mole crabs, sand fleas etc..

[Ricky92]

does anyone have these in theire aquirium, if you do ost some pics and give me any info you have on em. i see all the time at the beach here and thought theye would be great to stir up the substrate, plus they seem real intresting

 

[greenbean36191]

They require the surf action to be able to feed. They don't survive in a reef tank.

 

[Ricky92]

why is that , cant a stronger current in the tank help that out?

 

[Guygettnby]

to answere your question, no. they will not survive in a reef tank. i have tried several times and i know alot of other people who have tried.

 

[Ricky92]

oh.. oh well thnx then but an reason why they dont is it because they eat protein from the foam when the waves break? just wondering

 

[chrisstie]

I actually read somewhere that part of it is due to feeding but part of it is also based on where they were harvested on and the typical temperature that particular mole crab was used to. Some of them go way north on the east coast and are used to cooler temps. Not sure if that true or not but I found it an interesting idea.

You would probably completely spoil a tank to have enough nutrients for them to feed off of though. When I watch them at the beach you can't really see the sand because everything is so disturbed.

 

[billsreef]

They are so adapted to the constant motion required (digging to keep up with the wave and tide action) that they simply can't adapt to the low energy and lack of tidal action in our aquaria. It's a case of being highly specialized for a certain environment to the point of not being able to survive out of it. Now if you set up a wave tank with a beach zone and tidal changes, you could probably keep them.