Horseshoe Crabs

[jolson10450]

Whats your opinions on horseshoe crabs. I want to put some in my 40g salt. It has 90 pounds of sand its about 5 inches in the bottom of the tank and 57 pounds of liverock. I was just wondering what they are compatible with as well and if anyone has had expperience with them?

[kmk2307]

jolson10450,

[welcome]

Horseshoe "crabs" are very cool animals. Unfortunately, these close relatives of spiders dig through the substrate to find food and eat any creatures they can find. They quickly depelete the fauna of the sandbed. I imagine the 57lbs of LR you have covers much of the sandbed, also. I'm not sure if they readily accept dead foods like chunks of shrimp, etc. Another thing to consider is a fully grown adult is about 2/3 the length of a 40 gallon aquarium.

I think they will eat any soft bodied organisms they find on or near the substrate. I'm not sure if that includes corals or not.

HTH,
Kevin

[joejoe1055]

i have seen them eat pellets and krill before

[TellyFish]

They are really cool when they are small, but they can get rather large. At that point I think its less cool and kind of freaky, honestly.

[ophiuroid]

IMO, they are not suitable for a reef system. Great if you create a system specifically for them: Low flow, lots of open space, touch cooler temps.

They will eat other things but they are commonly blown about by the current in the tank and this is often where they meet there doom. Simple fact is that in our tanks they just do not last all that long in our tanks. They serve no specific purpose in our systems that can not be accomplished with an animal whose needs can be met. Besides, if given a relatively deep sand bed, you may not even see them all that much.

I would strongly discourage keeping them.

[Msby12]

well, here's my opinion

i have 2 that are an inch long each right now in a 50 gallon, i try to keep the current low so they don't get caught and float around the tank (this has happened alot) don't put too much live rock in, and keep as much sand open as possible. what size crabs were you planning on getting? cuz they can get HUGE

[jolson10450]

well my lfs has tiny ones probably the size of a dime or even smaller for $2 each i thought that was farely cheap compared to other places... i do have 5 inches of sand int he bottom and my live rock covers most but im thinking about switching it so one side is all live rock instead of spread out to give more room for critters and stuff... ill have to keep researching about it and thanks for the help so far