(braces himself) Horseshoe crab

[Phishnoob]

I researched the horseshoe crab threads and it was a pretty big no on them. I have a 90g and there is not much rock and the pieces are all really big and firmly planted. At the most there will be some soft corals and medium light things in there for a while with just 4 sets of PC's lighting it.

Is there ever a time one of these is any good?

The LFS and the internet sales sites keep saying they are great for stirring things up in the bed.

Also, I read they can get pretty big...is this over years or is it going to be like that goldfish in the children's book that outgrows the tank overnight.

Has anyone ever had a good experience with one of these in other than a reef intensive tank?

Phishnoob

[USA reefer]

They do tend to get quite big and can deplete your sand of any critters! Not that great of a swimmer and bang into things. I won't have another one. JMO Johnny

[Phishnoob]

Bleh I love my sand critters....well time to get more to add to my army of little guys then. I am still trying to figure out what will shift the sand a little bit. These websites say excellent sand sifters about a lot of inverts and they just sit there.

Phishnoob

[Doug1]

Sadly they usually starve to death. If it does survive and grow at some point it will need more room

[ruhspolostar]

Sometimes, especially if you have a DSB, they burrow and hibernate, and then SOMETIMES they die in hibernation....and guess what you cant tell that its dead, so you leave it in and it decomposses in your tank and ruins your chemistry and poisons your water and now other things get sick

that idea jinda turned me off from them

-adam

[Reefdude5]

I had mine, i loved him, but he starved. I didn't buy him on purpose, my mom gave him as a present... We had a little talk after that about NO MORE PRESENTS!!! Except if it's money

[ruhspolostar]

sounds like the time I came home and had 2 new snails
foxface
lt anenome

.....no one in the house could explain it

[Phishnoob]

Guess a few Nassarius snails is it then instead. They are the only critters that seem to stir up the sandbed at all. We put five in Mrs. Phish's tank and they dove under in two minutes. I wish that claims that critters were sand sifters were true. Oh, the goby is doing his job though eating that junk.

Phishnoob

[USA reefer]

Nassaurius Snails are great for a DSB and a couple of Queen conches should help as well!

[sally]

Just like the sand sifting star fish. They will deplete your sand bed of life and then starve to death. I never quite understood why LFS sold them as clean up crews.

[Phishnoob]

How big do the queen conchs get. I have one puny one at about an inch long and read in one place they get three inches and another that they get to a foot long. For 90g I was thinking about 3 or 4 Conches and a dozen Nassurius snails. The Turbo's just climb on the glass all day and don't do the heavy lifting. I already know how to get the algae off there

Oops hope I did not hijack my own thread.

Phishnoob

[illcssd]

ok, not to further hijack, but the horseshoe will starve,but queen conches get huge, and do not clean sand, they clean glass and rocks, if you get about three fighting conch's, then you will be set, they are great. always in the sand. i have never seen mine on rock or glass. jmo austin

[yardboy]

ditto on the fighters, I've had two for the duration and they have grown only a bit. How about cucumbers? Now that's one exciting sea creature, but I do hear they sift sand well. I plan on getting a couple when I get my sand in.

[ruhspolostar]

My Sand-Sifting Starfish are fine, just feed them some meat once a week and they're fine

-There on my A list for DSB cleanup crews

[jesspaul]

How do you feed the Sand-Sifting Starfish? Mines been climbing the walls - literaly - in the new tank.