Regal slipper lobster specifications?

[Alpha_and_Gec]

I saw these things on Blue Zoo(Arctides regalis) and instantly got hooked. However, I am not certain whether they are reef compatible or the depth of substrate they will require, from the limited information I can find. They seem to be similar in care to most other generalist crustaceans, but they grow up to 20something cm long. I guess I have a few specific questions to ask because there isn't a lot of resources on keeping these guys.
- Do these animals eat corals and other inverts directly?
- Will they plow over corals and rocks, and will it still happen if said corals and rocks are cemented in place? I am prepared to use however much cement I need to make my tank lobster - safe.
- Are they territorial or predatory? I've seen other lobster species being territorial, no clue about the slippies.
- Are they prone to escape?
- Do they require the same alkalinity as corals?
- Are there any other quirks in their behaviour or anatomy that I need to be aware of? Are they toxic? Do they like to climb?

My aquarium for reference. 80 gallons total, a lot of scattered small rocks but mostly big chonkers. Planning to glue them together today or tomorrow. I'm planning to add more fish and soft corals later, but rn it's only got a few leathers, a damsel, and some anemones. Any help would be greatly apperciated. These animals are such goobers.

 

[Kasrift]

I saw these things on Blue Zoo(Arctides regalis) and instantly got hooked. However, I am not certain whether they are reef compatible or the depth of substrate they will require, from the limited information I can find. They seem to be similar in care to most other generalist crustaceans, but they grow up to 20something cm long. I guess I have a few specific questions to ask because there isn't a lot of resources on keeping these guys.
- Do these animals eat corals and other inverts directly?
- Will they plow over corals and rocks, and will it still happen if said corals and rocks are cemented in place? I am prepared to use however much cement I need to make my tank lobster - safe.
- Are they territorial or predatory? I've seen other lobster species being territorial, no clue about the slippies.
- Are they prone to escape?
- Do they require the same alkalinity as corals?
- Are there any other quirks in their behaviour or anatomy that I need to be aware of? Are they toxic? Do they like to climb?

My aquarium for reference. 80 gallons total, a lot of scattered small rocks but mostly big chonkers. Planning to glue them together today or tomorrow. I'm planning to add more fish and soft corals later, but rn it's only got a few leathers, a damsel, and some anemones. Any help would be greatly apperciated. These animals are such goobers.

Says right on Blue Zoom aquatics that it isn't reef safe, sorry to say.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Says right on Blue Zoom aquatics that it isn't reef safe, sorry to say.

I'd prefer to hear opinions from multiple experienced keepers, and plus the primary risk is them plowing over corals, which I hope to prevent by using a **** ton of cement and keeping a deep sand bed they can play around in.

 

[KrisReef]

I'd prefer to hear opinions from multiple experienced keepers, and plus the primary risk is them plowing over corals, which I hope to prevent by using a **** ton of cement and keeping a deep sand bed they can play around in.

Lobsters are the cleanup crew off the ocean bottom. They live in rocky cover or in dense kelp forests where they can hide from predators. If something dies they move in to tear off chunks of flesh for food. Their eating habits are not compatible for a small tank that is also a habitat for coral that needs low nutrient levels.

They could work in a large predator tank if they were able to avoid getting eaten. They are similar to seahorses in that they would benefit from having their own tank without a lot of tank mates.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Lobsters are the cleanup crew off the ocean bottom. They live in rocky cover or in dense kelp forests where they can hide from predators. If something dies they move in to tear off chunks of flesh for food. Their eating habits are not compatible for a small tank that is also a habitat for coral that needs low nutrient levels.

They could work in a large predator tank if they were able to avoid getting eaten. They are similar to seahorses in that they would benefit from having their own tank without a lot of tank mates.

I do kinda want to run a predator tank... although my mom wouldn't approve any more than an eel lol, and she wants a lot of coral. Would it work if I kept all the corals up high and left the bottom of the tank essentially empty for the lobster? or do they like to climb?
More CuC is always a plus, especially since all my snails are gone, and with such size it must be quite effective.

 

[KrisReef]

I do kinda want to run a predator tank... although my mom wouldn't approve any more than an eel lol, and she wants a lot of coral. Would it work if I kept all the corals up high and left the bottom of the tank essentially empty for the lobster? or do they like to climb?
More CuC is always a plus, especially since all my snails are gone, and with such size it must be quite effective.

If you stick with coral that likes/ can tolerate dirty water then the split tank might work? I would not try to corral a lobster with coral because my experience with this kind of thing has not worked out like I hoped, and the critters have suffered for it.

