My Moms favorite critter.

[michael_cb_125]

This is my moms favorite thing, in all of my tanks. She says it reminds her of going to the aquarium whenshe was little. "Its like a petting tank horse shoe crab, only TINY"

[blue_eyes53813]

lol very nice

[boozeman]

cool

[michael_cb_125]

He actually is cute. Bout 2 inches long. He crawls around and stirrs my sand. He does a great job in my tank. I like when he swims around, he aint too agile.

[rod]

[BoomerD]

I always hate to see people buy horseshoe crabs for their reef tanks. They are really not suited for our tanks. They prefer cooler water than we usually keep, and generally starve fairly quickly.
Here's some FAQ's from WetWebMedia on them:
HorseshoeCrabFAQs
AND:
"Limulus polyphemus, a/the Horseshoe Crab. This species is principally a sand-sifting filter feeder, though there are other horseshoe crabs that are more predatory. Up to a foot in diameter. Most die from a lack of nutrition in captivity, due to insufficient size, depth, culture of live sand organisms."

[michael_cb_125]

I feed him regularly, and he cleans up what my fish dont eat. I hope he does ok, I have had him for about three months now, and he still looks good. I was told that they are easy to keep and do well in reef tanks. I wish I had known that they dont like warm water, i feel bad now.

[mps9506]

Like Boomer stated they are far from an ideal ref tank inhabitant. Much better species tank inhabitant. Keep in mind these guys are found on the east coast with huge concentrations in the mid atlantic and espcially the Deleware region.
They were a joy to keep in touch tanks at the public aquarium. But as big and clumsy as they get there is no chance I would stick one in a tropical reef tank. You could always start another tank for him

[BoomerD]

Well Mike, it appears SOMEONE didn't like what I posted...they left me negative karma (unsigned of course) and called me arrogant for it... I guess telling people what they don't want to hear is arrogance...

[mps9506]

Ha
Glad you have thick skin Boomer

[BoomerD]

LOL! Thanks Mike...IMO, this is one of the things Travis should fix...NO unsigned negative karma, but I don't want to hi-jack this thread further, so...back on topic:

Horseshoe crab Limulus polyphemus - Sandy Hook, Animals and Plants - Brookdale College Ocean Institute - Dave Grant - Sandy Hook, NJ 07732

Horseshoe Crab, Limulus polyphemus at MarineBio.org

[sasquatch]

Well I personally am gratefull for the info BoomerD, was looking at them but now will look away.
Micheal I can see why your Mom likes it, they are pretty neat to watch.Steve

[mps9506]

There is lots of interesting info out there on these guys. I was friends with a few folks in college that used these for medical research. I was never really interested in what they were doing however, so not sure what kind of stuff they were doing

[michael_cb_125]

Thanks for all the links Boomer. They really helped.
Know that I know a little more about these little guys, I guess I am going to try to set up a species tank. I dont want him to die or become sick, My mom would be very upset.
Oh, I promise that I did not leave any negative karma. I appreciate information, and advise.

[BoomerD]

No problem dude...