Horeshoe Crabs - free to a suitable home

[digital-audiophile]

So I got these two horeshoe crabs from Albert as they were going to wither and die in the BB tanks at Golds. I took them home as I have sand and could save them from a bad fate in the short term. The only problem now is they are growing and I don't think my tank is going to be the best long term home for them. I would think they would do best in a 180+Gallon tank with a large open DSB. One is about 2" round and the other about 3".

They are yours for the taking and I will even deliver them (with my own selfish motivation of seeing your large tank in action)

[MikeP]

I might be interested in one Greg. I've been googling horseshoe crabs and there is some info out there but do you know if they are reef same (I assume so) How were they in your tank with snails and other sand sifters?

[michika]

They are such cool crabs! If I had a shallow tub/pond thing going on I would definitely pick them up.

I hope they find a good new home.

[digital-audiophile]

I would say they are totally reef safe as far as eating or picking at corals, I do have some other concerns listed below though. They spend 90% of their time just burried in the sand. They never bothered with any of my other livestock or cleanup crew. When they are out they are pretty cool to watch.

Having a couple months of first hand experience with them my conerns woud be :

1. The tend to kick up a lot of sand when they move around. In a bigger tank this may not be as much of a concern but in my 90 whenever they decided to go "hunting" for food they cause a lot of sand particulate in the water. (part of the reason I want to go BB in my next tank)

2. If you have corals on the sandbed (brains, plates, clams. etc.) they may get up-ended by the crabs as they move around and burrow underneath them. There is also the possibility that they could burrow underrockwork and cause it to fall if it is not right on the bottom of the tank

3. I do feel they need to be fed directly and can't survive just on the critters in the sand especially with any other sand bed scavengers in your tank. They are not too bad to feed though as when I feed frozen mysis every other day or so I just make sure to get a basterfull of mysis underneath them.

4. I've read in the wild they get big, upwards of 20", I don't know enough about them to say if they would ever reach that in an aquarium and if it takes 2 or 10 years.


If you are interested in giving one a shot let me know, worst case scenario you could always boil it up and serve it with a little garlic butter if it does not work out

[MikeP]

Hmm maybe I should pass. My diamond goby died a little while ago and as awesome as he was at keeping the sand clean it's nice to have a clear tank again. I also have a few corals on the sandbed. They sure do sound like a cool crab though.

[digital-audiophile]

No worries I want to make sure they find the right home. They are awesome to watch, allthough the creep the hell of me, like something from a horror movie.

[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!!