They crawl over rocks to find food and they will explore when they are hungry. It might stick in a hole for most of the time but sometime it will want to take a stroll around the tank to see what is available.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

If you stick with coral that likes/ can tolerate dirty water then the split tank might work? I would not try to corral a lobster with coral because my experience with this kind of thing has not worked out like I hoped, and the critters have suffered for it.

They crawl over rocks to find food and they will explore when they are hungry. It might stick in a hole for most of the time but sometime it will want to take a stroll around the tank to see what is available.

how would the lobster dirty the water? I thought they would be contributing to the biological filtration as a scavenger. Preferably I want to keep my nitrates as low as possible. I'm not that concerned about it crawling over rocks... as long as they don't directly injure the corals that should be acceptable.

 

[pal98111]

Get one and enjoy it. If you feed it well, it probably won't try to eat anything it's not supposed to. I would suggest feeding it at night so it won't want a midnight snack.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Get one and enjoy it. If you feed it well, it probably won't try to eat anything it's not supposed to. I would suggest feeding it at night so it won't want a midnight snack.

actually, I just realized something, now that you've mentioned feeding...
do they taste good?
if it becomes a problem animal after it gets larger my family would be happy to eat it.

Thanks for the tip btw, I'm nocturnal and would probably feed my tank near midnight, if I feed at all.

 

[Stomatopods17]

I was at the baltimore aquarium a few weeks ago and got to see a big one.

Yeah, that thing is a bulldozer, it was clinged on the face front of the rock work, about as big as my face and pretty sure that wasn't even full grown (I remember larger ones at the pittsburgh aquarium but I was a kid so maybe my size perception is off), and they're known opportunist that will catch anything at night they can grip onto. The fact it was on the rockwork is what confirmed to me its definitely not safe at all because I originally thought it was a case of 'sand dweller' but it was literally clinged vertically trying to pretend to be part of those rocks on the upper part of the tank.

Needs a lot of space, needs a lot of anchored down rocks, needs very fast tank mates, and will easily kill corals just stepping on them with those thick sharp legs. Pretty much just do some research on experiences with blue spiny lobsters and you'll get the same expectation out of this, except i'm pretty sure slippers are notorious for shoveling under the rockwork as well. I recently optioned out of one too while looking for tankmates with my box crab.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

I was at the baltimore aquarium a few weeks ago and got to see a big one.

Yeah, that thing is a bulldozer, it was clinged on the face front of the rock work, about as big as my face and pretty sure that wasn't even full grown (I remember larger ones at the pittsburgh aquarium but I was a kid so maybe my size perception is off), and they're known opportunist that will catch anything at night they can grip onto. The fact it was on the rockwork is what confirmed to me its definitely not safe at all because I originally thought it was a case of 'sand dweller' but it was literally clinged vertically trying to pretend to be part of those rocks on the upper part of the tank.

Needs a lot of space, needs a lot of anchored down rocks, needs very fast tank mates, and will easily kill corals just stepping on them with those thick sharp legs. Pretty much just do some research on experiences with blue spiny lobsters and you'll get the same expectation out of this, except i'm pretty sure slippers are notorious for shoveling under the rockwork as well. I recently optioned out of one too while looking for tankmates with my box crab.

What species was it? different slip species grow to different sizes and may have different ecological niches, and since Arctides regalis is tropical in nature(Hawaiian native) I would expect it to coexist with corals(mostly sps in the wild, but also anemones and sarcothelia edmondstoni, a xeniid soft) and many relatively common reef fish(wrasses, tangs, triggers). Plus the max size cited by most sources is 17 - 20 cm, which is only average sized for a slipper lobster, so I would think it would do better in a reef than those Scyllarides monstrosities. Getting a tiny slip like Parribacus perlatus would be more optimal but I gotta stick with what they've got... the only other slip Blue Zoo has is Parribacus antarcticus, which is pretty much identical to A. regalis.

no question that this thing can climb though. Most images I've seen have it sitting on corals or rocks, and its legs look like they can deal some damage. Maybe converting to mostly sps + leather will help? I'm not certain how corals deal with physical damage... I've only trained for chemical catastrophes in the tank. I'm not afraid of my rockwork getting shifted by a 20cm lobster, not when I'm going to glue them all together in a few minutes.

 

[Stomatopods17]

I'm not 100% sure on the exact species. They likely rotate stuff out as well.

There's a photo they posted on the national aquarium facebook but it doesn't look like the right one to me as the one I saw was more rocky textured. I also didn't see any tarantulas there which was included with the photos.

Hawaiians variants you're very unlikely to see in the hobby.

