Squat lobsters?

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

I was just browsing live aquaria and stumbled across this intriguing creature; https://www.liveaquaria.com/divers-den/product/427034/squat-lobster-black-white

 

Anyone have any experience keeping squat lobsters in the aquarium?

[Clown79]

If I remember correctly I think @Lula_Mae has had experience with them.

[Lula_Mae]

30 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

If I remember correctly I think @Lula_Mae has had experience with them.

Well, I tried anyway lol.  They seem to be pretty sensitive to shipping.  The first got a drip acclimation with my other inverts (a pom pom and I don't remember what else) and popped in the tank.  He lasted a few days.  The next one I was planning to try a slow drip acclimation but the shipment got delayed by a day so he was dead on arrival.  I do remember the one that lived for a few days (or was it a couple of weeks?) was pretty shy, maybe even more than a pom pom crab.  It was also just as tiny as a pom pom (about an inch long all told, maybe a bit more with those long claws).  I would recommend trying other inverts first if you don't have much invert experience, just because I felt horrible about them dying on me and I have had a number of things over the years.  Try a pom pom crab or porcelain crab, they are beautiful and I love them, although the pom pom you may not see much in a 10 gallon (I see mine in my IM14 every few days to couple of weeks, but sometimes go a month without seeing him).  Pom poms are usually shy but not always.  Porcelains look so cool with their fans out!

[Nano sapiens]

Not the easiest of inverts.  The ones I had lived about 6 months or so, but I've heard of them living ~ 1-1/2 years in some systems.  Two males will fight continuously in a small tank until one is dispatched, so best to keep just one or a M/F pair.

[AlmightyJoshaeus]

OK! All I needed to know. Thanks 🙂