Invertebrate aquarium

[Amitas]

Alright so I am setting up a 29 gallon aquarium that will have on side mostly invertebrates with maybe a fish or two.

I am going to have one side with love rock and the other an open sand bed.

So far I think I am going to get a horseshoe crab, and a short spine urchin. Any other ideas on cool stuff I could get?

[moog24]

Strawberry crab

[Amitas]

Yeah those guys are pretty cool may check into them, thought about an arrow crab too but haven't decided yet

[moog24]

Originally Posted by moog24

Strawberry crab

Emerald crabs are cool too but u never see them or very little of them.

[Amitas]

Yeah, I would like to get something rare too, but not sure what that would be lol

[moog24]

Rare equals hard to care for.... Generally

[Amitas]

I willing to work with the needs of the animals I put in my tank, if anything I enjoy having to put extra work into my tanks

[bribo12]

Don't put a horseshoe crab in there. It will die/get way to big if it lives. They need huge tanks with huge sandbeds full of life.

[tangs27]

Skip the horseshoe crab they get like 2 feet long and a foot wide. And unfortunately most end up starving

[moog24]

Hey can you guys tell me if this looks healthy? I'm trying to get it big but the **** shrimp keep stealing the food I give it.

[Amitas]

Horseshoe crabs only grow at a rate of 40% a year so it would take 5 years for it to out grow my aquarium, and They won't grow near as large in captivity. The ones at work are about an inch long now so he will be about that big when I get him.

[Amitas]

Moog, doesn't look too bad, but I would try to target feed it some mysis

[moog24]

I'm giving it freeze dries krill and them stupid shrimp just rip it out of the mouth but I'll try that

[Amitas]

Oh okay, what kind of shrimp are they?

[moog24]

Peppermint and cleaner. It's more the cleaner than the other one

[ezy33]

Unfortunately Horseshoe Crabs can grow to 12 inches making a poor choice. It is a mindless swimmer causing it to bump into everything and getting stuck. It's too bad as they are a interesting invert. Skunk Cleaner Shrimp and/or Fire Shrimp make interesting additions. The Skunk will clean the dead skin off your hands. A Tube Anemone might work as they are non-photosynthetic and do not require intense lighting. A Blenny and a Cardinal fish will work too. Check this site Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums for more Info! Good luck!

[bribo12]

Originally Posted by Amitas

Horseshoe crabs only grow at a rate of 40% a year so it would take 5 years for it to out grow my aquarium, and They won't grow near as large in captivity. The ones at work are about an inch long now so he will be about that big when I get him.

It will starve in a 29 before it gets to big. Please do not buy one. It would be quite irresponsible.

[tangs27]

Yes they do grow slow, I have one who is about 3 inches. I've had him 2 years and he was an inch when I purchased him. I have him in a 125 and he wiped out all the critters in my sand in about a week. I have to spot feed him daily. But I want him to get as large as possible and since I don't want to regime him he will be moved to a large round pond when he outgrows the tank. He also likes to climb on my rocks lol so I had to secure them with a putty.

[Amitas]

It may come down to which one you like more, and possibly taking your cleaner shrimp to the LFS. Although I would try feeding him a few more times before making that decision

[Amitas]

I will probably move him to larger tanks as he grows. And target feeding won't be a problem. What are you feeding him?