Horseshoe Crab-how quickly will he grow?

[Endless Ocean in My House]

I have a 29 gal SW tank with a tomato clownfish and a horseshoe crab. He's about the size of a quarter right now, how big do you think he'll grow and how fast?
Just wondering how you guys expect him to grow, thanks!

 

[ccCapt]

Chances are it will die of starvation long before it does much growing. They are a poor choice for a small home aquarium.

 

[animalzrok2]

my school has horseshoe crabs. how do you plan on feeding them? we feed ours shrimp on a stick to make sure they get food.

 

[mr_X]

Chances are it will die of starvation long before it does much growing. They are a poor choice for a small home aquarium.

A poor choice for a large aquarium also IMO!

 

[Endless Ocean in My House]

Well, he was in a much smaller display tank at my local dealer. If he starts getting big enough that I think he's uncomfortable I'll contact the aquarium and see what we can work out.

No, he's a good eater. I have a flake food that he will pick at once it hits the bottom, and I give him brine shrimp. He'll actually swim to meet it at the top-but they mostly feed off of whatever's in the gravel.

 

[bskerrichard27]

I had onefor about eight months till a power head I had yet replaced sucked him in

 

[EVMIII]

Make sure everything is secured, these guys are clumsy bulldozers. Everyone I know that ever had one brought them back due to the destructive issues.

 

[Patrick93]

Poor choice

 

[tarpon]

Ive seen these things in the wild and they can get very big. id say soccer ball size

 

[mr_X]

"Females are larger than males; C. rotundicauda is the size of a human hand, while L. polyphemus can be up to 60 centimetres (24 in) long (including tail). The juveniles grow about 33% larger with every molt until reaching adult size"

The speed in which it will grow would depend on your water parameters and the amount of food you feed it.


Horseshoe crab - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Endless Ocean in My House]

How do I keep this little guy fed then?
I give flake food to him and the clown daily, and I will usually break off a little bit of shrimp or krill for him. I see the clown grabbing at shrimp, krill, little bits of food but it's hard for me to tell when the arthropod is eating!

 

[mr_X]

I ordered 2 dozen porcelain crabs one time and the vendor sent me 24 horseshoe crabs instead. my system was a few years old then, and pretty stable. I never saw them eat a thing and they all died off.

 

[Serenity09]

I bought a pair of feeding tongs and use those to feed mine. I soak the frozen food in tank water and just use the tongs to "hand" him the shrimp, clams, worms and squid pieces. It works really well so I can make sure he eats.

 

[Serenity09]

I also buy live microworms and put some in the sand every few weeks.

 

[Endless Ocean in My House]

Good to know-thanks!

 

[animalzrok2]

heres how we feed ours; we bought a wooden stick and attached a needle at the end. then we flip our crabs over, spear a decent sized piece of shrimp on the end of the needle and slowly lower it down to the mouth of the horseshoe crab. it will grab it then you just remove your "spear" and flip the crab back over very gently. this takes a few minutes and is worth it. both our horseshoe crabs our very happy and healthy good luck!