1: collection in hawaiian has been cut off pretty much in recent years. No clue when its opening up but I think we were close until...

2: wild fires currently put the recreational trade on least priority over there and I'm doubtful you'll find many businesses planning to ship during the cleanup and restoration.

As for how corals deal with physical damage, the answer is they usually don't. Softies can tolerate some rough play, but LPS and SPS is notorious for just melting apart at any injuries. With that said I attempt to keep LPS with a large mantis anyways.

Its more about the lobster actually eating the coral, which Versicolor is very mixed results on from individuals who've kept them eating their corals, demolishing their tanks, to model citizens... and some of those model citizens are just a temporary thing until they get larger. Red reef lobsters stay smaller and are more managable, but mainly because they don't predate on corals AFAIK and stay hidden in a remote location so odds of them hunting fish are smaller unless the fish sleep near the den.

If you intend on trying it, keep us updated, but I'd really lean on the over feeding end to avoid any hunting behavior and sorting out any nutrient issues that may come from that (especially algae blooms which can be really bad for hard corals).

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

I'm not 100% sure on the exact species. They likely rotate stuff out as well.

There's a photo they posted on the national aquarium facebook but it doesn't look like the right one to me as the one I saw was more rocky textured. I also didn't see any tarantulas there which was included with the photos.

Hawaiians variants you're very unlikely to see in the hobby.

1: collection in hawaiian has been cut off pretty much in recent years. No clue when its opening up but I think we were close until...

2: wild fires currently put the recreational trade on least priority over there and I'm doubtful you'll find many businesses planning to ship during the cleanup and restoration.

As for how corals deal with physical damage, the answer is they usually don't. Softies can tolerate some rough play, but LPS and SPS is notorious for just melting apart at any injuries. With that said I attempt to keep LPS with a large mantis anyways.

Its more about the lobster actually eating the coral, which Versicolor is very mixed results on from individuals who've kept them eating their corals, demolishing their tanks, to model citizens... and some of those model citizens are just a temporary thing until they get larger. Red reef lobsters stay smaller and are more managable, but mainly because they don't predate on corals AFAIK and stay hidden in a remote location so odds of them hunting fish are smaller unless the fish sleep near the den.

If you intend on trying it, keep us updated, but I'd really lean on the over feeding end to avoid any hunting behavior and sorting out any nutrient issues that may come from that (especially algae blooms which can be really bad for hard corals).

Well, I’m not actually planning on keeping any hard corals at all, mostly softies and at most 5 individual colonies of LPS. I’ve never actually heard of these guys eating corals directly through all the reports for them knocking things over and generally being juggernauts though.

The source is blue zoo, which happen to have 2 of the A. regalis(if the page is up to date) and a P. antarcticus, the latter is cheaper but I’m going for the former because it looks nicer. They come in as juveniles anyways so I can probably watch for any undesirable behaviours for a while.

Overfeeding though, I’m not a big fan of that…. they’re detritivores, would they be happy to graze algae and fish poop + aiptasia? I really don’t like the idea of adding extra nitrogen to my tank in general, but how would they predate fish if they get hungry? They aren’t as mobile as normal lobsters and lack raptorial appendages, even their claws have limited range, but if it poses a significant risk that’s one thing that might make me reconsider.

 

[Stomatopods17]

Usually when fish are sleeping they get them.

If its kept very fed that reduces the risk, especially around night time if you get it fed it won't really hunt while the fish are sleeping, but they're not detritivores, or at least there isn't enough to sate them as they prefer meaty flesh and dig stuff up in the sand.



Here's a good video showing it moving a massive piece of rock, and the moment a fish is under it, how instantly it begins tearing it apart.

 

[Alpha_and_Gec]

Usually when fish are sleeping they get them.

If its kept very fed that reduces the risk, especially around night time if you get it fed it won't really hunt while the fish are sleeping, but they're not detritivores, or at least there isn't enough to sate them as they prefer meaty flesh and dig stuff up in the sand.



Here's a good video showing it moving a massive piece of rock, and the moment a fish is under it, how instantly it begins tearing it apart.

Yeah I watched this video earlier this morning since it's the first one that came up when I searched for slips. They seem to be highly opportunistic similar to benthic isopods, although I didn't know a sleeping fish would give them enough opportunity. I think I'll get the juvenile when the rest of the stock is in, or maybe introduce them together, and see how it does when raised from a young age, since I've heard of eels being acclimated to leave tankmates alone that way, if they're still available in 2 weeks.

The rock I have I'm pretty sure will end up being much larger than those rocks that it had shifted around... I'd hope they hold.