Vanilla Lobster

So I bought a vanilla lobster from Petco today. All the info I had on it was from them. I had done some research on other lobsters and most of what they were saying was matching up with what I had read. However when I got home after purchasing the lobster I have not been able to find anything on vanilla lobsters. I did however find info on a white ghost lobster. They both look the same. Are they the same? And finally if they are the same, is it true that they can get to be 12in?

 

I am actually wondering the same. Even though I said she could come get some FISH to put in my tank a friend purchased a Vanilla Lobster...??? I mean come one! haha When she decided on that I had no info on it at all, and I checked it out to see it might get way to big for my tank... if I was even reading about the right one. Although the lobster is only about 2in or so now, I am wondering if he will grow to fast. I had Mollies and Tetras in the tank, but I also adopted several other fish totaling around 28 in of full grown fish (guessing 6in for the Lobster). If this is something to worry about in the near future it will be a sad day for my friend, losing Carl!

 

Welcome to Fishlore
Your pics aren't showing for me, have a read of this thread it'll help you upload them
https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/threads/how-to-attach-pictures-to-posts.169875/

 

The picture aren't showing for me either. Alison

 

Hopefully my pix shows this time

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I have to say that Carl is very cute. As he gets bigger he is going to be snacking on your fish unfortunately. Could you set up a tank just for him? Welcome to the forum . If you go the the forum page and go down to inverts there is a section for blue lobsters. from what I understand the same care should apply to both the blue and the white that you have. Lots of info on the care and feeding and housing requirements. The white seems to have a few different names. Alison

 

Thanks for the link! This will go a long way. And I keep counting fish everyday afraid one will have perished by the claws of Carl. Especially the babies I adopted! To be honest my Molly is asking for it, Annoying the out of him when I feed Carl a waffer lol But he's bigger. For now... Thanks again for the advice!

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Your welcome and good luck. With your vanilla lobsters. Alison

 

If you have fish that swim at the top of the tank you'll be OK mud level swimming fishes can work I have a white ghost lobster in my tank that hangs out with 3 tetras and a pleco and hasn't touched any of them. If you keep them well fed they usually won't go after other fish. Not saying they won't but you can keep them with a lot of caution

 

Nice to hear it is possible. Thanks!

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While it's possible I wouldn't recommend it unless you have faster fish or fish that dwell at the top of the tank

 

So I have been using the info on blue lobsters in the freshwater inverts section as a reference guide for my new vanilla lobster Morgan. But in those sections it says that they will only be between 5" and 7" inches full grown. But when I look online or in the pet store it says that vanilla lobsters are also known as white ghost lobsters and they can be 12" to 14"? I was wondering if anyone could help clear this up? (I am curious because he is not doing well in the tank with my rasboras and neons. So I wanted to set up his own aquarium and need to know tank size and all that. But I would like to know the smallest reasonable tank size since I am low on space.) Thanks

 

Sadly the minimum is 50 gallons as they grow around a foot if as I think vanilla lobsters are white ghost lobsters. And they grow up to a foot in size so I would reome yours @. If you search up white ghost lobster the pictures look the same as vanilla lobsters. And their is info on white ghost lobsters care if you search up white ghost lobster.

 

Every time I go to my local Petco, I see a 2" lobster labeled as a "vanilla lobster" in the Glofish tank. What is its official name?

 

It is most likely a white crayfish.

 

is it a snow white crayfish like here :
?

 

The claws are much larger on the vanilla lobster.

 

The claws are much larger on the vanilla lobster.

the pic is of a female - the males will have larger claws. If it looks remotely like that pic it is definitely a white crayfish.

 

Oh, cool! Thanks for the help! I've been constantly wondering since I first saw it.

 

I'm surprised they have it with glowfish, you'd think they'd make a good snack for him

 

I'm surprised they have it with glowfish, you'd think they'd make a good snack for him

I ALWAYS think the same thing when I see them at my LFS! I guess it is better for sales when they are seen 'glowing'

 

I ALWAYS think the same thing when I see them at my LFS! I guess it is better for sales when they are seen 'glowing'

White crayfish are so beautiful with out glow lights though...

