Freshwater Lobster

[justinp]

Has anyone else had success acclimating a freshwater Red Lobster to Brackish water? He was sold as a freshwater Lobster but the guy I bought him from has kept them in brackish in the past. I have been acclimating him for a month now...he is doing really well so far, he is now around 1.008. Eats everything I give him in a hurry, nothing is ever left on the bottom too long. If anyone has kept one in brackish water, I was wondering at what Salinity and how well he did? I was hoping to get him to around 1.014, so he could go in my main tank but Im not sure...

Thanks

 

[AMS]

Could you give a scientific name or picture?

 

[justinp]

Could you give a scientific name or picture?

Procambarus Sp.

 

[nmonks]

None of the freshwater crayfish has a high tolerance for salt. They are essentially like hardy freshwater fish such as carp and channel catfish, able to survive despite the salt rather than actually being able to deal with it. If you do a Google search for "crayfish salinity tolerance" you will find lots of scientific papers, essentially concluding that as salinity goes up, longevity goes down.

Your species is likely Procambarus clarkii, which is the commonly cultured food species, and it does have a slightly higher tolerance for salt than the average crayfish. It is found in slightly brackish swamps in Louisiana. But even so, given that your crayfish is happy now, I wouldn't push your luck. It will almost certainly die around the 1.008 to 1.012 mark, which is the point where animals start losing water to the environment instead of absorbing water from it. Your crayfish probably has no way of adapting to that change.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[GuppyDude]

And another thing i might add, if your getting these crayfish from local streams and stuff, they prefer cooler waters and will not do too well in a tropical set-up. Iv tryed keeping one in my tank and he lasted maybe a month before he croaked on me.