Very cool looking crayfish! I'm not trying to hijack this thread but my 6 year old son has been wanting a fish tank of his own and I was looking at on of these online and the website said it would get up to 5" and would need at least a 20 gallon tank. Any idea why it would need a 20 gallon and if I could get away with keeping one in a 10 gallon as long as it was the only occupant in the tank?
Blue Lobster in a Community Tank
- Thread starter Bluestman
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Afternoon Snack
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
The more posts the merrier. I would say that a 10 gallon is sufficient for a crayfish, especially if it were the only occupant, but I don't think it would hurt to have a couple small tank mates. Just make sure you have a decent filter and make the necessary water changes- somewhere around 3 gallons a week and you should be fine. Just make sure your son doesn't overfeed, too much food in such a small tank can do a number on the nitrate level. Glofish are easy to take care of and would add a nice color contrast to the blue crayfish. Good luck.
Jason7894561230
Aquarium Advice Addict
I have been keeping yabbie for around a year or so but stopped now and when i put it with fish they were eaten =( but i reckon that lobsters are obviosly a different story to yabbies but who knows. I have had a blue clawed yabbie who ate all of my fish because he was quite terrtiotal but when that one died i got another whom didnt eat any so it is a personality thing more than hungry or not!
Afternoon Snack
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I have terrible news!
Pulpot, my blue crayfish, finally molted (that's not the bad news). When he was pulling himself out of his old exoskeleton he ripped off both of his pincers. Completely. He now has no pincers whatsoever, not even nubs to which the pincers were supposed to be attached. I could see the "arm" part of the pincers protruding from his old exoskeleton, so he was able to pull them part of the way out, but I guess was so eager to molt that he ripped off his own pincers in an effort to free himself. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. My beautiful crayfish is nothing more than a huge blue shrimp now.
Also, his antennae are malformed. One is broken off short and the other is short and bent. This was three weeks ago and he has survived just fine. He eventually ate his old skin including his self-amputated pincers. I think he is a little angry though as he violently uprooted ALL of my plants, in turn making me angry.
Can anyone think of what caused this? I was thinking maybe because it had been so long since his last molt (>6months) that his exoskeleton was too hard to split properly. Or maybe there wasn't enough calcium in his diet. As I posted earlier he hasn't eaten any of my fish in quite some time.
Unrelated: I caught him wearing one of my mystery snails as a boot yesterday. I guess he stepped on the snail who, startled, closed his opercula and trapped the crayfish's foot inside. He was walking around the tank as if nothing was wrong and was just dragging the snail along with him. I got a good laugh out of it and eventually pulled the snail off.
Pulpot, my blue crayfish, finally molted (that's not the bad news). When he was pulling himself out of his old exoskeleton he ripped off both of his pincers. Completely. He now has no pincers whatsoever, not even nubs to which the pincers were supposed to be attached. I could see the "arm" part of the pincers protruding from his old exoskeleton, so he was able to pull them part of the way out, but I guess was so eager to molt that he ripped off his own pincers in an effort to free himself. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. My beautiful crayfish is nothing more than a huge blue shrimp now.Also, his antennae are malformed. One is broken off short and the other is short and bent. This was three weeks ago and he has survived just fine. He eventually ate his old skin including his self-amputated pincers. I think he is a little angry though as he violently uprooted ALL of my plants, in turn making me angry.
Can anyone think of what caused this? I was thinking maybe because it had been so long since his last molt (>6months) that his exoskeleton was too hard to split properly. Or maybe there wasn't enough calcium in his diet. As I posted earlier he hasn't eaten any of my fish in quite some time.
Unrelated: I caught him wearing one of my mystery snails as a boot yesterday. I guess he stepped on the snail who, startled, closed his opercula and trapped the crayfish's foot inside. He was walking around the tank as if nothing was wrong and was just dragging the snail along with him. I got a good laugh out of it and eventually pulled the snail off.
Bluestman
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Sorry, haven't been on for a while. Probably a bit late for replies but....
@ confucious, it is an Australian red clawed crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus).
@ Solarris, I think you may need to get a bigger tank eventually, my lobster is now just over 8 inches.
@ Afternoon Snack, What happened to Pulpot? I think they regenerate their missing/deformed bits when they moult. I'd be very interested to know whether that is the case. I'm fairly sure that I saw something on TV where crab/lobster fishermen caught them, removed the claws and threw them back knowing they would regrow and they could catch them again. It is a very vague memory and to be honest I might have imagined it lol.
Also with regard to the worms, I feed him Morio worms. They are huge compared to mealworms being about 5 times the size. They are a messy food though. He eats it like a pepperami, bites the head off and then squeezes out the innards leaving the outer skin which floats around the tank. Sorry if that's a bit graphic.
I love the snail story, I had visions of that happening with my apple snail. But then he ate it. I'm amazed yours hasn't eaten the snails you have, as I related in a preious post I added 25 MT Snails to the tank and he thought it was his birthday and munched the lot.
