My Aquaponic Lobsters Kickstarted!

Last few days, my husband and I finally attended the half-day training for the aquaponic lobsters breeding and brought home the startup set, which includes a full set of the CLAW system, and 30 lobsters to start off with. We were given fifteen male lobsters and female lobsters respectively.

Our lobsters

Six of the lobsters did not survive the journey. When we reached home, they were already dead. Some of them had lost their claws, I knew the lobsters fought among themselves during the journey home because I can hear cracking sounds coming from the container. Anyway, it is their nature to fight among themselves, according to Mr. Effendy.

First batch of the non-survivors - All are female lobsters

Okay, the lobsters above become like the ones below after we separated them out from the rest of the living lobsters. We did not throw away the dead ones because it is not good to waste food! They are organic freshwater lobsters without any chemicals.

Fresh lobsters for supper!

During the training, we were taught how to set up the system. We transferred the lobsters to smaller containers because we had to use the big container for set up. So this is how my system looked like initially.

Initial set up for system

We had to let the system stabilized by keeping the water filter pump and air pump running to filter the water for the first time. This is important because the pipe water from the house is not ideal for the lobsters to survive due to that our household water is treated with chlorine. These lobsters are very sensitive to their surrounding environment. Ideally, the optimum water pH level should be around 7.4 to 8.2. They cannot survive if the water is contaminated. The water looks a little muddy when the system for the first time, this is normal because of the hydro korrels. After one day, the water will turn clear.

Temporary shelter for the surviving lobsters

After keeping the system stabilized for one day, we started to transfer our lobster to their new home. The night before, another five lobsters did not survive. And one 'curious lobster' escaped from their temporary shelter and hence died. I was so shocked to see them lying near the doorstep! After all the surviving lobsters moved to their new home, I then transferred a few of my spinach to the aquaponic system. I shall see if the spinach will survive and grow in their new home. Oh, not forgetting to feed the lobsters too because they also need to eat.

Arial view of my plants

My aquaponic system is now working and filled with life :)

I am so happy and excited that everything is fine despite so many lobsters did not survive throughout the night. I am looking forward to see the progress day by day.