Do slipper lobsters kill stuff or just make messes?

[Betta132]

My LFS has a baby slipper lobster. I'm not planning to get it, I know they get large, but I looked at it for a while and it doesn't have claws. I also have a preserved slipper lobster, a different kind, which doesn't have claws either. The one at the LFS is in a tank with some small gobies, as they keep their inverts and their small fish together most of the time. It doesn't seem interested in the gobies, it just trundles around pretending to be a rock.
Do they actually kill fish, like other lobsters, or do they just bulldoze? If they do kill stuff, how do they manage that with no claws?

 

[Calappidae]

They're bulldozers like calicos. They use their claws like shovels to push and move sandbeds, which at a foot in size isn't exactly a good thing. They're like a horseshoe crab basicly care wise with the tank setup, but they won't starve.

They eat your clams and I think snails too.

 

[Betta132]

So you'd only want one if you have really heavy rockwork and don't mind your sand being constantly messed up? No wonder people don't normally get them. They are really cool looking, though.
Well, I can see how they would manage that. Clams and snails are pretty much just candy bars with annoying shells, if you're a bulldozer you can open 'em right up.

 

[Calappidae]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic6X1gTs3XU

They just use their legs.

They need alot of open space to roam.. like hardly any rock at all. They get about over a foot in length.

 

[Betta132]

Maybe they'd be good for a cardinalfish tank, or something with an open-water species like lookdowns.

 

[Calappidae]

Anything that swims high would do fine with them. I don't believe they'll actively hunt for fish but I wouldn't risk it with anything sleeping at the bottom. Damsels would probably do fine.

Lionfish I'm kinda sceptical on, seems safe but lobsters are pretty bulky and may hurt it unintentionally as lions don't budge when threatened.

 

[Betta132]

Lookdowns are fish that school around in open water and never touch the ground or the rockwork. They're almost like mini tuna, the way they act.

 

[fabulousfavia]

My LFS has a baby slipper lobster. I'm not planning to get it, I know they get large, but I looked at it for a while and it doesn't have claws. I also have a preserved slipper lobster, a different kind, which doesn't have claws either. The one at the LFS is in a tank with some small gobies, as they keep their inverts and their small fish together most of the time. It doesn't seem interested in the gobies, it just trundles around pretending to be a rock.

Do they actually kill fish, like other lobsters, or do they just bulldoze? If they do kill stuff, how do they manage that with no claws?

Where is your LFS. I am starting a devoted touch tank with horseshoe crabs and think it would be cool to have one of these. I know a successful way of feeding horseshoe crabs and I bet it would work on these too.


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