# Starting Up?



## NFLBlitze1 (Aug 11, 2007)

Hey, 

im new here, i am a college student and i am looking for a pet that is low maintenance and inexpensive, i have turned to owning a lobster, i know that the tank and the chemicals and such will be expensive but i find that it is an investment that is cheaper to other alternatives such as cats or dogs which cost around 2-3k a year to maintain and there is a lot more that follows with maintaining a dog or a cat. So i have turned to owning a lobster, i am looking to buy a 5 pound lobster from the grocery store but i don't know where to start with a tank or a filter or how to maintain the tank with chemicals, i want something so that in the future i can possibly add more fish and take out the lobster but right now i feel that owning a lobster would be a cool thing to invest in. Can someone give me somewhere to start? im looking for a starter kit or something of that nature, i am 100% open to everything and am looking to do it right, im not just a college kid trying to look cool i really feel that fish tanks really add an aura to the room. Any help?


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## jsm11482 (Aug 8, 2006)

Its a cool idea, here is some info...

http://ask.metafilter.com/15665/Caring-for-your-pet-lobster

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Saltwater-Aquarium-3215/Pet-Lobster.htm

You will need a pretty big tank, for sure! Keep us posted!


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## fish_4_all (Nov 13, 2006)

Welcome to the forum. I hope we can help you out here. 

I wish I had more experience but I have never kept salt before but I think this might help some. First off, a really big tank if you want to do it right. I would guess a 5 pound lobster would be about 16 inches long and that is going to require a tank that is at least 3 feet and 6 feet long if not larger. Live rock, coral and a huge cave/rock structure for it hide under. 

To be honest it seems to be kinda of a huge endeavor for a first tank. There are a lot of different Salt water setups that would have descent sized crustaceans and not have to try and accomodate such a huge lobster. Also, not to try and disuade you from salt water tanks, there are alot of fresh water crustaceans that could be kept in a 30-55 gallon tank and be alot less to invest in initially. 

I will try to find some more accurate information for the size of tank you need for a lobster that big. In the mean time, please ask away and enjoy the forum.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

The first thing to keep in mind with a grocery store lobster is that you will need to keep the water *COLD*, around 70F. A chiller is an expensive piece of equipment and you will need one about double the rated size. A large animal like that is a messy eater and will quickly spoil the water parameters. A 75g tank might be large enough to house the creature within it's confines but it will quickly foul.

There are several "reef" lobsters that don't have those requirements and are easy to care for. Check for blue spiny lobsters or purple lobsters at your LFS.


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## jsm11482 (Aug 8, 2006)

Depending on what area of the ocean the lobster is from, I would say water temps could be as low as 40-50f. You could talk to the people at the store who take care of the lobster tank and see what they feed them and how they keep the tank setup.


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