I know for a fact that they regrow their antenna. I have lots of rocks in my tank in an attempt to make it like a river bed and he occasionally traps an antenna between 2 rocks. If I am around I'll just lift the rock and free him but I have seen him just tug until the antenna snaps. He then eats it (to my daughters disgust). After a couple of moults it has regrown to the normal length. I guess this is a common occurence in the wild.
I have also finally found some hatchet fish and bought 6 marbled hatchet fish for the tank the other day. They stay near the surface most of the time so pretty much out of his reach. I also bought a red tailed shark which the fish shop guy told me stays near the middle of tank. Either nobody told the shark that or he's suicidal. He ignores the lobster and they share a cave most of the time. I doubt he'll last long.
Again I apologise for not revisiting this thread more often and thanks to everyone who has taken such an interest in this subject
On a sidenote I have been having a problem with a planaria infestation for about 6 months. Probably because of the high protein diet. I have stepped up my cleaning regime, reduced the amount of food and removed about 50% of the gravel as I read that can cause it. Nothing seems to have worked so far. I really don't want to buy fish to eat the planaria as they will in turn be eaten by the lobster, anyone have any ideas?
Bluestman
@ confucious, it is an Australian red clawed crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus).
@ Solarris, I think you may need to get a bigger tank eventually, my lobster is now just over 8 inches.
@ Afternoon Snack, What happened to Pulpot? I think they regenerate their missing/deformed bits when they moult. I'd be very interested to know whether that is the case. I'm fairly sure that I saw something on TV where crab/lobster fishermen caught them, removed the claws and threw them back knowing they would regrow and they could catch them again. It is a very vague memory and to be honest I might have imagined it lol.
Also with regard to the worms, I feed him Morio worms. They are huge compared to mealworms being about 5 times the size. They are a messy food though. He eats it like a pepperami, bites the head off and then squeezes out the innards leaving the outer skin which floats around the tank. Sorry if that's a bit graphic.
I love the snail story, I had visions of that happening with my apple snail. But then he ate it. I'm amazed yours hasn't eaten the snails you have, as I related in a preious post I added 25 MT Snails to the tank and he thought it was his birthday and munched the lot.
I know for a fact that they regrow their antenna. I have lots of rocks in my tank in an attempt to make it like a river bed and he occasionally traps an antenna between 2 rocks. If I am around I'll just lift the rock and free him but I have seen him just tug until the antenna snaps. He then eats it (to my daughters disgust). After a couple of moults it has regrown to the normal length. I guess this is a common occurence in the wild.
I have also finally found some hatchet fish and bought 6 marbled hatchet fish for the tank the other day. They stay near the surface most of the time so pretty much out of his reach. I also bought a red tailed shark which the fish shop guy told me stays near the middle of tank. Either nobody told the shark that or he's suicidal. He ignores the lobster and they share a cave most of the time. I doubt he'll last long.
Again I apologise for not revisiting this thread more often and thanks to everyone who has taken such an interest in this subject
On a sidenote I have been having a problem with a planaria infestation for about 6 months. Probably because of the high protein diet. I have stepped up my cleaning regime, reduced the amount of food and removed about 50% of the gravel as I read that can cause it. Nothing seems to have worked so far. I really don't want to buy fish to eat the planaria as they will in turn be eaten by the lobster, anyone have any ideas?
Bluestman
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Bluestman
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Just an update on the hatchet fish, 2 of them have been caught and eaten. It seems nothing is safe.
Jason7894561230
Aquarium Advice Addict
God this is a great post!!!!!! thread lol
Bluestman
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Well it looks like my lobster story is over, he hasn't been eating very much for the past couple of weeks and when I woke up this morning he was dead . Not sure why he died as he was only around 2 years old.
. Not sure why he died as he was only around 2 years old.
fearlessfisch
Aquarium Advice FINatic
This is very sad news. I enjoyed reading about him a lot, and your affection for him was clear in everything you wrote.
He was a good crustacean. I"m sorry.
He was a good crustacean. I"m sorry.
thuffman03
Aquarium Advice Activist
Sorry to hear your lobster died.
taylorodw
Aquarium Advice FINatic
RIP. I just read this thread start to finish and fell in love with your little guy
joselito76
Aquarium Advice Regular
great post
mattrox
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sorry to hear that.
Bluestman
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Thanks guys, just restocked the tank with various community fish. To be honest it's quite nice to have some fish and not worry about them being killed. I can also have plants now too. I enjoyed having the lobster but it was a lot of hard work keeping the tank clean and with no algae eaters everything was a bit green. I don't think I would get another lobster, he was interesting and had a **** of a character though . Thanks to everyone for your interest in this thread.
Bluestman
. Thanks to everyone for your interest in this thread.Bluestman
Bluestman
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Lovely crayfish, I would get another but my wife won't tolerate a tank with "just a lobster" in it. I have had to get fish and plants to keep her happy
DesertFish
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
That was an excellent thread and story. Sorry to hear your little guy died
