Blue Lobsters.

[Rhinosrus]

ive got a 120 litre tank with no fish in it, but wud love to keep lobsters, ive read the books etc etc, ive had my tank up and running now for about 3 weeks, temp is 36, could anyone give me some advice on keeping them.

many thanks.

 

[Leedsboi86]

Tank Temp is 36C?

 

[raptorrex]

ive got a 120 litre tank with no fish in it, but wud love to keep lobsters, ive read the books etc etc, ive had my tank up and running now for about 3 weeks, temp is 36, could anyone give me some advice on keeping them.

many thanks.

if you are in the UK, there is only one "blue lobster" you can keep, common names amongst Crayfish types, are often misleading, the Australian Redclaw Cherax quadricarinatus. it is the only, truly, tropical Crayfish yet found.

they tend to need a tank of 20-30 UKgallons. with plenty of places to hide. old, terracotta plant pots cut in half are a good way to make these. the tank temp should be between 72-80f, with a high O2 content, moving the outlet of your filter to the surface of the tank should help here, though airstones don't add much O2 to the tank, many Cray love to play in the air it produces. the lid should be VERY secure. Cray tend to wander given the chance, though this is often caused by low O2, some are just nosey. live plants will not stay so long! so plastic is the order of the day. you may find it likes to dig about in the substrate, i have never come across them doing any damage to the tank silicone, so i would not worry if it dogs. feeding is really quite simple, they eat anything. that said when younger they need much more protein/ meat, but at about 7 or so months old they mature. the requirement moves more towards veg then. if you offer a good OMNIVORE diet it should be sufficient.
take a look at this: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...p;#entry2097888

if you need more info, just post again!

 

[Rhinosrus]

many thanks boboboy,
just one last thing, so my tempin the tank is not high enuff ???
and wat fish would be suitable to put in with them??

 

[Rhinosrus]

sorry my fault, the tank temp is 74f or 26c doh,
ive got loads of plastic plants in the tank, and and old clay vase for cover.

 

[raptorrex]

many thanks boboboy,
just one last thing, so my tempin the tank is not high enuff ???
and wat fish would be suitable to put in with them??

ahh fish and Crayfish. the truth is no fish is "safe". though it does seem to be possible to keep Cray in the community. it is a complicated process, if it works at all, requiring a mature tank and community and a mature Cray.

the tank hight is not really a problem, it just needs to be well sealed.

 

[Rhinosrus]

thanks mate,
gonna put 1 lobster in, plenty of cover in there for it, and add a few fish at a time, see how things go, a friend of mine as got chichlids in with his, and a clown loach, he says the lobsters do go for them if the fish get to close, but as of yet not lost any fish.

 

[K-Holed]

Yeah, make sure the tank is secure. I remembr about 10 years ago, I used to work for my LFS and they had a shipment of blue lobsters. I was walking past the tank one day and I heard a *crunch* ... I thought "that sounds very similar to the noise you get when you're walking late at night and you stand on a snail ... ARGH!". I looked down, only to find a blue smudge on the ground. I felt terrible >_<.

 

[lee24]

ive got a 120 litre tank with no fish in it, but wud love to keep lobsters, ive read the books etc etc, ive had my tank up and running now for about 3 weeks, temp is 36, could anyone give me some advice on keeping them.

many thanks.

hiya mate the only advice i can give you is they need caves and places to hide they lke to hide iv got a blue lobster in my tank with 2 1ft oscars,6silver sharks,a red tailed shark,2 parrots,2silver dollors,a silver barb,a cat fish and the lobster and my lobster is sound as pie it just hides in its gave tho it is due to shred its shell cool

 

[raptorrex]

ive got a 120 litre tank with no fish in it, but wud love to keep lobsters, ive read the books etc etc, ive had my tank up and running now for about 3 weeks, temp is 36, could anyone give me some advice on keeping them.

many thanks.

hiya mate the only advice i can give you is they need caves and places to hide they lke to hide iv got a blue lobster in my tank with 2 1ft oscars,6silver sharks,a red tailed shark,2 parrots,2silver dollors,a silver barb,a cat fish and the lobster and my lobster is sound as pie it just hides in its gave tho it is due to shred its shell cool

i must admit i hear this far more times than many might think. thing is it can, and does, go wrong. for this reason i always, now, warn of the worst outcome. from a personal point of view, i think there is little better, in fishkeeping, than a well kept community tank complete with Blue Lobster!

 

[Rhinosrus]

thanks lee,
ive got some bogwood in there, and a old urn that the mrs used to keep flowers in, laid it on its side, so can get out both ends, as i smashed the bottom off it. think im only going to get 1 lobster tho, as ive been told 2 and they will fight. i read somewhere they will eat meat and bits of cucumber nd carrott, isthat a wind up ???

 

[raptorrex]

thanks lee,
ive got some bogwood in there, and a old urn that the mrs used to keep flowers in, laid it on its side, so can get out both ends, as i smashed the bottom off it. think im only going to get 1 lobster tho, as ive been told 2 and they will fight. i read somewhere they will eat meat and bits of cucumber nd carrott, isthat a wind up ???

top idea
you would need around, 40 uk gallons to try and keep two Redclaw. but i would not recommend keeping two males! and if a pair breed, you need another thank to move the male to, whilst the female is in berry!
its no wind up.

 

[lee24]

ive got a 120 litre tank with no fish in it, but wud love to keep lobsters, ive read the books etc etc, ive had my tank up and running now for about 3 weeks, temp is 36, could anyone give me some advice on keeping them.

many thanks.

hiya mate the only advice i can give you is they need caves and places to hide they lke to hide iv got a blue lobster in my tank with 2 1ft oscars,6silver sharks,a red tailed shark,2 parrots,2silver dollors,a silver barb,a cat fish and the lobster and my lobster is sound as pie it just hides in its gave tho it is due to shred its shell cool

i must admit i hear this far more times than many might think. thing is it can, and does, go wrong. for this reason i always, now, warn of the worst outcome. from a personal point of view, i think there is little better, in fishkeeping, than a well kept community tank complete with Blue Lobster!

ha lol you probley will the lobsters will be ok with othere fice they just need there places to hide it is better in fishkeeping then a tank of lobstersi dont think you can fgeed them that i feed mine on frozzen sprats from fish shop they love that i never heard that before prob a wind up

 

[raptorrex]

its worth remembering that Crayfish are not carnivores, they are omnivores, and when adult, they lean heavily towards the veggie food. protein/meat is. roughly, 20-30% of its diet, the rest should be veg matter.