blue lobsters

[alx]

I have kept my blue lobster for about 2yrs now.. lives with loads of community fish - no problem whatsoever, the fish will sit right next to the lobster and she is not bothered in the slightest... she does have a gardening habit with the plants though, and they do like to re-arrange the tank the way they want it laid out..

one word of warning though, they will get out if the tank has any gaps in the hood.. mine has been out for wander around the house dozens of times, can live quite happily for upto a day out of the water from what I have seen.. (they are very slow out of the water though, and mine seems to have got used to me picking her up now) she did have eggs a few weeks ago, but as she is alone, they couldn't of been fertilised (I don't think)

however, my first lobster got out when I was on holiday and was found by the front door with the mail.. (had got out the tank, out of the office, down the stairs and accross the hallway.. plus wherever else it has been on it's travels, this one unfortunately was brown bread when it was found)

I feed mine tetra variety sinking wafers, and they get snapped up as soon as I drop them in the tank..

I think they make a really cool addition to your tank, they clean up all the crap from the bottom and are quite entertaining.. but it sounds like luck of the draw if you get a fish stalker or not ? mine likes to eat live mussels that don't make the grade for my paella too !

old photo, but mine is about 8 or 9" now.. but must be ready to re-shell as it has been nearly a year !

http/render1.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup...C/of=50,590,442

 

[raptorrex]

I have kept my blue lobster for about 2yrs now.. lives with loads of community fish - no problem whatsoever, the fish will sit right next to the lobster and she is not bothered in the slightest... she does have a gardening habit with the plants though, and they do like to re-arrange the tank the way they want it laid out..

one word of warning though, they will get out if the tank has any gaps in the hood.. mine has been out for wander around the house dozens of times, can live quite happily for upto a day out of the water from what I have seen.. (they are very slow out of the water though, and mine seems to have got used to me picking her up now) she did have eggs a few weeks ago, but as she is alone, they couldn't of been fertilised (I don't think)

however, my first lobster got out when I was on holiday and was found by the front door with the mail.. (had got out the tank, out of the office, down the stairs and accross the hallway.. plus wherever else it has been on it's travels, this one unfortunately was brown bread when it was found)

I feed mine tetra variety sinking wafers, and they get snapped up as soon as I drop them in the tank..

I think they make a really cool addition to your tank, they clean up all the crap from the bottom and are quite entertaining.. but it sounds like luck of the draw if you get a fish stalker or not ? mine likes to eat live mussels that don't make the grade for my paella too !

old photo, but mine is about 8 or 9" now.. but must be ready to re-shell as it has been nearly a year !

[URL="http/render1.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup...C/of=50,590,442"]http/render1.snapfish.com/render2/is=Yup...C/of=50,590,442[/URL]

though caution is always the best thing. you are far from alone in successfully keeping, Redclaw in a community. but as so many have bad experiences, those who do tend to keep quiet. to most, Cray and crabs are killers in waiting, untrue we know, but still a very popular view. this said caution must be the byword, not all cray, even redclaw, take to community living.

 

[bradders69]

i put my blue lobster in my comunity tank, and over night it wiped out all six of my fish all there was,was remains........ now he lives on his own but hes very happy and really active .......................... TUCKS145

 

[devonmiles]

Hello
this is my first post so go easy on me! I had two of these blue lobsters in a tank with two other blue crey fish ones with spikes not claws, red claw crabs about 5 of and 6 egyptian mouth brooders, as well as 30 chameleon shrimp which bread like mad and made quite a tidy profit . I did learn the hard way as i had 2 cory's just peppered nothing special, in the tank with all these guys. no problem for about 6 months and then the cory's went in front of my very eyes, looking on in horror as all the crey fish went berserk and destroyed them. when it started i thought shall i try and break it up and save the cory's but then took another look at the crey fish stabbing and tearing the cory's to pieces and thought i quite like my fingers as they are!!!!! I kept them all for a further 2 years before i had to rehome them at the local fish shop for a nice growing on price of course!!!!! due to moving away and couldnt take the tank. The crey fish grew to just short of a foot each . I have just recently set up another tank and i am considering getting some more of these. If you are considering getting some of these my advice is to speak to your local fish monger and ask for small bait like fish( basicly small fish not sure if that made sense or not) and feed this to them and it will save your fish from the clutches of the blue lobster. The tank they were kept in was 5ft by 2ft by 2 ft deep and had plenty of river cobbles and bog wood and a slow flowing filter cant remember the tempreture but will have been around 25 celsius as the mouth brooders thrived at this tempreture.
I would like to hear from people if they know of any other species that have been kept with these succesfully as i would like to get some different to last time.

 

[OscarWilde]

I worote an extensive pinned topic on 'Blue Lobsters' with another member. Everything you need should be in there.

 

[OscarWilde]

See my post.

<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=94531" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST...f=1&t=94531</a>

SH

If the OP is in Inverness (Scotland UK) then the only 'Blue Lobster' he\she can legally purchase is the Cherax quadricarinatus as referenced in my last post.

 

[raptorrex]

If so I want one. What do you feed them on

small fish are part of their diet

no, sorry, fish are not part of the Cray diet! cray are Omnivores not hunting carnivores. problem with fish and cray stem from the keepers not the nature of the Cray.

the only 'blue lobster' legal in the UK is the Cherax Quad. These grow to aorund 1 ft and require a tank or 4ft long when full grown due to there size and rigid body.

they prefer it cooler than most fish with 77 being the maximum suggested temperature to keep them in.

they can grow quite quickly when fed correctly.

Actually the Quad is quite happy up to 85f, indeed, in nature, that is the temp that, along with 12-14 hours of light, triggers the breeding cycle. 77f is a "happy medium". below 70f the cray will stunt, though the by product to the low temperature, is the reduction of bacterial infections. something, crayfish are prone to. below 50 is deadly to this cray.
i have seen 1 foot quads, but never in a tank, only in ponds in Australia. and occasionally in the wild. 6-8 inches of body, is more normal. (nose to tail).

CAUTION

See my post.

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST&f=1&t=94531"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?act=ST...f=1&t=94531[/URL]

SH

yet again, you post the wrong profile! time and time again you ignore Oscars "quad" profile to link your own, for a totally different crayfish! why?

 

[OscarWilde]

yet again, you post the wrong profile! time and time again you ignore Oscars "quad" profile to link your own, for a totally different crayfish! why?

Good question. I thought that the all seeing all knowing mods were supposed to know better....

 

[raptorrex]

yet again, you post the wrong profile! time and time again you ignore Oscars "quad" profile to link your own, for a totally different crayfish! why?

Good question. I thought that the all seeing all knowing mods were supposed to know better....

he clearly had a bad experience. instead of finding out why, he simply blames all crayfish. which is a shame, really, as he talks about "learning" in the thread. he, only, wants to avoid, problems, for keepers. but feels, his, experience, is "carbon copied" with every cray.

keeping cray (in a community) is not something you do lightly (or should not be). but knowing the difference, between Australian crayfish and North American cray, might be a good start.