Blue Lobster Problems

[jabawocky]

Hello, I'm new to tropical fish and my tank is only 4 months old. It's situated in my office at work and everyone is really gettinb into them. I was given my first few fish , silver sharks, a few Guamis, 3 clown Loaches and a spotted cat and I bought some neons . I also bought 3 Blue Lobsters. These are absolutely spellbinding creatures and when they molted it was amazing. Each one definately has his own personality.

On Tuesday this week I bought some more odd looking Guamis, some angels and dalmation mollies. I added the water they came in. I also got rid of the plastic greenery and put in several real plants. One Dalmation Molly was eaten immediately.

Overnight the lobters changed, in the morning they had all keeled over on their sides and are very lethargic. We also had a power cut and the water cooled overnight. I got the temp up and did a 30% water change and added another air pump and stone in an attempt to put right whatever had upset them. They seem to show sparks of life but normally they would be feisty with each other but hardly seem able to walk away now? It's now Thursday night and they seem to be hanging in there just! (Do they normally have what I would descibe as fulff or fur on their claws. This may have always been there but now I'm looking at theem every 2 minutes...?)

It's very confusing because so many factors changed all at once but from what has happened can anyone make any sense of what is happening to them and what can I do to save them. I would be gutted if they died. Do they recover straight way or does it take time if I had poisoned them or it was lake of oxygen?

Thanks in advance
Dan

 

[Shrimper]

The power cut may of been the issue, although i've not heard of a temperature change affecting them this badly. It might be worth using a test kit to find out if there is any ammonia or nitrite in the tank as this can affect them.

I can't say for certain but i think the problem may of been with the plants you added. Some shops keep their plants with snail killer to stop infesting peoples tanks with pest snails, unfortunately snail killer normally affects other invertebrates (like shrimp and crayfish) as it is based on copper. I soak any new plants for an hour of so then run them under the tap before they go into the tank just in case.

Its probably worth doing a another water change to get as much out of the tank as possible and keep your fingers crossed. See if you can get some carbon for the filter too it will help clear anything that may of been in the water. Other than that i'm not sure if there is anything else you can do... hopefully somebody else with have some ideas.

 

[steelhealr]

What size is your tank? Lobsters are territorial and 3 in one tank sounds excessive. What are your parameters? pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? SH

 

[rdd1952]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Lobsters are also a problem for your neons and other smaller fish as they will eventually become dinner. At night when the fish become less active, the lobsters will be able to catch them without much problem. Also, you seem to have a lot of fish. How large is the tank and is it cycled?

 

[jabawocky]

Morning gents, thanks for the input. Before I went home I put another carbon filter on, took out the plants for the moment (I'll give them a thorough rinse) and I've done another 20% change this morning. On the face of it they seem relatively spritely and I even saw one having it's daily barny with the catfish for supremecy inside a hollow log.

I shot out and got a kit and all parameters are fine. The tank is 60 gallons. I know they may well out grow this now but I've got enough in there so they can patrol their own areas without always disturbing each other. They seem to have developed a healthy respect for each other.

I'm afraid I was definitely one of those newbies who rushed in before doing any reading. All the neons are gone and anything a bit slow but the rest seem to quite happily avoid them. They are really facinating to watch though and I really hope they pull through.

I will continue my tankside vigil today.

Thanks again people.

 

[steelhealr]

Just a warning...I owned one of these guys. They are FAST....and...DEADLY when they strike. If you think a lobster can't 'outrun' a fish...you are making a huge mistake. Mine once climbed up on plants and dove down on a fish. They are opportunistic and WILL get your fish at one point or another. They should be in a species tank and if more than one...largely spaced and with a cave to hide in. Another warning..if you are NOT vigilant about keeping your pH above 7, they will begin to lose their shell and get diseased. SH

 

[raptorrex]

Hello, I'm new to tropical fish and my tank is only 4 months old. It's situated in my office at work and everyone is really gettinb into them. I was given my first few fish , silver sharks, a few Guamis, 3 clown Loaches and a spotted cat and I bought some neons . I also bought 3 Blue Lobsters. These are absolutely spellbinding creatures and when they molted it was amazing. Each one definately has his own personality.

