Living And Growing With A Lobster
The red lobster, also known as an Australian lobster claw crayfish, is a scavenger and a bottom feeder that can play a large role in creating a balanced ecosystem inside your fresh water aquarium or outdoor pond. They eat the debris, left-over food, waste and algae that settle on the substrate, which helps control nutrients and algae buildup.
Thankfully, the common red lobster, otherwise known as an Australian lobster claw crayfish, offers a natural, efficient solution to keeping your aquarium or pond clean.
lobster
A red lobster is fairly small, only growing up to about 5 inches long, and is common throughout the waterways of North America. They are very hardy, and will winter successfully with only a few inches of substrate for burrowing under a partially frozen pond. You won’t find them at a fish market, in a top restaurants that sell maine lobsters or in a rock lobster pot. However, they can be found at your local pet store.
This type of live lobster is somewhat aggressive and may chase after and attack other lobsters, as well as your fish. More than one in a tank or pond is not recommended. The one good thing about lobsters is that they don’t move very quickly, so your fish should be able to get away unscathed.
While lobsters are generally peaceful, you should exercise caution when keeping them with other bottom dwellers. They typically will not bother upper and mid level swimmers.
A lobster will eat anything on the bottom of the fish tank, like uneaten food, waste and algae. This helps control the nitrate and nitrite levels in your tank. By eating the algae in your substrate and on the decorations in your tank, a lobster helps to maintain the water quality and any kind of algae growth problem as well. Wouldn’t you rather let a lobster do the work for you?
maine lobsters
Adequate room is essential if you plan on keeping more than one red lobster, due to the fact that they are instinctively territorial. A good rule of thumb is 20 gallons of water per live lobster. Though a lobster will prey on smaller and slower fish, koi and goldfish are big enough for that not to be a problem.
If you plan on breeding koi, then it is a good idea to move newly hatched fry to a separate rearing area to keep them from being eaten.
