Horseshoe crabs????

[ron burgandy]

Anybody have one in a reef?? They have a few at my lfs and they seem to stay pretty busy. Thoughts??

[goalieman392]

i had two of them.. they buried in the sand and i never saw them.. i thought they died, but when i was moving some rock around i saw one of them.. but never since.. and the other one i found his corpse near the back between a rock and the glass.. def not a molt either. if you want something that sifts sand then id go for it, as the ones i bought were like 10 bucks each.

[Samala]

Not a good choice for a reef tank. These animals feed off of benthic organisms in your substrate, like worms, that you will want for your DSB (if you have one). If you dont have a DSB I would not advocate keeping them even more. They require sand for burrowing, which the juveniles and adults do when frightened or when adjusting to a new environment. Juveniles also do it for predator protection.

Limulus polyphemus have been around a long time but the animals are restricted generally to the coastal estuaries, bays and nearshore environments along the East coast here in the US. You will find them more often over soft mud and sand or seagrass meadows than near reefs.

Additionally, they may not appreciate the long term temperatures of a reef. We tend to keep reefs at what would be the 'crab's' thermal max tolerance.

>Sarah

[tgcreef]

i like them i work at an lfs and i use them alot in the tanks that get problems with diatoms on the sand because they do a good job at stiring it up and keepin it lookin nice and clean but if u have no algae problem then there is no real use for them

[kryppy]

You don't want one of these bulldozers in your tank!
In the end, you will be flipping it over to feed it so it doesn't starve to death.
Trust me, I kept one for two years. Never again!!

[greenbean36191]

Not to mention that they would outgrow all but the largest tanks if you could keep them alive long enough. They get over a foot long.

[SCR]

I think I still have 3 left, after 1 year? I only see them once in a blue moon.

[Samala]

They can live an incredibly long time without food. Well, not really live, more like survive. And yes, as Green mentioned, depending upon location collection or spawning site, they can get up to a foot across, not including the telson (the tail). Males are smaller than females, and the Florida version of the species around the Keys is smaller than the northern members of the species.

All in all, I just dont see why you would want them in a reef tank. You can get snails to do some sand stirring for you, and those have at least half a shot at living well.

>Sarah

[kryppy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8619643#post8619643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by goalieman392
i had two of them.. they buried in the sand and i never saw them.. i thought they died, but when i was moving some rock around i saw one of them.. but never since.. and the other one i found his corpse near the back between a rock and the glass.. def not a molt either. if you want something that sifts sand then id go for it, as the ones i bought were like 10 bucks each.

The molt does looks incredibly like a dead horseshoe crab.
When you find one, expect a larger one to mysteriously appear. :)

[Radiography14]

Its all 50/50 when you keep these horseshoe crabs. Dont get me wrong they are nice to sift the substrate but when the die you will never know. And that in turn my friend with cause ammonia in your tank and unwater matter floating around. That is why its nice to skim while others dont like to.