MOLTING? OR DEAD?

okiereefer2

okiereefer2

Member
One of my first sand sifters was a horseshoe crab. We never saw too much of him but when he did come out he was quite entertaining. Well yesterday we came home and here was what seemed to be our horseshoe crab, floating around in the current, dead. except, it was clear, like you find floating around after a shrimp molts. As I read on another thread"There's no dumb questions, right?" Do horseshoe crabs molt?
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Yes they do. All crustaceans molt.
That said, Horseshoe crabs need a huge tank for long term success.
 
okiereefer2

okiereefer2

Member
Thanks, we have a 120 gal tank. How long till he outgrows that? We have had it for two months now, it was part of the cleaning crew.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
It will need to be fed directly often and a lot in a month or two from now after all macro life in the sandbed has been consumed. After that it's a matter of how fast you can remove nutrients vs how much food the Crab will need to eat. It will take 6 or 7 years (often more) for the crab to mature. At that point it will be around 18" long and a foot wide.
 
okiereefer2

okiereefer2

Member
Thanks again for the feedback. As I've learned, firsthand, and from reading on here, the advice given at your LFS might not always be the best. My LFS, in OKC, makes horseshoe crabs a regular part of the cleanup crew. Should I be thinking about a new home for him? I assume when he runs out of food in the sand he'll come out more frequently in search of something to eat? Does having him in my tank diminish the value of my "live" sand? I'm recently new at this, having kept a 75 gal fish only tank for 10-12 years(back in the day)lol. Undergravel filtration, air stones..it worked pretty well back then, for what I was trying to do. The technology available today amazes me. I said I was going to start slow, and do this right, but my impatience, and an overzealous LFS "advisor", have me definitely rushing things--too much too soon, but, knock on wood, so far,not too bad. Still struggling with nitrates and bought some less than healthy fish that didn't make it, but overall the tanks coming along. Thanks again!!
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
The crab is definately good for stirring sand and removing anything organic from it.
In my humble opinion what's left isn't a live sand bed. It's basically sand and a good supply of aerobic bacteria. That's fine if that's what you want, it will still work well for the first part of the nitrogen cycle. What it will not work well for is nitrate reduction. It's just not going to happen with a sand sifter of that size. It depends a=on what you personally want for your tank.
 
okiereefer2

okiereefer2

Member
Just for the record--the horseshoe crab is maybe the size of a quarter. Just couldn't imagine him doing that kind of job on the sand as you described. We have a dozen or moresand sifting snails as big or bigger.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Even at that size, it can do quite a bit of damage to the sand bed, effective making it just sand, not "live" sand anymore. Horeshoe crabs eat A LOT and can sift through large amounts of sand quickly. They are really cool, and I too have thought about having one here and there just for the "oo and ah" factor that you'll get from people that see it, but IMO, they really aren't suited for life in most of our home tanks.
 
chain

chain

Member
What fish store do you use in OKC if I might ask?? I've haunted them all and haven't been overly impressed with any, although a few probably give halfway decent advice. I live in Weatherford so im close by.
 
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