A colleague of mine has just given me a small (1.5") reef lobster as he doesn't have a suitable set up. I have placed the lobster in a sump with DSB, live rock and caulerpa. The reference material I have on the beautifully coloured creature is minimal and omits to state the growth rate and eventual size. It is on its own in this tank and has adequate hiding places, is fed on mysis, squid and I guess whatever live critters he can catch in the sump. Can anybody shed light on the possible size and habits of the reef lobster? thanks
Reef lobsters - anyone out there with 1st hand experience?
- Thread starter Tony Quinn
- Start date
Tony,
if by reef lobster you are referring to a red lobster with white pocodots on the tail and light blue hairs, then I can help you. I have had a red lobster in my 125 g reef tank for about 18 months now. It has grown from about 2" to about 4" and despite its non reef safe reputation it has never bothered anything. I have seen some in stores considerably bigger than mine, so they can get quite big. Mine is fairly active, it makes its own cave by excavating sand (it scoops up sand in between the front pinchers and literally moves it out of the way) and will crawl over rocks at night. It will go after other crustaceans, though. be careful. I feed it squid and krill twice a week, the oter days it will pick up uneaten brine shrimp from the sand bed.
I honestly can't tell you whether I have been lucky or whether they have an undeserved reputation. I think the overall feeling is that they are non reef safe, but I would not trade mine in for anything.
Hope this helps,
Eddi
if by reef lobster you are referring to a red lobster with white pocodots on the tail and light blue hairs, then I can help you. I have had a red lobster in my 125 g reef tank for about 18 months now. It has grown from about 2" to about 4" and despite its non reef safe reputation it has never bothered anything. I have seen some in stores considerably bigger than mine, so they can get quite big. Mine is fairly active, it makes its own cave by excavating sand (it scoops up sand in between the front pinchers and literally moves it out of the way) and will crawl over rocks at night. It will go after other crustaceans, though. be careful. I feed it squid and krill twice a week, the oter days it will pick up uneaten brine shrimp from the sand bed.
I honestly can't tell you whether I have been lucky or whether they have an undeserved reputation. I think the overall feeling is that they are non reef safe, but I would not trade mine in for anything.
Hope this helps,
Eddi
no problem Tony. How big is yours? You may want to check your stars. I have one, or at least I think I still do. I look for it a couple of times a week at night and I have never seen all of it. Every once in a while I see what I think is an arm between the rocks but have never been able to actually see the entire thing.
Eddi
Eddi
Ed, I'm not really worry about the corals, just the small fish make me always think twice to have one, I was going to have one also but I'm afraid they gonna snatch my clown fish or other fish.....do they ever snatch your fish, Ed?..
dune.
dune.
My stars seem fine the lobster ignores them. At the moment the lobster is only 1.5" big but so beautiful, with attitude too. As it is in the refugium/sump it is easy to find and study. I wouldn't put it with small fish, can't curb natural instincts! grey addition to the set up though!
Dune,
in my 125 I have a yellow tang, a purple tang, a cobberpand and a marine betta. All way too big to be bothered by the lobster. However, I did have a pair of bangaii cardinals that did not make it. I never saw one die, but the other was gasping for air and laying on the sand when I saw it. Was it the lobster? I don't know.
Eddi
in my 125 I have a yellow tang, a purple tang, a cobberpand and a marine betta. All way too big to be bothered by the lobster. However, I did have a pair of bangaii cardinals that did not make it. I never saw one die, but the other was gasping for air and laying on the sand when I saw it. Was it the lobster? I don't know.
Eddi
If you mean a blue spiny lobster (i.e. it has no claws, only two white long antennae) then I have had experiences with this lobster before. Some people who own them have great experiences and report no problems. However, when I had mine he was very clumsy, knocking down corals and small rocks at night (he was about 3" big). He would never come out during the day, and it was very difficult for me to get any food for him. I caught him quite a few nights taking food directly out of my bubble coral's mouth, and irritating it. However, he never messed with my brittle star. I wouldn't recommend keeping this type of lobster. If you do a search you might be able to find some more info on them.
I also have a blue spiny reef lobster. He does not bother any of my tank's fish however it has eaten a sea erchant and three turbo snails. Now, I feed it almost daily, this seems to limit its agressive scavaging, for when it is hungry it will fearlessly try to steal food off of anything in the tank.
I don't know how your particular lobster will behave but if you are going to house it with other inverts of value, my advice is to keep it full of food and docile. Oh, also I blieve that there is a discription and aquarium care summary on the lobster you describe in THE MODERN REEF AQUARIUM vol 3.
I don't know how your particular lobster will behave but if you are going to house it with other inverts of value, my advice is to keep it full of food and docile. Oh, also I blieve that there is a discription and aquarium care summary on the lobster you describe in THE MODERN REEF AQUARIUM vol 3.
It isn't a blue spiney lobster, it has two large claws (in context with its body size) and looks like a regular, yet miniture version of a lobster you would see in a seafood restaurant!!!!! The colours are just spectacular though. Like I said it is in the refuge/sump with no other pricey inverts to tackle, let alone fish. It isn't too shy either but it can swim at some speed if spooked!
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