Compatibility Question

[Cyclura]

Ok guys i know that lately i have been posting lots of these but bear with me and ill reward y'all with pictures!

Instead of an emerald crab for the 30gal seahorse reef what about 1-2 sally lightfood crabs? I read they are excellent hair algae eaters.

And, while im thinking about it, Saltwaterfish.com - Saltwater Fish, Saltwater Fish Aquariums, Tropical Fish, and Saltwater Fish Tanks sells horseshoe crabs at 1-2 inches in size. And considering that i have a chiller on this tank and it never gets above 75, would adding one be worthy of consideration? I realize that they get much bigger, but doesnt it take years and years? and whose to say that i wont upgrade in the future to a larger tank? I want to be responsible about this so if being in my tank would be less than ideal, count it out.

All of these things must be compatible with the fighting conch which is at the top of my priority list, next are the sally lightfoots and then the horseshoe crab is just a novelty that i would enjoy having.

[wwest]

I would stay away from horse shoe crabs. horse shoe crabs need a very mature sand bed. Normal and some advanced home aquariums don't have the amount of food they need in the sand bed ultimately leading to death with a month or two. I would stay away from them they are better left in the ocean.

[christensonjes]

I agree I would think you need a much larger tank for them to roam around

[Cyclura]

ok, what about the sally lightfoots with seahorses?

[wwest]

For the Sally Light Foot i am going to say i don't know.

The reason I'm saying that is because i haven't had one first hand, however i have read a lot of books that say they are fine when they are young but when they reach sexual maturity (puberty) they turn into a non reef and non fish safe crab. Apparently there has been sightings of this little crab going after fish and tearing corals apart. Now that being said i have seen a lot of places sell them as reef safe, so personally i am staying away from them. You might want to do the same, seahorses are very delicate creatures and i would hate to hear of a sally going after one and killing it. Hopefully someone else will jump in and shed some light on this.

[Bluemax4]

horse shoe crabs can grow up to 1-2 feet. They are ok for small tanks for small amonts of time.

[saxman]

i'd say no to the sallies as SH tankmates. actually, i'd say no to any critter with claws...sallies, emeralds, hermits. you never know when one will decide to latch onto a resting SH. i've seen it happen with scarlet reef hermits and have heard of emeralds and sallies getting agressive.