Blue Lobster With Mbuna

[lgarvey]

Hi,

I recently upgraded from a 125 litre tank to a 290 litre tank with 18 small 1.5 inch max mbuna. I'm going to keep the fish stocking levels as they are so they have plenty of room to grow out. And because, they just seem to do so much better when they have room to "stretch out."

I'm thinking of putting a blue lobster in there, but I have had conflicting advice. The shop I originally bought the fish from had a blue lobster in the same tank. I have seen a video on youtube of a blue lobster killing and eating fish. This put me off, a bit. But speaking to another LFS today, they said the major concern is the mbuna 'eating the eyes' of, and generally harrasing the cray fish.

I suspect that it would be fine and the fish would be fine, but I want to get peoples advice first. Should I put a juvenile blue lobster in with a group of equally juvenile mbuna?

L

PS. When I go into a fish shop and ask for Mbuna (um-bo-na) they frequently have no clue what I'm talking about. I have to say "Lake Malawi" for them to get it. This troubles me because from my resesarch there appear to be different types of fish in Lake Malwai that tend not to do too well together unless in an adequately sized (ultra large) tank. Looking on the 'net the pronunciation is 'um-boo-na' but one LFS worker rephrased it as 'ma-boo-naa', so I am not sure whether I am generally pronouncing it wrong?

 

[raptorrex]

Hi,

I recently upgraded from a 125 litre tank to a 290 litre tank with 18 small 1.5 inch max mbuna. I'm going to keep the fish stocking levels as they are so they have plenty of room to grow out. And because, they just seem to do so much better when they have room to "stretch out."

I'm thinking of putting a blue lobster in there, but I have had conflicting advice. The shop I originally bought the fish from had a blue lobster in the same tank. I have seen a video on youtube of a blue lobster killing and eating fish. This put me off, a bit. But speaking to another LFS today, they said the major concern is the mbuna 'eating the eyes' of, and generally harrasing the cray fish.

I suspect that it would be fine and the fish would be fine, but I want to get peoples advice first. Should I put a juvenile blue lobster in with a group of equally juvenile mbuna?

L

PS. When I go into a fish shop and ask for Mbuna (um-bo-na) they frequently have no clue what I'm talking about. I have to say "Lake Malawi" for them to get it. This troubles me because from my resesarch there appear to be different types of fish in Lake Malwai that tend not to do too well together unless in an adequately sized (ultra large) tank. Looking on the 'net the pronunciation is 'um-boo-na' but one LFS worker rephrased it as 'ma-boo-naa', so I am not sure whether I am generally pronouncing it wrong?

in short NO! there may well be a way of keeping Crayfish and fish together. but putting them together as juveniles will not work. even more so in a cichlid tank. but when the tank and fish are mature, given he right Crayfish, it can and does work. i am sure there is a member on here who keeps a P clarkii (electric blue crayfish) in a cichlid tank. pluse there are several on here who keep Quads, Australian Redclaw crayfish, in communitys.

 

[kj23502]

I'd say no. First when the cray molts it gets pecked apart by the cichlids

2nd It can and will corner and try to eat your fish(I have first hand experience) The only way to keep it from eating your fish is breaking its pinchers off...not recommended. Plus, the cray is still vulnerable when it molts.

Oh, and Losters are saltwater However, the term "lobster" gets thrown around alot.

 

[dthoffsett]

Just thought I'd add that while a cray would probably work with top-dwellers, bottom-dwellers would be prey. Mbuna are primarily bottom dwellers, and aggressive at that, as kj pointed out they would happily hunt down the cray when moulting.

 

[kj23502]

moulting.

Darn, I was debating for a second when I was typing that last post that I spelled that word wrong...oh well.

 

[raptorrex]

I'd say no. First when the cray molts it gets pecked apart by the cichlids

2nd It can and will corner and try to eat your fish(I have first hand experience) The only way to keep it from eating your fish is breaking its pinchers off...not recommended. Plus, the cray is still vulnerable when it molts.

