horse shoe crabs and madness

BaronVonDango · 12/10/2011, 10:50 PM

Ok, so your tank is cycled and there is algae left over from the blooms.
Yeah you could get a cleanup crew and they work very well.

If you have a large behind the scenes aquarium room (lucky you), here is a much cooler option.

Get a horseshoe crab! They do so much work to sand its remarkable. They get very large, a couple of feet actually, so after a year or 3 you will not want that thing knocking over rocks.

Here's your options. Sell the thing, drop it in the ocean, or use my plan.

When my crab outgrows the tank, I am setting up a pond on a slab in my basement. The pond will be 5ft deep with 2 ft of sand. Its going to be cut in half and sealed with glass so that I can see from the side. This pond will be plumed directly with the display tank pre filter. Im also working on a 100 gallon skimmer plan for this.

My current tank is a 75 with a 55 gallon sump, and when the pond is setup the sump will be drilled and flow to basement.
I have all the stuff to do this, just not ready to go for a huge project yet. That's about the only way I could see owning this guy and treating him right,

Anybody else care to add there 2 scents? I pick pinesol and taxi

MarineSniper · 12/10/2011, 11:01 PM

I just acquired a free, about 3", horshoe crab today. Purchased an entire stock and he had to come as well. I put him in my 75, which has a 3 to 4" sand bed and that boy moved a TON of sand getting himself buried. I can see where he has been moving around and it's good to know all that sand will get turned (that's why my new tank has about 1/4 inch of aragonite special blend)

I would think these dinosaur throwbacks are slow growers. I will definitely need to find him a home when he gets large; he'd be miserable in the 6 foot tank. The guy I got him from had him for a few years...in a 28 nano, of all things, so I imagine I have some time

BaronVonDango · 12/11/2011, 10:12 AM

Diamond gobys do acceptionally well but absolutely cannot compare to the bulldozing power this crab has.

Mine goes down to the glass. I have 6 inches of sand and he mixed all of it in one hour. Between him and my flounder (tremor) I wouldn't pick any other sand shifters. Plus they give more swimming room by burrying themselves. I can't have a goby getting in my dragonets way or they get mad and the puffer has to come regulate.

And gobies don't leeave awesoome shells behind lol. They make great stocking stuffers

SDguy · 12/11/2011, 10:47 AM

How can you tell which species you have (ie 6" vs 2' adult)?

osofast35801 · 12/14/2011, 07:09 PM

I got one Monday and I'm quite impressed with it. The only thing I don't like is the cloudiness in the water. How would it do with a harder base?

12/10/2011, 10:50 PM	#1
BaronVonDango Registered Member. Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Corndiana USA Posts: 201	horse shoe crabs and madness Ok, so your tank is cycled and there is algae left over from the blooms. Yeah you could get a cleanup crew and they work very well. If you have a large behind the scenes aquarium room (lucky you), here is a much cooler option. Get a horseshoe crab! They do so much work to sand its remarkable. They get very large, a couple of feet actually, so after a year or 3 you will not want that thing knocking over rocks. Here's your options. Sell the thing, drop it in the ocean, or use my plan. When my crab outgrows the tank, I am setting up a pond on a slab in my basement. The pond will be 5ft deep with 2 ft of sand. Its going to be cut in half and sealed with glass so that I can see from the side. This pond will be plumed directly with the display tank pre filter. Im also working on a 100 gallon skimmer plan for this. My current tank is a 75 with a 55 gallon sump, and when the pond is setup the sump will be drilled and flow to basement. I have all the stuff to do this, just not ready to go for a huge project yet. That's about the only way I could see owning this guy and treating him right, Anybody else care to add there 2 scents? I pick pinesol and taxi

12/11/2011, 10:47 AM	#4
SDguy Fish heads unite! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Diego Posts: 23,384	How can you tell which species you have (ie 6" vs 2' adult)? __________________ Peter SDMAS member Marine tanks since 1989. ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º> ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><((((º> Current Tank Info: 240g butterfly and angel FOWLR. 15g QT.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Horse shoe crabs?	Aquarist007	Other Invertebrates	5	11/26/2007 08:17 AM
Return of the horse shoe crab!!!	NY_Carp_Sticker	Other Invertebrates	8	06/01/2007 11:13 PM
Horse Shoe Crabs	RAYSTOCKETT	Marine Aquarists Roundtable of Sacramento (MARS)	4	12/23/2006 01:45 AM
Horse Shoe Crab in a reef tank	lynxdevlopment	Reef Fishes	4	03/19/2006 10:25 PM

12/10/2011, 11:01 PM	#2
MarineSniper Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 554	I just acquired a free, about 3", horshoe crab today. Purchased an entire stock and he had to come as well. I put him in my 75, which has a 3 to 4" sand bed and that boy moved a TON of sand getting himself buried. I can see where he has been moving around and it's good to know all that sand will get turned (that's why my new tank has about 1/4 inch of aragonite special blend) I would think these dinosaur throwbacks are slow growers. I will definitely need to find him a home when he gets large; he'd be miserable in the 6 foot tank. The guy I got him from had him for a few years...in a 28 nano, of all things, so I imagine I have some time

12/11/2011, 10:12 AM	#3
BaronVonDango Registered Member. Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Corndiana USA Posts: 201	Diamond gobys do acceptionally well but absolutely cannot compare to the bulldozing power this crab has. Mine goes down to the glass. I have 6 inches of sand and he mixed all of it in one hour. Between him and my flounder (tremor) I wouldn't pick any other sand shifters. Plus they give more swimming room by burrying themselves. I can't have a goby getting in my dragonets way or they get mad and the puffer has to come regulate. And gobies don't leeave awesoome shells behind lol. They make great stocking stuffers

12/14/2011, 07:09 PM	#5
osofast35801 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 9	I got one Monday and I'm quite impressed with it. The only thing I don't like is the cloudiness in the water. How would it do with a harder base?