new critters

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by hoppnjoe, Jul 4, 2011.

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  1. hoppnjoe

    hoppnjoe Astrea Snail

    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2011
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    i was looking around for critters and i seen a small horseshoe crab on ebay from key west fl. and selling for 9.00 he said that it will grow up to 3 inches and is a sand sifter. my question is are these safe for a reef tank. it is neet looking. thank for any advice on this... and will more then 1 be ok? thanks
     
    hoppnjoe, Jul 4, 2011
    hoppnjoe, Jul 4, 2011
    #1

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  2. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

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    Sorry, but the answer is no. Horseshoe Crabs grow much, much larger than three inches, and fairly quickly I might add. Your best bet for sand sifters would be Nassarius Snails or Gobies.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_crab
     
    Last edited: Jul 4, 2011
    Mr. Bill, Jul 4, 2011
    Mr. Bill, Jul 4, 2011
    #2
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  3. hoppnjoe

    hoppnjoe Astrea Snail

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    thanks, ill leave them alone.
     
    hoppnjoe, Jul 5, 2011
    hoppnjoe, Jul 5, 2011
    #3
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  4. Ron P

    Ron P Astrea Snail

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    Location:
    Florence, Ky
    +1

    I saw one in the LFS here so I ran home and did some research. These things get huge. Something like 2 feet across if I remember right. They are sand sifters but they do their job really well. They can completely clear out the sand in an aquarium pretty quick and usually end up starving to death.

    I never could find out exactly how big of an aquarium they actually needed but I got the impression it was well over 300 gallons.
     
    Ron P, Jul 5, 2011
    Ron P, Jul 5, 2011
    #4
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