Where oh where can my Purple Lobster be.

anthonyhnj

anthonyhnj

New Member
where oh where can he be. Two weeks ago i purchased a Purple Lobster for my reef tank. I have a lot of live rock with plenty of hiding spaces. After I had acclimated him and put him in the tank he went to hide under a rock. That was the last I seen of him. I have searched everywhere. I was giving up all hope, when today I had a little shimmer of hope when I thought I saw him. It was just his shell, looks as if he moulted. My question is do they moult, do they always hide?
Thanks
 
120reefer

120reefer

Member
Yes, mine molted quite often actually, moreso than my shrimp. And yea, I was kind of disapointed when I realized he was going to hide all day while the lights were on and only to come out when they were off. At least I could kind of make him out with the moonlights..
Good luck with it.
 
J

jessed244

Guest
Same way with my purple lobster, I have had him 2 weeks and have only seen him at night with a flashlight, just checked him a couple minutes ago. He has molted once and my shrimp has twice in the two weeks i have had them. Wish he was out more
 
jamirlima

jamirlima

Member
Oh That beautiful PURPLE LOBSTER. He is so beautiful but hides all the time. I had to take it back to the store and got credit.
 
candycane

candycane

Active Member
I had to trick mine to come out. Just fed the tank a little and it came out to snap some stuff up. From what I have seen, they do hide a lot when they molt; you can lose them for months when they do that. Eventually though, they do start coming out more and more or at least form a cave towards the front of the tank where they can see what's going on. Keep in mind that they do tend to need normal iodine levels as well as a food supplement with iodine in it. Once mine got big enough to the point where it started eating my fish, I had to give the bugger away.
 
E

emeralcrab

Guest
Oh my gosh, I just got one and thought they were reef and fish safe. How big did yours get when he started eating your fish, and how big were the fish? They are SO pretty, hopefully I will see mine once in a while.
 
spiked09

spiked09

Member
Same thing happened to me. Bought this beautiful purple lobster, plopped him in the tank and watched him disappear into the rock. We never saw it after that. About 4 months later I had to pull the rock work apart and low and behold I still owned a purple lobster. Almost twice the size as well.
We ended up setting up a invert only tank with tunnels up against the glass, our lobster hid in the front tunnel so was visible 24/7.
 
E

emeralcrab

Guest
Wow, he is beautiful. I got mine yesterday, put him in my 30g with my hugh sebae anemone, a blk clown, and a starry blenny. So far he has made his home in one corner under a few rocks. I see his beautiful little claws sticking out, and last night I watched him come out and look around for some food. They are so pretty.
 
gman20001969

gman20001969

Member
I remember the day I thought mine died. saw the body pushed up to the side of the glass...several bristle worms going through it. Was rather disappointed...
Then I remembered that shellfish molt. Grabbed the flashlight and found him in his usual hiding place. All he does is hide all day and comes out for a morsel when I feed everyone.
 
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