrimple GH+.

Thai Micro Spider Crabs should be kept in a small aquarium where they can be easily viewed. They can cohabitate with snails and dwarf freshwater shrimp. Plants, such as Anubias or Java Fern, are preferred as the crabs like to hang out on the long roots. Mosses are also great additions to their tank. Sponge Filters or Matten Filters are the best type of filtration because the crabs graze on the porous sponge. These tiny crabs can be great additions to an existing shrimp tank or they can be the tiny stars of their own desktop or nano aquarium.

Tank Parameters

• PH: 6.6 to 6.9 or 7.0-7.6
• GH: 5 to 7 or 8-12
• KH:  0 to 2 or 3-4
• TDS: 120 to 150 or 180-200
• Temp: 67 to 74

Tank Equipment

• Filter: Matten Filter
• Substrate: Brightwell Rio Escuro or Cafe Soil, or Pool Filtered Sand, Eco-Complete, Flourite
• Water: RO/DI Water remineralized with Shrimple GH/KH+ or Shrimple GH+.
• Decor: Malaysian Driftwood, Java Moss and Indian Almond Leaves