Verifying: all freshwater lobsters are crawfish. Yes?

[Matt Shepherd]

I went to the pet store the other day to pick up some puffers (two)
for an empty ten-gallon tank and the LFS had what they called a "blue
lobster" for sale. It seemed pretty cool and I peppered the store
clerk with questions about it, eventually determining that it should
do fine in my 30-gallon with three largish (5-to-6-inch) goldfish.

It's at home now, and I've made it a little cave it likes to hang out
in and it has built itself a burrow and "retaining wall" by moving
gravel around. It also likes to carry Malaysian trumpet snails out of
the cave and place them elsewhere in the tank.

I decided to do a little auxiliary research on the Web today, though,
and have a few resulting questions:

1. Am I right in assuming this is a crawfish? I am now under the
impression that all freshwater "lobsters" are, in fact, crawfish. This
one, however, is not the bright blue that most internet "blue lobster"
photos seem to be: it's more olive/tan with dark blue claws and some
pink/red highlights, black eyes on stalks, longish thinnish claws
(rather than a "stereotypical" lobster claw).

2. How big will this "lobster" get? The clerk seemed to think he'd
live for decades and would grow verrry slowly, but I think he's
mistaken, based on what I've read elsewhere about crawfish living 2-3
years. It's currently about 6" long.

3. All seems good except the goldfish are eating the shrip pellets I'm
trying to feed the "lobster." How much food does it need? Should I
make a lot of effort to toss food into its cave, or can it head out
and fend for itself when it deems the effort warranted?

Thanks!


- Matt Shepherd
www.man-man.org

[blove]

yes freshwater lobsters are crawfish, they are agressive so watch out for
your goldfish.i gave my crayfish 2 pellets a day, they also picked up food
the fish missed and i gave em feederfish every now and then. they prefer
colderwater to warm water but ikept mine in a heated tank and they did ok, i
think the warmer water just speeds up their metabolism.



"Matt Shepherd" > wrote in message
om...
> I went to the pet store the other day to pick up some puffers (two)
> for an empty ten-gallon tank and the LFS had what they called a "blue
> lobster" for sale. It seemed pretty cool and I peppered the store
> clerk with questions about it, eventually determining that it should
> do fine in my 30-gallon with three largish (5-to-6-inch) goldfish.
>
> It's at home now, and I've made it a little cave it likes to hang out
> in and it has built itself a burrow and "retaining wall" by moving
> gravel around. It also likes to carry Malaysian trumpet snails out of
> the cave and place them elsewhere in the tank.
>
> I decided to do a little auxiliary research on the Web today, though,
> and have a few resulting questions:
>
> 1. Am I right in assuming this is a crawfish? I am now under the
> impression that all freshwater "lobsters" are, in fact, crawfish. This
> one, however, is not the bright blue that most internet "blue lobster"
> photos seem to be: it's more olive/tan with dark blue claws and some
> pink/red highlights, black eyes on stalks, longish thinnish claws
> (rather than a "stereotypical" lobster claw).
>
> 2. How big will this "lobster" get? The clerk seemed to think he'd
> live for decades and would grow verrry slowly, but I think he's
> mistaken, based on what I've read elsewhere about crawfish living 2-3
> years. It's currently about 6" long.
>
> 3. All seems good except the goldfish are eating the shrip pellets I'm
> trying to feed the "lobster." How much food does it need? Should I
> make a lot of effort to toss food into its cave, or can it head out
> and fend for itself when it deems the effort warranted?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> - Matt Shepherd
> www.man-man.org

[luminos]

These are very clever animals. They mostly will not chase after fish.
Instead, from that cave, he will lie in wait with great patience until a
flowing fin gets in reach. Then the crawfish will grab the fin and reel in
the fish to its doom. Good luck. They are fascinating in behavior, but
most of the fish in the tank should be considered lunch. Under ideal
conditions, this crayfish can nearly double in size from that you mentioned.
(we called them crayfish in the midwest, not crawfish ;)

[Jennifer Brooks]

