[briansmyth]

I think that horseshoe crabs are the most interesting thing to have in an aquarium. Talk about standing the test of time; horsehoe crabs are 350 to 500 million years old and are back from before the time of humans, dinosaurs and insects. They date back to the dawn of visible life on earth.

Horseshoe crabs can be very entertaining and they do a good job of mixing up the sand bed. Yes, they will move some sand bed items around, but who doesn't like the occasional renovation?

It's true that you don't see them all the time - I am fortunate with my home based business and the reef tank just feet away from my desk - I often see my horseshoe crab out during the day ... sometimes even upside down paddling around the tank looking like a row boat with many oars.

My most embarrassing moment in reefkeeping? Yes, it involves a horseshoe crab. Saw my first crab at least every other day for months, then it disappeared for a few weeks after I'd rearranged some of the 220 pounds of liverock in my tank. I found it motionless on the sand bed one day and quickly popped it into a ziploc and placed it in the freezer - went out and bought another one right away. A few weeks later I was dismayed to see two horseshoe crabs in my tank ... heck, I didn't even notice that the new one was pregnant! But went back to my freezer to check and pulled out the first crab ... fooled by an exoskeleton!!