blue spiny lobsters??

[chicki]

Anyone have one in their reef tanks that also have cleaner and pepperment shrimp? I know you do Dez, but I don't remember any shrimp? I've been told that they may eat them?
thanx

[Dez]

The only problem is that they get really big. They should be fine with shrimp (my mantis shrimp took care of all of my shrimp ). I moved the spiny blue lobster into my 54 reef now so that I can catch him when he gets too big. They get about 8 inches...takes a while, but they are sure neat.

Des

[Biogeek]

Most people don't find that spiny lobsters are fine with anything that they can catch, Chicki, and that includes cleaner shrimp - all the spiny lobsters are voracious predators and will feed on any meaty prey that they can capture in the aquarium. Although if you keep them well-fed, the lobster is probably going to be too lazy to chase your shimp, it's unlikely to stay that way forever. They may get along with your shrimp for a while, but I have seen lobster hunt and eat Lysmata in several tanks where someone tried to keep them together. It may work for some people for a short time, but the lobster is likely to catch and eat your cleaners eventually, and that is a very expensive snack...

Also Dez is right that they get BIG, but is a little off on the maximum size -- the spiny lobster that is most common in the aquarium trade is Panulirus versicolor, which is fortunately one of the smaller members of this genus. However, in this case, small means about a 40 cm body length at full size. Although it takes several years to reach their full size, they will continue to outgrow your tank, and with the antennae included in the measurement they can easily be over a meter in total length by 7-10 years of age. Obviously, that is far too large for a 50 gallon (or for that matter even a 100 gallon) aquarium. They are a food species that you can find some information about from the Indo-Pacific Marine Fisheries Resource Pages on lobster here (you need to scroll down to the Panulirus versicolor heading about halfway down the page).

In terms of the aquarium literature, Delbeek and Sprung mention them in The Reef Aquarium, but only to say "These lobsters are omnivorous scavengers and can be quite destructive in the reef aquarium. We do not recommend them for any aquarium with corals and clams, as they will undoubtedly feed upon many of the tank inhabitants, including small fish and shrimp."

Hope that helps.

Rob

[chicki]

Thanks Biogeek! Glad to see we have a walking encyclopedia here!
Please refrain from leaving your computer area! may need more info in the future
Thanx