Horse shoe crab
- Thread starter fishchick
- Start date
leopard_babe
Active Member
I am not sure, but I have heard on this site that many people dont' like them. they also get very big.
waterboy_007
Member
i believe they get around 3 feet in diameter, maybe more. i dont know if they get so big in captivity tho. i dont think they live very long either. i think they only live a few years in captivity. someone correct me if im wrong.
E
essop3
Guest
A guy on here bought a 10 gallon for his first tank and the lfs sold him one!! Nothing that can get that big needs to be in any thing but the ocean and Bang's fuge.
leopard_babe
Active Member
i almost bought one for my 46 because they were small. After doing research I found that they get big. They also make a mess of the tank if I recall. Do a search on this site. i think I started a post once about horseshoe craps.
marlins #1
Member
My friend has 2 of them, they are just a little bigger than ONE INCH, they are easy to maintain, you do absolutely nothing, and you bearly see them, thats if you have sand.
He has had them for 2 months and no Growth, 55 Gal tank, and with crushed coral, lr, etc..
No I have had my HORSESHOE CRAB for a month, I caught it in the OCEAN, was scared of it at first, but managed to pull it out of the water, it was in like 1 feet deep shallow waters over some rocks.
I have him in my experimental tank which is outside, I first had him with sand, and he'll stay there with out moving, sometimes for over 48hours, But sometimes you'll get to laugh at him trying to swim and going to the top and doing circles, very often....
now he's with no sand and no crushed coral, just LR, hundreds of snails, and a bunch of Hermit crabs.
Everything in that tank is doing great. I made him a place to hide in there..
OHH MY HORSE SHOE CRAB IS BIGGGGG
Half the size of the one in the picture...
He hasn't changed his shell like thingy yet or grown anything.
thats all..
He has had them for 2 months and no Growth, 55 Gal tank, and with crushed coral, lr, etc..
No I have had my HORSESHOE CRAB for a month, I caught it in the OCEAN, was scared of it at first, but managed to pull it out of the water, it was in like 1 feet deep shallow waters over some rocks.
I have him in my experimental tank which is outside, I first had him with sand, and he'll stay there with out moving, sometimes for over 48hours, But sometimes you'll get to laugh at him trying to swim and going to the top and doing circles, very often....
now he's with no sand and no crushed coral, just LR, hundreds of snails, and a bunch of Hermit crabs.
Everything in that tank is doing great. I made him a place to hide in there..
OHH MY HORSE SHOE CRAB IS BIGGGGG
Half the size of the one in the picture...
He hasn't changed his shell like thingy yet or grown anything.
thats all..
sweetdawn
Active Member
i bought one from swf.com. the discription didnt say they were difficult it also didnt say they got big:nope: i rarely see him when i do it is so funny he swims upside down. my local lfs said when it got big to bring it in and trade it for something else they have people who would want him. he doesnt mess with anything in the tank. and he is cool looking. but knowing about the growth issue now I wouldnt buy another one.
leopard_babe
Active Member
The ones at my LFS are about 2 inches all the way across. I believe that they can get to be at LEAST 6 inches across in captivity, maybe even bigger. I will do a search and find out for sure. I am curious now.
leopard_babe
Active Member
The Horseshoe Crab may grow to 20 inches. Carnivore. The Limulus polyphemus is generally peaceful toward other tankmates. Reef-safe. Many consider the Limulus polyphemus a low-maintenance specimen. Not venomous. Sifts through sand. Brown-yellow color. Keep water quality high (SG 1.023 - 1.025, pH 8.1 - 8.4, Temp. 72 - 78° F).
20 inches across is HUGE.
20 inches across is HUGE.
gbpack
Member
I have him in my experimental tank which is outside, I first had him with sand, and he'll stay there with out moving, sometimes for over 48hours, But sometimes you'll get to laugh at him trying to swim and going to the top and doing circles, very often....
now he's with no sand and no crushed coral, just LR, hundreds of snails, and a bunch of Hermit crabs.
Everything in that tank is doing great. I made him a place to hide in there..
Horseshoe crabs have to have sand or CC to burrow under. They feed on material in sand or CC. They are nocturnal and prefer to be under the sand. The will grow to full size in captivity if they have enough food to grow and live long enough. I have had about 12 over the past six years 2 died, 6 I released into the ocean and 4 are under the sand somewhere. I see them on occassion.
now he's with no sand and no crushed coral, just LR, hundreds of snails, and a bunch of Hermit crabs.
Everything in that tank is doing great. I made him a place to hide in there..
Horseshoe crabs have to have sand or CC to burrow under. They feed on material in sand or CC. They are nocturnal and prefer to be under the sand. The will grow to full size in captivity if they have enough food to grow and live long enough. I have had about 12 over the past six years 2 died, 6 I released into the ocean and 4 are under the sand somewhere. I see them on occassion.
redsnapper
Member
Brownleaf,
Can I use that picture?
Can I use that picture?
marlins #1
Member
Yesterday I caught another horseshoe crab the same size as the one I have but I let it go.
I also saw one 2 feet long, it was huge, it even had green algae spots on his hard shell, I picked it up by the front and let it down, I just wanted to see if it was alive, and yes it was.
It was nice to see one that big, way bigger then the one I saw in the picture online, I was going to get a picture of it, but it was too long of a walk back to my car and back.
My horseshoe crab is fine, he eats enough, and to substitute CC or Live Sand, I made him a cave, he seems to like to hide in the cave.
I also saw one 2 feet long, it was huge, it even had green algae spots on his hard shell, I picked it up by the front and let it down, I just wanted to see if it was alive, and yes it was.
It was nice to see one that big, way bigger then the one I saw in the picture online, I was going to get a picture of it, but it was too long of a walk back to my car and back.
My horseshoe crab is fine, he eats enough, and to substitute CC or Live Sand, I made him a cave, he seems to like to hide in the cave.
leopard_babe
Active Member
Oh really , I didn't know they ate the good stuff. Hmm.. that would make me not want one too.
marlins #1
Member
I DO NOT TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
AND I KNOW THAT IS GOOD ADVICE
But I think that they eat something other then
it will decimate the micro fauna of your ssand bed....then it will starve to death.
They do not survibe just of sand, I always see them in the grassy areas of the ocean were theres clay and algae plants everywhere....
Well back to the facts,
I have had my Horse Shoe Crab for 2 months now, and there is no sand at all in the tank, he is still alive, if he hasn't starved to death in the last month, what makes you think that would be the cause of death if he does die.
He must eat the pellets or flakes, or dead fish I throw in there, or survibe eating the hundreds of snails in there, because thats all there is.
sorry.
AND I KNOW THAT IS GOOD ADVICE
But I think that they eat something other then
it will decimate the micro fauna of your ssand bed....then it will starve to death.
They do not survibe just of sand, I always see them in the grassy areas of the ocean were theres clay and algae plants everywhere....
Well back to the facts,
I have had my Horse Shoe Crab for 2 months now, and there is no sand at all in the tank, he is still alive, if he hasn't starved to death in the last month, what makes you think that would be the cause of death if he does die.
He must eat the pellets or flakes, or dead fish I throw in there, or survibe eating the hundreds of snails in there, because thats all there is.
sorry.