thoughts on horseshoe crabs

[stumpyfish]

When I lived in Maryland, about 2 blocks away from the beach, I used to love watching the horseshoe crabs zipping along. There was a series of sandbars and it seemed like the whole area was THE place to be if you were a horseshoe crab. I see a growing number of people starting to bring the horseshoe crab into their tanks and am just curious what kind of addition they make to an aquarium. ie. how cool are they, do they knock rocks over, how fast do they grow, what do you do with them when they get huge? Does anyone have any personal experience? what do you do when the crab outgrows the tank? Some of the ones we used to see were HUGE, like 18 inches I cant imagine that in my sandbed.

 

[1journeyman]

They get too large, do not navigate well in reef tanks, knock things over, eat all of the critters in your sand bed and often starve, and need cooler water than we typically keep reef tanks at.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by 1journeyman
http:///forum/post/2463363
They get too large, do not navigate well in reef tanks, knock things over, eat all of the critters in your sand bed and often starve, and need cooler water than we typically keep reef tanks at.
Exactly. They are often sold but do not fair well at all in home tanks.

 

[ophiura]

Leave them in the ocean. Most will not do well in our tanks for the reasons stated, but also because the flow is too much. If you had a large, shallow water pond/lagoon system set up for horseshoes, they do fine in captivity...just not in any other systems long term.

 

[meathead]

I've had two before (not at the same time) and they only lasted about 9 months each. In the 9 months I had them, they didn't grow much at all. They seemed to love formula one food, but you had to time feeding when they were top-side moving around. Very entertaining specimen but I don't think we do it any favors introducing one into a system that can't support it.

 

[al mc]

I live in the area of the country that is inhabitaded by horseshoe crabs. They are best left
in the ocean. Even though some of the LFSs in the area will get in just about anything, they stay away from these type of crabs for all the reasons stated above...size and water temperaure needs.