Freshwater Blue Lobster?

[Jpat82]

I know these are actually crayfish, but has any one here actually had one? I saw some at a pet store today, not that would of bought them because they were openly selling mollies with ich. I just was curious if anyone on has had them and how they got along with other fish?

 

[garyspence84]

Not advised if you have any bottom dwellers. Pleco's MAY be ok with them but I would expect them to have ripped fins.

I haven't owned 1 myself, but a friend of mine had 1 years ago and it was a monster. We call him the 'rock lobster'. Was housed with oscars, bala sharks, severum and a 12" plec.

 

[Sammy1911]

I inherited a tank and the fish inc a blue lobster from my parents when they emigrated, he started out 1 inch when they had it in a 15 gallon community tank. at the end with us he'd grown to 6inch and lived in a 4ft 65 G tank along with a foot long common plec and a pearl gourami. I gave the lobster and plec a cave each (the ones you find bearded dragons and such like) when it came to feeding time we would put in cubes of frozen food and watch the two of them go at it until the food was all gone. if the lobster got it first he would grab the block and disappear in his cave and visa versa - great entertainment and they did seem evenly pitched. in the end the plec must have won coz all we found was a hollow shell of the lobster floating one morning - he lived for a minimum of 9 years. He escaped once and made it to the cat food, i thought he was dead as we'd been away the weekend but sure enough when i scooped him up he jumped back into life, they have fantastic caracter but you cant have any plants and need minimal decorations coz they need the room to move around when they get bigger.

 

[Jpat82]

Okay thank for the info. I just wanted to know because there alittleifno out therein them, but not much.

 

[jocie1976]

I kept blue lobsters for years. They have great little personalities. But it's true you can't keep plants with them, they just view plants as a salad bar. And any slow or bottom dwelling fish is the steak to go with that salad. My plecos were okay, but I lost a lot of fish that slept on the bottom. Also, once they reach about 3 inches in length they can start to breed. They don't require males, they are all females and breed parthgenically. The babies are genetically identical to the mother. I must have gone through at least 20-30 batches of babies. The hardest part of dealing with the babies is how to get rid of them. They will just end up looking like a crawling carpet on the bottom of the tank. If you have carnivorous fish they make a great food source. I enjoyed them during the time I had them, but would not want to get them again.

 

[Jpat82]

Do they do well buy themselves and what kind of tank requirements should they have? I am really interested in having one.

 

[Sammy1911]

Mine was on its own but i didnt get any babies i dont know what i would have done if it had haha.
Tank requirements? i dont what they should have officially as i said i inherited mine and was new to fish keeping knowing absolutely nothing... mine lived a long life in 4ft x 2ft closed lid tank with very fine gravel. they like to dig and need somewhere to hide i.e. a cave coz they shed their shells regularly. they will eat almost anything - keep it varried. i know the last couple of years he'd outgrown the tank but didnt have the funds to upgrade but a 4ft would last one a good few years before you'd need to think about upgrading again.

 

[jocie1976]

I kept mine in a variety of tanks. They were in 20g, 40g, 50g, and 120g. I had them alone, with other fish in a community and in with just BN plecos. The temp in all my tanks was about 78 degrees. My water is now and always has been hard and slightly alkaline. But they absolutely need a lid or the water level kept at least a couple of inches lower than the top as they can and WILL climb out of the tank. I have found mine at the opposite end of the house as their tank is kept. They can live outside of the water for short periods of time, as long as their gills are kept wet. Mine used to let me handle them outside of the tank, but I'm not sure I would recommend this. I used to feed them everything from algae wafers, frozen shrimp from the grocery store (small pieces), fruit and vegetable slices, and occasionally they would take a small piece of bacon right from my fingers (I mean small, like a cm sliver). They are not picky on what they will eat. Mine also used to shed, then two weeks later be in berry (eggs), then she would hide for about a month, then reappear with babies all over her, shed 2-3 weeks later and start the cycle over again. They definitely need a cave to retreat into to feel comfortable. It's funny to watch them grab food then scurry backwards into their cave to eat it, lol.

This is a video of my Lobster just after I got her. She went into berry within a week of bringing her home! Hopefully the video works for you...

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So I guess you only need to click on one of the blue underlined links, even though the whole thing showed up as the web address.