Tank size for Horse Shoe Crab

[Mako72]

Hello, what would be the smallest sized tank someone could successfully keep a horse shoe crab? (I have no intention of putting one in my 8 gall. bio-cube). Curious though for a bigger tank..

 

[philter4]

I would say 1000 gal minimum, horse shoe crabs are not only dependent on the live sand to survive but a small male is 18 to 20 inches long and females are even bigger, an 8 gal tank is not appropriate for them at all. Even though they come into the trade at very small (one inch or less) size they feed off the live sand and a small tank can't support the amount of food they need to survive and grow. You can add food to supplement their diet, but then you run into the fact that if you care for the crab you will get very fast growth, then you are in the same position, they are out growing your tank and you'll either pollute your water or need to move it to a much bigger tank. In reality they are not really suitable for aquariums.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

According to Shimek, minumum of 100 gallons. Unfortunatly most end up starving to death after depleting the sand bed of food.

 

[Airwolf75]

100 gallons, no way I think the good Dr. forgot a few zeros. I see them in the wild and they are 2 ft diameter shells, with entire ecosystems on their backs and strong enough to pull you through the water if you hang on.

I'd say olympic sized swimming pool with a deep sand bed.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yeah, that info was taken from his Marine Invertebrates book. 100g may be fine when they are 2-3", but adult size, um...not so much.

 

[greenbean36191]

Besides the fact that they get about 2 feet long and have voracious appetites, they can only eat while they're walking because they chew their food with the base of their legs. That means they need much more room than another invert of comparable size. They really aren't practical for even large home aquaria.