Horseshoe Crabs...
- Thread starter muckworm
- Start date
jacksonpt
Active Member
Not sure... I think it would be bad as he would expose much of the DSB to O2 as he digs around. I thought the lack of O2 is a DSB was what made it effective.
Anyways, I'll throw out some other info for ya. They are very unintelligent animals. I had one when I setup my first tank way back when. Dumb, dumb I tell ya! I would get stuck somewhere (i.e. in the corner of my tank) and not realize that he could turn and keep going. He'd be stuck there for hours. Got stuck between LR too. And they aren't very good at righting themselves if/when they flip over. That's how mine died... flipped over and couldn't right himself.
Anyways, I'll throw out some other info for ya. They are very unintelligent animals. I had one when I setup my first tank way back when. Dumb, dumb I tell ya! I would get stuck somewhere (i.e. in the corner of my tank) and not realize that he could turn and keep going. He'd be stuck there for hours. Got stuck between LR too. And they aren't very good at righting themselves if/when they flip over. That's how mine died... flipped over and couldn't right himself.
muckworm
Member
you know, I never thought about that O2 thing... I was looking for some sort of sand sifter when I went to the LFS and I didn't want to get a starfish or anything like that that eat everything from the DSB, so the guy recommended one of these, I only got one really small one. Not sure if I wanna keep him... you aren't lying about him being unintelligent! He was doing laps yesterday and kept flipping himself over trying to get past rocks... luckily for him he flipped himself over each time.... 
bluemarlin
Member
I thought that disturbing the sand bed was a bad thing?
steamboat1569
Member
The horseshoe crab I had was a voracious eater. I noticed that fauna population decreasing rapidly, and the crab getting bigger. I finally had to give it to a freind, and luckily the life came back to the substrate before it was wiped out.
steamboat1569
Member
It was the pod population that was almost wiped out. Copapods and amiphropods (spelling?). I have crushed coral, and you can see them running around. While the crab was in there, I noticed that I was seeing fewer and fewer.
bang guy
Moderator
Horseshoe crabs aer very very efficient sand bed hunters. They will clean out most sand beds in less than a months and then starve. You will know when they run out of critters in the sand when they start climbing the rocks and knocking them over.
FYI - The adult size of these animals is 20 - 24"
FYI - The adult size of these animals is 20 - 24"
trompet3
Member
Two things:
1. I just had to say that horseshoe crabs freak me out. They have to be the ugliest creatures ever, with the exception of my 5th grade math teacher. Just my opinion, nothing to do with the topic.
2. Was it just me or did everyone else turn their head upside down when looking at the pic above? Great pic by the way.
1. I just had to say that horseshoe crabs freak me out. They have to be the ugliest creatures ever, with the exception of my 5th grade math teacher. Just my opinion, nothing to do with the topic.
2. Was it just me or did everyone else turn their head upside down when looking at the pic above? Great pic by the way.
E
elan
Guest
i just finished reading a panflet by mark weiss. his believes there should be absolutely no sand siting for a DSB.
sammystingray
Active Member
Back to the original question......NO, horse shoe crabs are NOT good for a DSB. They will destroy the functioning of a DSB in several way........too much oxygen from costant and large digging, and too much sandbed life lost. Dr Ron shimek, who is debatably an expert on DSB will tell you he has found thousands and thousands of lifeforms in a DSB.....not just copepods are needed to run a DSB properly. If you are going to bother to run one (a DSB), then run it right, and don't add creatures that eat sandbed life or introduce large amounts of oxygen to the anaerobic areas. There are few creatures I can think of that will ruin a DSB like a horseshoe crab....plenty eat sandbed life, and plenty of creatures such as wrasses will introduce too much O2 by burrowing, but horseshoes do both.
sammystingray
Active Member
Muckworm, BTW most of my research and experience suggests that the MAIN purpose of their tail is to filp themselves over, and any that lose a tail lose this ability. Perhaps it may act as a "rudder" also, but it definately serves to right an upside down horseshoe crab, and they can pretty much always right themselves because of the tail.