Can I put Blue Lobster in my tank?

[iMac]

Hi all,

Recently I have bought 3 small size blue lobster and introduced into my fish tank. My fish tank is full of Cichlids. But after a few days, my Cichlid started to die one by one. I could not find any injuries on the dead Cichlids which I initially thought the lobsters have caused the death.
Later, I bought 5 Tiger barbs and introduced into my tank again. The next day, all my Tiger Barbs died... So sad.
So I separated the lobster to another small tank. Today I bouught another few small fishes and introduced into the tank without the lobsters in it. To my surprise, all my fishes died again.
Oh my god... Is the water in the tank previously with lobster in it is contaminated? Was it caused by the lobsters? Are the lobsters able to discharge any toxic into the tank???
Pls advise... Thanks..

[michael lai]

Hi Imac,
I have not come across any venomous lobster yet. Thank God. The root of your problem I think lies in your water. Did you add anything else besides the lobster, like Driftwood,plants,sand or even stone at about the same time. Sometimes if they are not wash properly, they might have some impurities or worst insectisides which are deadly to any aquarium.
If you have, bring them out and wash thoroughly with boiling water( not the plants pls) if not, change water by 50%,aerate vigorously for 1 day. Add mosquito fish(lokang Guppy) and observe. If he dies, change all the water. You have serious contamination.
The lokang guppy is very hardy & cheap so he will be a good gauge of your water condition.
P.S: Another test , get the test kit for freshwater @ LFS for about $30.
and check your water parameters. i.e:ammonia, nitrite or nitrate, any excess of this few is also deadly.

[Enda]

It seems that there's probably something wrong with your water. If the problem persists, you may have to strip the whole tank to clean it thoroughly. Be careful with detergents or disinfectants you use. Make sure you rinse them off after using them on your tank or decor.

On the other hand, lobsters are carnivorous and will feed on small fish. So in the long term, make sure the tankmates for your lobsters are large and fast enough to take care of themselves.

All the best!

[Sidious]

It seems that there's probably something wrong with your water. If the problem persists, you may have to strip the whole tank to clean it thoroughly. Be careful with detergents or disinfectants you use. Make sure you rinse them off after using them on your tank or decor.

On the other hand, lobsters are carnivorous and will feed on small fish. So in the long term, make sure the tankmates for your lobsters are large and fast enough to take care of themselves.

All the best!

i dont think using any type of chemical would be good as you never know what is left.... undetected chemicals may be very little in amount but the problem that it may cause is huge

[Giant]

The blue lobsters can grow to a pretty big size.

Kept a few before, quite nice when small & crawling all over the place, very exciting when it started to shed/mould & grow.
The longest lasting one grew till it was 15cm long, head to tail, not counting when it stretch its claws.
Then one day couldn't find it. It disappeared.
The tank was in the front pouch of my dad's place, so maybe it crawled out (heard from a friend he's did) or one of the neighbourhood cat ate it.

[iMac]

Well I have changed the water in my tank and see if the proble persist. Thanks for the advise. Appreciate that.