horseshoe crabs

basile · Aug 10, 2014

Anybody have any experience with those guys, i took one in from someone who closed his tank, its about 2 inch. He said he ate detritus, but from what i've red, they eat more than that. They can strip your sand bed of all life and starve.

Any truth to that, i've got a healthy live sand bed , 150 G tank and i don't want it stripped of my fauna that helps in maintaining a stable tank.

Any thoughts on that? Thanks for your time

Reefing Madness · Aug 10, 2014

Only thing I know is they are eating machines, and get really, really big for our tanks.

Ryan2428 · Aug 10, 2014

They will eat everything in the sand . Then dye unless feed are good at moving the sand though

Ryan2428 · Aug 10, 2014

Plus will grow fast like mentioned above

basile · Aug 10, 2014

Thanks guys i just red this article here; Aquarium Invertebrates: Crabs in the Marine Aquarium ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

Your wondering why the imports permits this......makes no sense. i'll bring it back to a LFS i have no intention of keeping this and loose my sand bed fauna. Sorry for the little guy but man's crazy!

xrayjeeper83 · Aug 10, 2014

I stepped on one of them 2 weeks ago at the beach...thought about taking it home lol

jt17 · Aug 11, 2014

I had one for about four months. It disappeared into the sand bed after a couple of days and I didn't see it four months I figured it had died. Then one day it came out and began swimming around upside down banging into the corals. It went back to the lfs. Hopefully yours stays in the sand

Daniel@R2R · Aug 11, 2014

I had one before I knew what I was doing. I came to the same conclusion you did...these should be left in the ocean. They can get to be 1' in diameter or larger! That's impossible to keep given the dimensions of our tanks...and that's before you even consider the havoc they can reap in a sand bed.

Kworker · Aug 30, 2014

I volunteer to pick up trash around here on Long Island every week. I took this picture a few days after this thread and forgot to post this picture to show you how big they get. They can be found rummaging around in the mud around here.

A.A.A · Oct 29, 2014

My question is ,
How do I get him out if my tank .
Horseshoe crab that is ,
I brought him home not knowing what it was capable of and lost my nice clam I paid 120 for .
Now I'm ****** and want to hang him .
Any suggestions ?
I'm also finding a lot of dead empty snail shells .

mrcoffee2 · Oct 29, 2014

I have no experience taking them out of aquariums but I catch them all the time in the gulf.

I would gently rake your sand bed with your hands until you unearth him then grab him gently. They are pretty easy to handle… just flip them upside down and carry

Superrmario · Oct 31, 2014

What ever you do, don't kill him. I'm partial to them. Growing up in NJ at the beach, we would find them all over the place in Sandy Hook. Unfortunately they have all but disappeared.

They are awesome creatures that I don't feel should be kept in anything but an Ocean or the largest of display Aquariums such as state Aquariums.

Come to fund out, the decline is due in part to the medical world using their blood. They milk them for their blood, and many die because of it.

The Blood Harvest - Atlantic Mobile

They are absolutely harmless to humans. Kids pick them up to break off their spike thinking it's a stinger. It actually the tool they use in case they get knocked upside down. They use it to flip back over.

iretthepirate · Nov 5, 2014

Had one hated it always would get flipped on back couldn't right itself constantly had to flip him then he scratched his eyes off on a rock I was relieved when he finally died. They'll eat anything might want to spot feed every once in awhile

G_Sanab922 · Nov 5, 2014

Superrmario said:
What ever you do, don't kill him. I'm partial to them. Growing up in NJ at the beach, we would find them all over the place in Sandy Hook. Unfortunately they have all but disappeared.

They are awesome creatures that I don't feel should be kept in anything but an Ocean or the largest of display Aquariums such as state Aquariums.

Come to fund out, the decline is due in part to the medical world using their blood. They milk them for their blood, and many die because of it.

The Blood Harvest - Atlantic Mobile

They are absolutely harmless to humans. Kids pick them up to break off their spike thinking it's a stinger. It actually the tool they use in case they get knocked upside down. They use it to flip back over.

I completely agree with all of this and feel the same why... Honestly, I have no idea why this beautiful creature is in the aquarium trade... I remember I used to seem them everywhere down here in FL and now I get lucky if I see one.

AquariGod · Nov 6, 2014

Poor things. They don't deserve the type of treatment they get, and when they get pulled out of the ocean they either end up dead, sick, or abused. It's definitely wise to leave them where they belong.