Oh, and Losters are saltwater However, the term "lobster" gets thrown around alot.

yet i had no such problems, just shows you how different the experience of two people doing the same thing can be!
This practice is not an option, recommended or not. why not chop the fins and tails off the fish so they cant swim after the Crayfish?
this is not, strictly speaking, true. Both Lobster and Crayfish are are quite happy, well some are, in brackish water, there are even some Lobsters that live, predominantly, in the fresh side of an estuary. But the only true difference between the two, is that Lobsters have a platonic larval stage, Crayfish do not! remembering also that "Electric blue Lobster" and "Blue Lobster" are internationally known "common names" for Fresh water Crayfish

 

[lgarvey]

Thannk for the replies guys. It seems it can work, but can also be a big failure. My female auratus loves to spend time sifting through the sand, as do most of them, so I wouldn't want any of 'em to become prey for the cray fish. I'll leave it out.

I don't think there is anything that can go with the.

L

 

[Ferris]

My female auratus

That probably answers the question - Auratus are incredibly aggressive, even by Mbuna standards and i certainly wouldn't risk a Cray with them.

I keep a Cherax Quadricarinatus on its own in a 3 footer - i would probably consider adding some surface dwelling fish to the tank if i wanted to but other than that, i think they are best kept alone.

People have successfully kept them with community fish but i suspect this is likely to be less successful more often than it works. An adult Cherax Quadricarinatus has some pretty big razor sharp claws and they will eat pretty much anything.

Definitely not a good idea to be kept with Auratus though!

 

[Spishkey]

i keep an australian red clawed crayfish in with catfish and oscars. the only problem we had was the oscars trying to eat the crayfish although he was too big to be eaten!

but oscars are big i know nothing of mbuna, crayfish will catch and eat fish that are smaller than itself, and they can be fast. luckily all my fish and the crayfish are of the same size. there are plenty of caves and hiding places for them all to hide so maybe that helps.

 

[raptorrex]

In the end, it is something that can be done. but probably best not to recommend it, as the outcome, even for those who know their stuff, is far from sure.

 

[8inary]

i have kept fish, and blue crayfish 'lobsters' for many years.

I would however say, its one or the other. If you have small fish, the crayfish will eat them and harrass them all night long when they become more active. If you have big..ish fish, then they pose a problem to the crayfish when they shell. crayfish will shell every so often and when they do, they will be like jelly. the fish detect this and will rip them to bits.

I have a large tank for fish, and a normal size one for two crayfish..male/female.

 

[kj23502]

This practice is not an option, recommended or not. why not chop the fins and tails off the fish so they cant swim after the Crayfish?

Sure as heck it's an option. They are made in a way that enables them to regenerate They always grow right back. I did it until I found out my lfs would take my cray. I guess I could've just flushed him down the toilet or put him in a local lake

(if you read the whole post I wrote notice I did say NOT RECOMMENED )

Oh and for another thing. You're comaring apples to oranges. Fish will die w/out their fins....duh. Crays will live just fine in a tank w/out their pinchers. They can pick food up in other ways and put it to their mouths. I've watched it....and it kept moulting, so I guess it was just fine. It wouldn't moult if it wasn't growing. BTW, it sold in the petshop before it even got put into a tank. It wasn't in bad condition at all. In fact a guy wanted it b/c he wanted a "breeder". If it was in rough shape, he would've no doubtedly passed on it

 

[dthoffsett]

PS. When I go into a fish shop and ask for Mbuna (um-bo-na) they frequently have no clue what I'm talking about. I have to say "Lake Malawi" for them to get it. This troubles me because from my resesarch there appear to be different types of fish in Lake Malwai that tend not to do too well together unless in an adequately sized (ultra large) tank. Looking on the 'net the pronunciation is 'um-boo-na' but one LFS worker rephrased it as 'ma-boo-naa', so I am not sure whether I am generally pronouncing it wrong?

It's pronounced um-boo-na, a lot of people pronounce it wrong though. And you are correct in that there are different groups of cichlids from Lake Malawi. There are mbuna, the rock dwelling cichlids; haps, open water predators, and a sub-group of haps known as peacocks.