Water Spider?!?!

Misled_Youth

Misled_Youth

AC Members
Dec 12, 2011
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Deerfield, IL
Okay okay, so i've always admired spiders, and i've been looking for something cool to add to my add to one of my tanks. I was thinking, could i put a Argyroneta aquatica, water spider, in one of my fish tanks. i have bigger fish in my 45 gallon, and smaller tetra-size fish in my 30 and i was wanted to put the spider in the bigger tank so he doesnt eat my smaller fish, although the decor in the 30 gallon would be PERFECT for the spider. Any suggestions? Anything on diet too would be wonderful because i could just get crickets from petsmart. I'd like to pick up any information i can before actually getting this hahahahah.

THANK YOU ALL!!!! :D
 
I had to go and look them up ... *shivers*

Not for me, but I can see why you'd be fascinated. I just don't know if it would be possible to not have the spiders/fish kill each another. And you will need to be careful if you ever have to handle the thing. From Wikipedia: "The prey of these spiders includes various aquatic insects and crustaceans. Their fangs are robust enough to pierce human skin and the bite is said to be quite painful, causing localised inflammation and feverish symptoms. The spiders themselves fall prey to frogs and fish."
 
*quiver* Where can you even buy those? I bet they make an intriguing inhabitant, but judging by what i was reading when i googled them, i don't think they are compatible with fish. I'm sure they would injure small fish and be injured by larger fish. Maybe a species specific habitat for those.

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As a general rule spiders don't play well with others and are best kept as individual specimens.
 
Um. Are you feeling ok? :barf:

Just looking at spiders makes me sick.
 
They eat fish. Cool idea. I am thinking that they might be hard to keep healthy and in the tank..

1: They rely on fish as food. You will need to supply adequate food source.
2: Fish will learn where he lives and avoid it in a closed environment. Feeding might turn tedious.


Would be very cool.
 
Hey that's really cool! Didn't know what it was and so did a little research. so A) can you even find these as pets? Seems like something that might arrive accidentally attached to live plants or something. and B) do you know how big they get? from what I can tell it doesn't seem that they get all that big like say a tarantula. With that being said if you can get your hands on one I would think the best setup would probably be their own little 5 g tank or something with plenty of plants live or artificial. If they are anything like tarantulas (which I really don't know if they are, I'm just guessing here) then they don't need a lot of space and it's probably not a bad idea to keep them separate from fish so if the spider gets big fish are not eaten and if spider stays small the spider is not eaten. Also whatever setup you choose I would definitely find something with a really good tight fitting lid. I love my spidey baby but I am really not to keen on the idea of her loose through my house especially with my dogs. Spiders available as pets (and this is amusing again this type of spider is sold as a pet) are not venomously potent enough to really do harm to humans and a bite is similar to a bad bee sting except of course on the off chance that you are allergic. However not the same can be said of dog, cats, and other furry critters you might have as their bodies are different then ours and venom may have a different effect. Hope this can be of help

and found a neat little video of them. I think its fascinating that they wear their air kinda like a silvery armor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqyhhSzv4Hs
 
Cool or not, I can barely deal with spiders on land let alone on water. I've been bit a few times before, and it is not pleasant. I think you are playing with a loaded gun. Yuck.
 
That would be very interesting and I'd like to know if you do go through with. Shrimp may be a good idea as a food source. Ghosts are cheap, and a few ornamental fish that are cheap but pretty (guppies for example) might make a good choice. That way the fish won't eat him (or her) and if he eats them your not out much. Lower water level with some kind of ledging around three sides would allow him to move about above and therefore harder for prey to avoid.
 
That's a cool video, Lynners. I can see the fascination for keeping one of these. Still squeamish about it, but starting to understand. I suppose the first people who kept tarantulas as pets were considered a little, um, out there.

Or what about the first people to keep shrimp? Those had to be considered weird at first, and now we're all "I'm doing a shrimp tank!" and no one bats an eye.
 
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