Description
Horseshoe crabs are popular for use as sand sifters. They spend most of their time bulldozing around in the sand just under the surface.They do come out of the sand occasionally and swim around the tank, but they prefer to be buried. They feed on detritus in the sand and on top of the sand, and will eat food that is presented to them, but I doubt they actually see the food. As far as I can tell, they don’t bother any other critters in the tank and nothing much seems to bother them. If you have carpet anemones you may want to
hold off buying these crabs because they will occasionally swim around in the tank and if they land on a carpet anemone, they will probably get eaten. The average size we sell is about 1. to 1.5″ in diameter, and although they can get real big in the wild, I doubt they will grow much more than 3″ in a home aquarium. The long tail on the horseshoe crabs is not poisonous, and the legs and small claws on the underside of the crab will not pinch you, so they are safe to handle.
dmcmickens728 (verified owner) –
These babies help keep my sand bed intact…putem in and they
buried themselves right away, they show themselves when the lights go out…if you add them be careful if you need to turn your sand, they are very light weight when little.
krh9800 (verified owner) –
I ordered one of these and within a week it has completely sifted and cleaned the sand in my tank. It also made an appearance when we had company and pretty much stole the show… 🙂
dpanchit (verified owner) –
Definitely a must have! I got an extra one on my last order and I fell in love with them instantly! I could watch them swim upside down all day. However, (no fault of K&P’s) my large emerald at the time went for them and the rest is that 🙁
Joe Faszl –
Ken sent a nice small one and it played dead when I unbagged it. After I walked away it mysteriously disappeared. A few days later this bulge started moving under the sand and it has helped keep cyano from building up ever since. It likes to come out in the morning but spends a lot of time under the sand. Really interesting “prehistoric” looking beast.
Sharyn Z Wertz –
Nearly laughed myself silly the first time I saw one of these sailing around the tank *upside down*! I enjoyed the first one so much I ordered a second. They don’t surface often, but when they do they’re a real trip to watch. May have to get a third one…
Red Angel –
Told you I”d order more 3 times the fun never know where they will show up, was worried about them and my Snowflakes(eels) but so far no problems Angel ( also put 2 in my wifes tank)
Red Angel –
this guy is so cool…i wish i had ordered several more…probably will soon.
Denise Whatley –
These are my second favorite crabs (the porcelain crabs get first billing because of their color). I have one in each of my two refugiums and plan to move them to a larger tank when they out grow the 10 gallon size. Although hidden much of the day, they often dance energetically at feeding time and have done well in both a coarse sand and shell substrates. The shed from my largest was a big hit with my granddaughter to take to show and tell.
Andrew Piegols –
These are cool too, they spend much of their time under the sand but when they come out they are active! mine even climbs up my plant, jumps off and swims around upside down around my tank, very entertaining creatures.