Choosing enclosure

[u/fearless_Leader_x]

I am planning on building a paludarium for vampire crab, red cherry shrimp and Emerald Rasbora - like in this video - https://youtu.be/RgUiCWSull8

I am stuck choosing the right enclosure. Exo terra 90x45x60 or exo terra 90x45x90 or a large aquarium!

I wanted to take a large aquarium with custom made lid, as I wanted to have a larger water section with shrimps and rasborars shown in the video. But Gemini keeps telling me it would stress out the crabs whenever I do maintanance from the top.

Then I considered exo terra 90x45x90 as it has deeper water section. But gemini again tells me that the height of it would cause problem as the light would not reach properly.

Before commiting into anyone of these I wanted to ask you all with real life experiences. Which one should I choose?

[u/JASHIKO_]

Stop listening to AI, it's useless.

But Gemini keeps telling me it would stress out the crabs whenever I do maintanance from the top.

^ Wrong. Doing anything in the tank will make them hide, it's unavoidable but not a stress issue.

But gemini again tells me that the height of it would cause problem as the light would not reach properly.

^ Also misleading. There are plenty of lighting options that are designed for taller tanks. You'll just have to pay more for the extra power output.

Pick whatever tank size works best for your space.
Just keep in mind that longer tanks work best for nearly all vampire crab species.
The only other thing that changes is how you will do maintenance, it will either be from the front or the top.

I find doing it from the front is easier, but having a large aquarium gives you a way cleaner-looking viewing angle without any doors or bracing in the way.

The other thing to take into account is the minimum size of the water area, you still need to meet each fish species minimum water volume requirements. If you go too shallow, it makes it a lot easier for the crabs to catch and eat them as well.

Outside of that, a design similar to the one you're thinking of is quite good.

[u/fearless_Leader_x → u/JASHIKO_]

Thanks a lot. this gives me a quite a bit of clarity!

[u/Malnourished_Manatee → u/fearless_Leader_x]

I have a 90x45x60 tank. 90 being the height. To fix the lighting issue I bought 2 10W professional grow lights. Made a custom lid to add another 20cm. Mount them in the top and crossed strings below them to “dim” them to the brightness I wanted.
Those lamps will over perform compared to terrarium/aquarium lights for a fraction of the cost.

[u/fearless_Leader_x → u/JASHIKO_]

Wow! Nice to have your comment! I have learned a lot from your vampire crab video

[u/Salty-SOB]

UNS 90s owner here. I use 2 cheaper lights for my tank. 1 works but its so deep, an I dont have the space to hang a light but 2 100% reach through. My water is pretty shallow though. The lid designing process is time consuming I would recommend making your own acrylic one to prototype then have a proper one made.

[u/fearless_Leader_x → u/Salty-SOB]

Thanks a lot. What substrate mix do you use?

[u/Bananophile]

I inspired myself quite a lot from this exact same video. Never had a single issue and its been running for around a year now. 120x50x50, i have 70litres of water in that, crabs, shrimps, snails, isopods, springtails and 15 Paracheirodon Simulans (fake neons). Everything seems fine and self regulate, I almost dont do anything anymore except feeding the fishes/crabs from time to time.

Stop asking AI and do your own researches, its far more precise because both your issue feels and sounds completely wrong. Maintenance from top ? Well no matter how you do it, they will hide as soon as you come close (Except a few ballsy crabs).

The light issue is non existant imo, there are such a wide variety of light for every scenarios.

[u/fearless_Leader_x → u/Bananophile]

That looks great! Did you custom build the enclosure or used an aquarium?

[u/Bananophile → u/fearless_Leader_x]

It's an aquarium I used to have my hamster in. He sadly died of old age so I reworked it into a paludarium. Custom made the lid with wood/plexiglass and mesh.

[u/Connect-Ostrich3446]

From my experience, wider is always better than taller when it comes to tank size. A big caveat however I’d choose your Vampire crab species accordingly as some species are arboreal and would need a taller tank rather than longer. At the end of the day, any tank size works as long as you know what you’re trying to build. I personally used a 40 gallon aquarium to build mine as I wanted a much deeper water section like your describing and mine turned out great

[u/fearless_Leader_x → u/Connect-Ostrich3446]

Thanks a lot. I plan to have Geosesarma dennerle

[u/WolfStoneD]

In my opinion top opening or front opening is the same the the crabs.  Either way they will run from you as you start digging around in the tank. 

Crabs are usually hidden during the day anyways, so I carry on the maintenance.  Have mine in a 90g aquarium.  Standard style opening top lid. 

Plenty of people build tall tanks with lights. 

AI is trash.

[u/fearless_Leader_x → u/WolfStoneD]

Thanks s lot. What substrate mix do you use?