On Tuesday this week I bought some more odd looking Guamis, some angels and dalmation mollies. I added the water they came in. I also got rid of the plastic greenery and put in several real plants. One Dalmation Molly was eaten immediately.

Overnight the lobters changed, in the morning they had all keeled over on their sides and are very lethargic. We also had a power cut and the water cooled overnight. I got the temp up and did a 30% water change and added another air pump and stone in an attempt to put right whatever had upset them. They seem to show sparks of life but normally they would be feisty with each other but hardly seem able to walk away now? It's now Thursday night and they seem to be hanging in there just! (Do they normally have what I would descibe as fulff or fur on their claws. This may have always been there but now I'm looking at theem every 2 minutes...?)

It's very confusing because so many factors changed all at once but from what has happened can anyone make any sense of what is happening to them and what can I do to save them. I would be gutted if they died. Do they recover straight way or does it take time if I had poisoned them or it was lake of oxygen?

Thanks in advance
Dan

we need to find out just what kind of Crayfish you have. until we do this, you may continue to get, potentially, the wrong information as to how to proceed. most Crayfish are "cool" water critters, so unless your water gets to be very cold, say below 5c, i would not expect there to be much problems with the lack of heat. there are some that are tropical, of these the only "Blue Lobster" is the Australian Redclaw this critter will die if it is in water of under 10c, and will suffer badly if kept below 21c for any period of time. a picture of the critters would be good, or if you could search the net for pictures that match you stock, if you could post them. when we have made an ID we can carry on to how you should change things to aid them. as a rough rule of thumb, if your Blue Lobster has any other colour, apart from shades of blue and white, it is most likely to be an Australian Redclaw, and as such will have little in common with the North American Cray, which is the Cray steelhealr tends to point to when Blue lobster is mentioned. whatever the outcome of the ID the main thing is to sort them and your tank so all can live well.

 

[jabawocky]

The Ph is about 7.6 and seems ok. The only blue they have is maybe a deep tinge on their claws, otherwise you would decribe them as a flecked dark brown with distintive small patterns of maroon/blood red on their back. I've got some pictures but I can't work out how to download them into this message. They are so odd though, 1 minute they are all walking about the next they keel over . In general they are doing it less which is a good sign. I spoke with the company I bought them from and they concluded that if it didn't affect the fish and only them it must be copper from the fish and plants I have just added. If it was a copper problem does it stop affecting them and can they get over it? On and off everyone in the factory comes in and asks about them ever day.

Thanks
JB

 

[Shrimper]

If they are looking better now they will probably be ok... I managed to mildly poison my Anamo shrimp when i first got them and they recovered and seem fine now.

I find the easiest way to upload pictures is to us www.photobucket.com, when they are uploaded one of the options is IMG code which you click then just paste it into here.

 

[raptorrex]

The Ph is about 7.6 and seems ok. The only blue they have is maybe a deep tinge on their claws, otherwise you would decribe them as a flecked dark brown with distintive small patterns of maroon/blood red on their back. I've got some pictures but I can't work out how to download them into this message. They are so odd though, 1 minute they are all walking about the next they keel over . In general they are doing it less which is a good sign. I spoke with the company I bought them from and they concluded that if it didn't affect the fish and only them it must be copper from the fish and plants I have just added. If it was a copper problem does it stop affecting them and can they get over it? On and off everyone in the factory comes in and asks about them ever day.

Thanks
JB

ok first off, you got Australian Redclaw crayfish . So temp needs to be 76-82f, lots of hiding places, the water needs to be well filtered, but the main thing is getting high O2 into the tank, so putting the outlet of the filter above the water line is a good start, and a couple of air stone will go down well too. as for exactly what is up, it beats me however if you click on the link in my siggy, the people there may well help you where i cant! it is known however, that a change of water and any jump in water temperature, can cause a moult. so it may be that. with three Cray you will need 6 or 8 places to hide. lol not you, the Cray i mean


if its copper, there may well be nothing you can do, it is known as deadly to most, if not all, inverts.