HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm sure many of you living around California know what this plant is, as it's basically a weed around beaches in Northern California.

I was thinking of growing some live plants in my crabitat and thought this plant might be a good candidate. I have a sand substrate which is exactly what this plant thrives in. It also likes soil that is barren, with almost no nutrients. So I brought a shoot of it from the beach and stuck the end into the sand. Lo and behold, today while I was cleaning the tank, I wanted to reposition it a bit, and I actually couldn't because it already grew a healthy root system. It seems to be doing great, this after only a week.

I couldn't really find any info out there about it being used in crabitats. So far it seems like a good choice for the conditions in the tat, although my biggest concern is if it's safe or toxic for crabs. They haven't nibbled at it at all, which is weird since other leaves and stuff I've put in there get shredded overnight.

Edible for humans and just about everything else, so definitely safe.

Ohhh.... Pretty. I want some! Lol.


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Me too! Do you know the name?

Ryry wrote:Me too! Do you know the name?

Yup, I believe it's called Carpobrotus edulis.

Ok so who wants to send me some!?!? I live in CT! I really love it tho!

Never heard of them.. learned something new

What kind of light do you use on your tank? I'm wondering if mine will give enough light for a CA plant.

Ryry wrote:What kind of light do you use on your tank? I'm wondering if mine will give enough light for a CA plant.

I believe I have a fluorescent light. It came with the tank so I'm not exactly sure. They're very hardy, and I'm sure that whatever light you have for your crabs, it will do fine with that.

They sell them as early spring annuals outside their native range.

I'm totally going to look into getting some of this...I might try some in the crab tank, but I've been trying to find good, safe plants that I could put in my hedgehog's bio-active enclosure that I'm going to attempt. I've been looking for plants that can deal with lots of salt since I'm hoping to get to fully bio-active where I don't have to change the substrate, but I think salts will build up due to her urine. This sounds like it would be perfect! Thanks for sharing!