you know, I'm not sure if I buy the whole beach set up as their preferred terrain... I know a lot of crabs are found on beaches, but mangrove swamps in asia are known for having lots of red claws, and if you look at a lot of them, there's very little actual beach. the crabs I've kept for the last few months like sitting in the flowing waterfall, and definately like caves and hiding spots both above and below water, but haven't really taken much to the substrate at all... and seem to love to pick at terrestrial moss and bits of algae in the running water. they like hanging and climbing... warming under the light as close as they can get... hunting in the plants and trimming the tall grasses. they're a lot like spiders in their out of water mannerisms, except that they recognize me and take food from my tweezers. so that's where I'm heading with this set up. there will be lots of climbable terrain, tons of hiding spots... also, being a 15 gallon tank, I'd loose most of my water volume if I made a beach. I am not interested in a species tank, and don't care if they breed or not, rather want to have something closer to a biotope, with a few fish as well. if it goes as planned, the tank will have close to 10 gallons of water, with 6" of airspace and enough land mass for 2 crabs to chill out comfortably.