Hey Matt,
Here is a great site with more info that you probably need, LOL!
http://www.bluecrayfish.com/

I have some of these guys, and I love them. You can dramatically increase the
blue coloration by feeding them spirulina wafers. Wardleys makes one that has
spirulina as the first ingredient, and you can also buy a 100% pure one online
at www.jehmco.com
I drop a pellet each into the "lobster" tank at night, that way the lobsters,
AKA crayfishs, crawdads, whatever, LOL, gets the pellet, and not the fish! They
moult quite often, and you will see the colors improve if you give them lots of
spirulina. Also, be warned, they are escape artists, make sure your cover fits
well :)
Best, Jen
PS They will catch and eat any small fish they can, and also snails, although
they don't like the trumpets very much.

[Matt Shepherd]

"luminos" > wrote in message >...
> These are very clever animals. They mostly will not chase after fish.
> Instead, from that cave, he will lie in wait with great patience until a
> flowing fin gets in reach. Then the crawfish will grab the fin and reel in
> the fish to its doom. Good luck. They are fascinating in behavior, but
> most of the fish in the tank should be considered lunch. Under ideal
> conditions, this crayfish can nearly double in size from that you mentioned.
> (we called them crayfish in the midwest, not crawfish ;)

Uh-oh. We're pretty attached to these big ole goldfish and don't
really have other tanks to transfer 'em to. The guy at the pet store
said this one in particular got along well with other fish, and our
goldfish are bigger than he is. Will he still be aggressive with these
larger fish??

- Matt

[Matt Shepherd]

Fascinating! Thanks for the tip, Jennifer!

I'm a little puzzled by the frequent reference to "escape artist" both
from you and other research -- can they climb the tank sides? Mine
seems to lean up against them, but has never managed to get up onto
the sides of the tank, let alone up to the lid. Or do they swim up and
poke around??

- Matt

(Jennifer Brooks) wrote in message >...
> Hey Matt,
> Here is a great site with more info that you probably need, LOL!
> http://www.bluecrayfish.com/
>
> I have some of these guys, and I love them. You can dramatically increase the
> blue coloration by feeding them spirulina wafers. Wardleys makes one that has
> spirulina as the first ingredient, and you can also buy a 100% pure one online
> at www.jehmco.com
> I drop a pellet each into the "lobster" tank at night, that way the lobsters,
> AKA crayfishs, crawdads, whatever, LOL, gets the pellet, and not the fish! They
> moult quite often, and you will see the colors improve if you give them lots of
> spirulina. Also, be warned, they are escape artists, make sure your cover fits
> well :)
> Best, Jen
> PS They will catch and eat any small fish they can, and also snails, although
> they don't like the trumpets very much.

[Sajjad Lateef]

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 07:17:37 -0700, Matt Shepherd wrote:

> Fascinating! Thanks for the tip, Jennifer!
>
> I'm a little puzzled by the frequent reference to "escape artist" both
> from you and other research -- can they climb the tank sides? Mine
> seems to lean up against them, but has never managed to get up onto
> the sides of the tank, let alone up to the lid. Or do they swim up and
> poke around??

They will climb out by holding on to filter tubes, airline tubing
and escape from around the filter. You will want to get plastic
mesh and cover all openings and tape the mesh to the tanks.
Otherwise you will find them on the floor, covered with dust
and very dead. If they escape, you may even find them in other
rooms of the house.

Some will grab and eat small fish and others are just too lazy
and will only scavenge. Just throw in some sinking foods,
boiled peas, pieces of hot dog, etc. and it'll be happy
and not bother any fish. The big goldfish should be left
alone by the crayfish.

If any of your fish die, it will even eat them and keep your
tank clean. They will also snip any plant stems and dig up
the rest - so, try not to put them with plants you like to
keep around.

If you have more than one, give them individual hiding places.
Pieces of PVC pipe, clay pots on the side or caves made by
rocks are all good. They will rearrange the gravel to suit
their needs.

