purple lobster issues

[natan]

HI everyone.

A week after cycling my tank and making sure that water was basically ok I purchased a purple reef lobster (again). He didn't do well and died on me 2 weeks later. I have other crustaceans in the tank: shrimp, banded "shrimp", 3 small hermit crabs. All are well. This is a second time I lost the lobster but had never lost any other invert.

My Ph is steady - 8.5-8.6; salinity varies a bit with evaporation but is in the range of 1.024-1.025. No ammonia/nitrites and 20 ppm nitrates are present.

Does anyone know about these lobsters? Why do they seem way more sensitive than other crustaceans? (I got them from the same store. Are any diseases known in this species??)

Thanks a bunch!

[Bifferwine]

I admittedly don't know much about them, but I'm guessing it's because of the temperature and light differences. Lobsters are deeper water animals than other reef creatures and don't do well in reef tanks where the temperatures are warmer and lighting is stronger. When I have seen purple lobsters at my LFS, they have been kept in colder tanks with little or no lights.

It could also be your nitrate levels, 20 ppm may be high enough to harm sensitive inverts like lobsters (it's definitely high enough to harm corals and anemones).

[natan]

Lobsters, in general, are light avoiding creatures but this one, I am told, is an exception. It lives on the reefs (as its name suggests) of Indian ocean so it's used to daytime light. It is popular precisely because of its reef friendliness, daytime activity and small size.

[Bifferwine]

Did you ever see it eating? I did some reading up on it, and they require very deep sand or gravel beds because they forage for food from the substrate.

[natan]

Yes, indeed. He ate anything in the gravel. In the last days, however, he developed an appetite for green hair algae in addition to meaty food. I suspected these algae to be harmful too. Do they contain any toxins known to react in a bad way?

[FNG44601]

I've seen 2 of those guys perish @ my lfs..... so don't think you're doin anything wrong! He got one in and they tried to tell me he was molting- went home and read up to see if I could put it in my tank..... went back a couple days later- goner! the next delivery this one made it about 2 weeks this time, DOA. There's definately something up with em! Don't let it mess with ya

[Bifferwine]

No, him eating algae would not have harmed him. Maybe like FNG said, they are just one of those animals that do not survive in captivity and should be left in the ocean (like moorish idols)...

[jhnrb]

tHEY ARE FROM THE MORE ACTIVE PARTS OF THE REEF SO YOU WILL NEED VERY GOOD/STRONG WATER MOVEMENT FOR THEM. I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT LOBSTERS BE IN A SPECIES ONLY TANK AND NOTHING UNDER 5O GAL. GOOD LUCK.