 

White crayfish are so beautiful with out glow lights though...

I 100% agree - much more beautiful imo

 

What size tank do they need? From what I've seen it says 10 gallons, but I'd want to make sure. They're so gorgeous.

 

What size tank do they need? From what I've seen it says 10 gallons, but I'd want to make sure. They're so gorgeous.

I would not go smaller than a 20 gallon - they love to roam around and they are messy eaters so the bigger the tank the easier to maintain

 

Cool! I have a relatively new tank to maintain right now, but I might look into one at some point. They seem to have such a personality, from what I've seen on other sites.

 

20 gallons is ideal, but I have had one in a 10 gallon for a while and she seems pretty happy having lots of stuff to climb helps and really staying on top of water changes.

 

Thanks for all the help, guys!

 

No worries, if you do decide to get one make sure to monitor gH and supplement minerals That's how I lost one of my cray

 

is it a snow white crayfish like here :
?

Unimportant, but...
This pic is from one of my top 2 favorite LFS
Oddball Pets!
Small mom and pop shop with great owners!

 

So it says on this here site that my crayfish is an omnivoure. Will I have to get her some feeder fish to eat as well as plants? Also, what should I do to help her molt when she does and how often do they molt?

 

Negative on the feeders, what I would truly call them is scavengers. Throw in some blood worms, shrimp pellets, that kinda stuff and that will do. For veggies, you can try fresh, I have a crab that LOVES spinach, but alge wafers work too. They’ll clean up scrap fish flakes as well. Too often feeders have disease.

 

Negative on the feeders, what I would truly call them is scavengers. Throw in some blood worms, shrimp pellets, that kinda stuff and that will do. For veggies, you can try fresh, I have a crab that LOVES spinach, but alge wafers work too. They’ll clean up scrap fish flakes as well. Too often feeders have disease.

Ok thank you so much!

 

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if that is one of the vanilla lobsters from Petco/PetSmart, it's not a crayfish... It will grow to around 14 inches and need a 55 gallon tank to itself, and they are very aggressive. If you want to do feeders (it may require it once it grows) you could try having a side tank and breed stuff like Rosy red minnows as feeders, or maybe some feeder guppies, or even convict cichlids, those breed like nuts. Personally I can't handle feeders, I'm too squeamish, and there probably are good alternatives.

 

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if that is one of the vanilla lobsters from Petco/PetSmart, it's not a crayfish... It will grow to around 14 inches and need a 55 gallon tank to itself, and they are very aggressive. If you want to do feeders (it may require it once it grows) you could try having a side tank and breed stuff like Rosy red minnows as feeders, or maybe some feeder guppies, or even convict cichlids, those breed like nuts. Personally I can't handle feeders, I'm too squeamish, and there probably are good alternatives.

If she is not a crayfish what is she then?

 

If she is not a crayfish what is she then?

True lobster. Crayfish stay small. Stores like to interchange “lobster” and “crayfish” to make it sound better.

 

If you have the space for a 55 they are truly interesting, but I'd rather you find out now that it'll get too big... I'm sorry. If you get a 10g, you could do 3 dwarf Mexican crayfish or one dwarf blue crayfish (a bit debated on tank size, but it'll be fine)

 

If you have the space for a 55 they are truly interesting, but I'd rather you find out now that it'll get too big... I'm sorry. If you get a 10g, you could do 3 dwarf Mexican crayfish or one dwarf blue crayfish (a bit debated on tank size, but it'll be fine)

I will be building a raised pond this summer (most likely going to be 100 gallons) will I be able to put my pink kissing gourami, common pleco, and my lobster in there?

 

I will be building a raised pond this summer (most likely going to be 100 gallons) will I be able to put my pink kissing gourami, common pleco, and my lobster in there?

No, they'll really try to catch and kill whatever they can. Even if you try it and don't see aggression, don't let it fool you because they will go after your fish at night. I'm really sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

 

No, they'll really try to catch and kill whatever they can. Even if you try it and don't see aggression, don't let it fool you because they will go after your fish at night. I'm really sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

But she's been living with my pink kisser and pleco for about a week now and she hasn't tried to snatch any of them even at night