I think that they are fascinating inverts to keep and observe.
If you want to see some fascinating escape behavior, try
touching one in the tank. It will curl it's tail and forcefully
propel itself in some other direction.

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Verifying: all freshwater lobsters are crawfish. Yes?
>From: (Matt Shepherd)
>Date: 10/6/2003 8:33 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>I went to the pet store the other day to pick up some puffers (two)
>for an empty ten-gallon tank and the LFS had what they called a "blue
>lobster" for sale. It seemed pretty cool and I peppered the store
>clerk with questions about it, eventually determining that it should
>do fine in my 30-gallon with three largish (5-to-6-inch) goldfish.
>
>It's at home now, and I've made it a little cave it likes to hang out
>in and it has built itself a burrow and "retaining wall" by moving
>gravel around. It also likes to carry Malaysian trumpet snails out of
>the cave and place them elsewhere in the tank.
>
>I decided to do a little auxiliary research on the Web today, though,
>and have a few resulting questions:
>
>1. Am I right in assuming this is a crawfish? I am now under the
>impression that all freshwater "lobsters" are, in fact, crawfish. This
>one, however, is not the bright blue that most internet "blue lobster"
>photos seem to be: it's more olive/tan with dark blue claws and some
>pink/red highlights, black eyes on stalks, longish thinnish claws
>(rather than a "stereotypical" lobster claw).
>
>2. How big will this "lobster" get? The clerk seemed to think he'd
>live for decades and would grow verrry slowly, but I think he's
>mistaken, based on what I've read elsewhere about crawfish living 2-3
>years. It's currently about 6" long.
>
>3. All seems good except the goldfish are eating the shrip pellets I'm
>trying to feed the "lobster." How much food does it need? Should I
>make a lot of effort to toss food into its cave, or can it head out
>and fend for itself when it deems the effort warranted?
>
>Thanks!
>
>
>- Matt Shepherd
>www.man-man.org
>

Don't worry too much about the Lobster not getting enough pellets to eat. He'll
soon eat your Goldies.

[luminos]

>The big goldfish should be left
> alone by the crayfish.
>

Not necessarily. I had very large angels, and the medium crayfish grabbed
the fins and gradually got at them one by one....not eating the whole thing,
but definately not abverse to getting at them.

If these are fancy goldfish, I would beware. If they are comets, then
everything is all right.

[Sajjad Lateef]

On Tue, 07 Oct 2003 23:38:46 -0700, luminos wrote:

>>The big goldfish should be left
>> alone by the crayfish.
>>
>
> Not necessarily. I had very large angels, and the medium crayfish grabbed
> the fins and gradually got at them one by one....not eating the whole thing,
> but definately not abverse to getting at them.

Yes, I agree. Hence, the use of "should" rather than "will".

Aquatic creatures are all opportunistic feeders. Even forsworn
herbivores will not refuse to slurp in some eggs or fry if they
see them. If they are hungry enough, they'll eat whatever they
can get.

[Tedd]

"luminos" > wrote in message
...

> (we called them crayfish in the midwest, not crawfish ;)

some of us over this way call them crawdad's ;-)

[Matt Shepherd]

Oh, the GF is going to KILL me.

[Sajjad Lateef]

On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 18:04:35 -0700, Matt Shepherd wrote:

> Oh, the GF is going to KILL me.

Just feed all creatures and your goldies will be fine.

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Re: Verifying: all freshwater lobsters are crawfish. Yes?
>From: "Sajjad Lateef"
>Date: 10/9/2003 10:24 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 18:04:35 -0700, Matt Shepherd wrote:
>
>> Oh, the GF is going to KILL me.
>
>Just feed all creatures and your goldies will be fine.

Not always true.
That Lobster, at any given time, and with the right opportunity, can/will grab
ahold of any fish it can....even with special feedings.
I'm not saying it *will*, but it can and many do.
I've heard folks say why did my Lobster eat my fish, I've had it in there for
so long and it never did anything......
You just have to be aware that even with specialized foods, they may decide one
day to snack on a tank mate.
Maybe it's all about opportunity, only the Lobster knows for sure.