Horseshoe Crab

[robertfah]

I just bought a small horseshoe crab for my tank the other day and it seems to be doing ok in my tank. I've got a 155g with about 150lbs of LS and another 50+lbs of LR with 1 Torch Anemone and 1 Rose BTA. He shouldn't bother my BTA and Torch right?

Also, I have a dwarf lobster but he shouldn't be any harm to him right?

He's basically sunken himself in the sand and I see his trails on where he's been every morning, but he doens't surface much.

 

[roka64]

A 155G isn't big enough for them, IMO. They grow to about 2 feet and looks like they need lots of room to swim. I saw them at a public aquarium and they are awesome, but looking at their size, most aquariums, nuder 300G are not really suitable, JMHO.

 

[Lance M.]

I've also heard that they need huge tanks to survive long term just like roka64 said.

They aren't suitable for the average hobbyist and usually starve to death in small tanks.

I was walking along the beach once and saw this HUGE horseshoe crab washed up dead. It was at least 2 feet long. And they actually are not crabs, they are closer to spiders and other arachnids.

 

[melosu58]

I also agree with the acessment of the horseshoe crab as He will quickly outgrow your tank as well as knock things over and reak havoc in your tank. What type Lobster do you have? I have this one

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=555

I`ve never seen him out enough to photograph him.

 

[Devilishturtles]

I agree with the others. Don't expect him to last too long in your tank. They go through your sandbed and eat all they can out of it, then when there is no more they will starve. I'd also look into securing your rockwork so you don't come home to a flooded room. They will dig and have the potential to knock it over and crack your glass.

IMO, LFS's shouldn't even sell these guys.

 

[roka64]

LFS's shouldn't even sell these guys.

I totally agree. They are REALLY cool though.

 

[robertfah]

WOW.....seems like I missed this one by a mile huh? LOL The guys at the LFS said they would eat all the crap in the sand, but didn't tell me he would get so big though, otherwise I never would have bought him. He's only about 1& 1/2 inches long (his shell) so he's pretty small now, but if he grows at a significant rate, I'll be in trouble.

I bought him mainly because I'm having a coraline algae problem on the top of my sand bed. I've got 15 or so misc. red legged crabs and scarlet crabs too, but they're not keeping up with the progress of the algae. It's a purple color and definately not Cyano or bubble hair (I've had that and know what it looks like).

 

[lando]

Horseshoe crabs are a poor choice for any home aquarium...sorry. They will quickly consume the fauna in your sand bed and end up starving. They also have a tendency to topple rockwork and damage tanks and corals. I would bring it back to the LFS before the lobster gets it.

bought him mainly because I'm having a coraline algae problem on the top of my sand bed. I've got 15 or so misc. red legged crabs and scarlet crabs too, but they're not keeping up with the progress of the algae. It's a purple color and definately not Cyano or bubble hair (I've had that and know what it looks like).

Interesting...I have never heard of coralline growing on the sand bed before. I guess it is entirely possible. Are you sure it is not cyno? What happens to it when it is disturbed?

 

[scoot15638]

i bought a baby horseshoe crab, and put him in a 20 gallon for a year, he was fine, until i gave him away because i took the tank down, im sure he will be fine, remember every animal dies eventually.

 

[Devilishturtles]

But why should animals that normally live for decades die within a year or so just because we provide the wrong habitat for them?

 

[Lance M.]

The average lifespan of horseshoe crabs is 20 years and have been know to live up to 15 years in aquariums (real big, state aquariums).

I agree with Devilishturtles. There is so reason to buy an animal just for it to look cool in your tank for maybe several months and then it passes away from starving to death. I guess if that makes you happy then go for it.

 

[DragonForce]

Robert, I think if he is that small you can go ahead and keep him until he starts causing problems/outgrows the dank/is large enough to catch easily. Good luck!

 

[robertfah]

Interesting...I have never heard of coralline growing on the sand bed before. I guess it is entirely possible. Are you sure it is not cyno? What happens to it when it is disturbed?

Nothing really, it just gets mixed up in the rest of the sand. As I've said before, I've had Cyano and I know it's not that plus my crabs are eating it, slowly, but they can't comsume it at the rate it's growing mainly because I don't have enough crabs for the tank. I didn't want to overload my tank with crabs and then once my tank is clean, have them all die off from starvation.

 

[Lance M.]

You can feed crabs with the dried seaweed if there isn't enough algae but it seems like there is so throw some crabs in there. I remember a post from a moderator here saying that inverts don't really add that much to the bioload,I guess compared to fish or just in general. I don't think it will be a problem to add more crabs. I have like 7 scarlet hermit and 3 bluelegs in my 20g. And the scarlets are pretty big.

155gallon tank that would mean a lot of crabs or snails.

Do you have any Nassarius snails (is that spelled right?)? They do a good job at moving around the sand. You could get like 15-20 jumbos, that would do the job.

 

[roka64]

I agree with Lance, add about 30-40 nassis and about the same of cerith snails, possibly a fighting conch or two.

 

[robertfah]

I had a bunch of N. snails (I can't spell it either LOL) and they got eaten by my other "large" snails. I don't know what these "Large" snails are, but I posted a pic in the ID area about a year ago and no one could tell me what they are. They are about 2 & 1/2 inches long and once I put those N. snails in my tank, they hunted them out and ate them. So I moved them to my refugium (there is only 3 of them) and haven't thought about getting other snails since.

It's weird, I hear so many different stories about what type of snails to get. One LFS doesn't even sell N. snails b/c he said they don't really do the tank any good. <--???? I don't buy anything from this guy...but another store says I should try zebra snails or margarita snails???

I don't know.....it's tough. I bought an algae attack pack from Drs. F&S and my tank did well, but then they all started to die off from not eating enough. I would try to feed them but my yellow tangs would gobble up the seaweed before they could get it. And my blue legged crabs eat my other crabs when they are hungry.....UGH! So my tank is finally stable as far as inhibitants.....3 yellow tangs, 2 Osc. clowns, 1 dwarf lobster, 1 red serpant starfish, 20+ misc crabs, 1 horseshoe crab (LOL), 1 torch anemone and 1 rose BTA. It's been this way for almost 6 months (minus the anemone, bta, and horseshoe crab) and it seems to be stable, minus the coraline growth. I was concerned about it at first, but after viewing some photos of other tanks online, it seems the purple stuff is ok, so I left it alone. I've got another 30+ pounds of LR at my LFS that's curing as we speak, so it should be ready to go in about a week or so.

 

[Lance M.]

That is a conch, not a snail. When they are big they can kill other organisms. Big ones in the ocean can spear fish! and people! lol j/k

Sweet someone agrees with me!!

Nassarius snails (I just googled it for spelling) do wonders for the sandbed. They basically spend all their time in the sand and you can usually just see their little tubes sticking out of the sand, but when you put food in the tank, they surface (I remember someone here comparing it to a submarine surfacing, that's exactly what it looks like) and race around the sand to get food. They usually won't go on rocks but sometimes will and they will go on the glass when food is out.

 

[roka64]

I agree, Lance, that looks like a conch with a hermit thinking about checking it out. My nassis rarely come up out fo my sand bed. I like ceriths as well. I am not a big fan of hermits and keep those to a minimum.

 

[Lance M.]

I don't see a hermit crab? :/

 

[roka64]

The dark shell looks like a hermit, to me. I think I can see his little eyes and antennas on the left.