Horseshoe crab in a reef???

[rottbo]

yay or nay?? I have been eyeing them for awhile and am thinking of getting a tiny one to put in ym daughters 76 gallon reef.. to answer a question before it is asked it can go into one of my bigger tanks when it gets bigger.. my biggest concern is if he will eat any of my clean up crew what are your experiences with them if any????

Thanks

 

[stevelkaneval]

my buddy had a horse shoe crab. it didnt eat any c u c but it did keep getting stuck or fliped over. needless to say it only lasted a month. he got sick of reaching in and fliping it or getting it unstuck.

 

[lancer99]

They aren't true crabs, and won't touch your CuC...but are probably not a good idea. Check out: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/horseshoecrabfaqs.htm

I had one many years ago, and shortly after getting it, it crawled into my sand bed....never to be seen again.

,
-R

 

[greenbean36191]

They really have no business being collected for the hobby. Unless you eventually plan to upgrade to a tank in the 1,000s of gallons range you won't be able to accommodate one as it grows. Although it takes over a decade, even if fed properly, these guys get to well over a foot. Besides just being big they need lots of open sand to forage for the worms and mollusks they eat. It takes a lot of room to keep a sustainable population of their food, plus these guys actually have to keep walking in order to eat their food once they find it. They're also from cool to temperate temperatures, not constant temps like those found in a reef tank.

The typical life of one of these guys in a reef tank is something like this: You add one that's a few inches long. It swims around the tank, knocking things over for a little while and then buries in the sand. At that point you rarely see them again.

 

[Lance M.]

They are related to spiders.

From what I've heard they will dig through your substrate eating pretty much everything and when everything has been eatin they starve to death. That's why they need huge tanks like greenbean points out. And they get big.

I saw one that had washed up on the beach. It was huge and not to mention very scary looking when you turn it over. Like a face hugger from Aliens. A little off topic but AvP-R comes out Christmas Day!!