 
Inside the tank
Crabs like a large space for scuttling around which means the smallest a tank should be is 2ft by 1.5ft. The bigger the tank is the better, crabs can scuttle 2 miles or more in a night!
Inside a tank there should be a range of heights and textures available for you crab. Below is a photo of a log which I brought which has a lot of space and hiding places underneath, can easily be climbed and is idea for crabs.
1. Rock, used for climbing and to add texture to the tank to skuttle on. Rocks have to be carefully placed though as crabs are very strong and can quite effortlessly wedge themselves behind the rocks and knock them over. This could damage the tank or even kill your crab.
2. Cork wood, this wood is light which elimates the risk of crushing the crab, it is hollow and provides a nice dark area for the crab to hide under.
3. Water pool, water is essential for rainbow crabs as they need the water in order to keep their lungs wet which is the only reason why this species is able to be a land crab, without access to water your crab will die. Most importantly people seemed to be confused by this. Rainbow crabs are land crabs and therefore are not able to survive in a fish tank fulled to the brim with water. I have had many emails from upset people wondering why their crab had died in this situation, simply it couldn't breathe natural air from the atmosphere and therefore it sufficated to death.
Finding the right sided bowl for your crab may be difficult. I have tried expensive reptile bowls and most effective way simply an ice cream tub. The nicest bowl I could find was simply a very large glass mixing bowl. Now I have to state clearly if you do this option do not take the bowl out of the tank, it is very heavy even without water and will crack with or without water. The mixing bowl should be about 9/10 cms in length and about 7 cms deep for a nice spacious bowl, it should have large rocks inside to make it easy for the crab to climb in and out of. The same principle applies, if the crab cannot get out of the bowl it may drown. But dont let this deter you crabs are natural climbers afterall. To clean the bowl you can simply use a tub to empty the water and a clean soap free (new) sponge to absorb the remaining water.
4. Cuttle fish, this should be kept in the tank and as it will not go off its best to be kept in there at all times and replaced every so often. It will provide the crab with much needed calcuim.
5/6. Sand and bark, I like having the mixture in the tank and so does the crab! Textures are important in the tank and it means that the crab can happily dig around. Both are cheap and should be replaced every month.
7. Heat sensor, must be kept inside the tank at all times and kept at crab level to insure the temperature is right for the crab. A thermometer should be at this level also. The heat sensor is connected to the heat mat which keeps the tank warm.
8. Textures, such as a plasic castle, rocks or logs, I have the castle in the tank as it has different layers on it and is easy to climb on, it also has a hollow center which my crab used to clamber into and shed when he was younger!
9. Rocks - Rocks can either be used in an underwater tank or a vivuruim. It is often wise to spend a lot of time carefully placing the rocks before your crab is introduced into the tank/vivurim as crabs are very strong and can quite easily wedge themselves behind rocks or burrow under them which can loosen the rocks and cause them onto your crab. As I have said before it is a good idea to have a variety of different textures available to your crab!
As you can see from the photo below this was the orginal tank setup before finding the perfect bowl for a rainbow crab.
It is always a good idea to move things around in the tank every 6 months or so, crabs live years old and do get very destructive and bored (thats when they try the escaping act!) so its always wise to change things around, add some rocks or bark, add something new for the crab to hide in or under such a flower pot, add different textures such as bark and sand!
Cooling down the tank
As summer comes often the tank gets too hot, the lid should be taken off and messing placed over it. A fan should be placed by within safe distance and ice cubes placed around the tank to keep him cool!
Crabs are cold blooded which means if their tank is a very high temperature so will the crab be, this can kill them if temperatures rises too high. The best thing to do is to get some meshing and a wooden frame (like you get on rabbit hutches) so that it is heavy enough to put over the tank without the crab escaping but lets air flow more freely then with a normal heavy duty lid.
Winter
Keep the lid down at night times, maybe even get a wheatie bag (bag you can put in the microwave and put it next to the tank to keep parts of the tank warm.
If you are going away
Crabs will be fine if you leave them for 2 days as long as if its in hot weather the main lid is taken off and replaced with a meshing lid and a big ice cream tub (filled with rocks inside and outside of the tub to make entry and exit easy and to prevent drowing) is available... Often the water evapourates at a high rate so a deep tub should be available to them.
It is also wise to have another ice cream tub in the middle of the floor and to close all windows and doors so if your crab does escape it is confined to one room and has easy access to water.
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Design and content D.Warren
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