Invertebrates | Blue Lobster
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Scientific Name: Procambarus Alleni
Common Name: Blue Lobster, Blue Crayfish, Everglade Crayfish, and Florida Crayfish
Adult Size: 6 inches
Life Expectancy: 1 - 2 years
Habitat: Florida
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Ideal Tank Conditions:
- Temperature Range: 55 - 70°F
- pH Range: 6.5 - 8.0
- Water Hardness: 3 - 10
Temperament: Highly territorial and aggressive
Diet & Nutrition: As an omnivore, they will readily consume a wide variety of meaty and plant based foodstuffs. They will actively scavenge in the aquarium, eating any foodstuffs that they can find on the aquarium substrate including leftover meaty foods and decaying plant matter.
Their diet should consist of meaty foods that they scavenge from the substrate along with naturally occurring algae growth, and should be supplemented with a quality sinking pellet, flake food and dried algae.
Breeding & Spawning: Will breed at any time in the home aquarium, though feeding high quality foods and keeping the water pristine will help trigger breeding behavior.
When mating begins, the male deposits a sack of sperm on the female who then passes her eggs through the sperm to fertilize them. After the eggs have been fertilized, they are then kept under the tail by the female who should be placed in a tank on her own at this point.
After around four weeks, the eggs will hatch and the young crayfish will emerge. The female crayfish will take care of the young for a short period of time, but should be removed after a few days to prevent the fry from being eaten. A large nursery tank is required if any number of crayfish fry are expected to survive as they are extremely cannibalistic like their parents.
Gender: Males tend generally to be larger in size than females, with larger chelae and narrower abdomens. There tails host small appendages, including swimmerets. Males carry an extra set of these swimmerets, which are enlarged and hardened. Females possess a small hole just behind their swimmerets. The female’s broader abdomen provides an ideal place to carry her brood.