Raising fish for human consumption?

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok, so we have all gone to red lobster and picked out a delicious giant crawdad from the tank in the lobby.
my question is this.

What salt water do they use? If im not mistaken, regular instant ocean is not good for you. If i were to set up a live lobster tank to feed my family, where would i look for proper salt mixes? I would go to red lobster and ask them, but i dont feel like going there just for that lol.

If anyone happens to go there, ask them and post their answer. I would love to set up a live food tank in the kitchen.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I figure natural seawater is one way, but i have no way of getting a large amount at a reasonable cost. I know how to breed lobsters, i have done it with the purple ones before. Wait for the female to molt, drop in a male, enjoy the show, take him out and wait like a dang year. It was worth it in the end to have a ton of baby lobsters haha...however........i fed them all to my fish due to lack of cash at the time...the trigger and 3 puffers got fat, let me tell you. Very fat. I want to transfer their fatness to me and my woman now, so any advice will do us great! I have a 75 gallon tank ready to set up. I have actually started forming aragocrete molds to make natural live rock dividers, that will be cool, another thread for that. (If the lobster thing doest work than it will still be a sweet setup. 3 walls of rock (with holes) and 3 different color lights.

 

[Timfish]

Do your research on the species you want to raise first to make sure it's economically viable. Locally here in Austin, TX an aquarist was seriously looking at raising skunk cleaner shrimp, one of the lysmata species has a relatively short larval stage, but he discovered they are being farmed over seas and there was no way he could come close to matching the wholesale price.

 

[pickupman66]

I know there are natural sea salt mixes you can buy. Cold water for the big lobsters.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

IIm not selling them, just raising them to eat. Not to sustain myself though,some people raise a pig and eat, i dont like the smells haha.



Is the natural salt good in reef aquariums? They probably lack the elements of reef crystals..idk, new to this aspect.

 

[pickupman66]

But you are not doing a reef. You are doing a lobster tank. I know some grocery stores have lobster tanks.

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[SeymourDuncan]

But you are not doing a reef. You are doing a lobster tank. I know some grocery stores have lobster tanks.

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I have a reef tank and was just wondering if it was ok for it as well to use the natural salt say if I ran out of reef crystals one week and didnt want to make the long drive. I normally have 60Lbs at a time ready, but some times I forget to check my List (I do write how much stuff i have, I just dont read it).
I know I do not have to keep the Lobster tank in reef conditions..I know how to keep them alive, my only Concern is making the Water they live in Safe for Human Consumption. My local (including surrounding 60 miles) lacks the culture to eat lobster, especially live ones.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

You need a Huge amount of water to even come close I bet! Maybe he should think of a swimming pool full of the little buggers.

 

[redfishbluefish]

You do realize it takes five plus years to raise a lobster to an eatable size. It's just not cost effect to "farm" lobsters.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

You do realize it takes five plus years to raise a lobster to an eatable size. It's just not cost effect to "farm" lobsters.

Just what I was going to say. And also, aquaculture, smaller scale that is, facilities use instant ocean, it is not harmful in any way, I have eaten lobster from long island sound, way worse than a fresh batch of IO IMO.

 

[robert]

google "lobster salt" -

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Lol, well thanks to all for the information that was about salt.

To the Off tangents,
I am aware of what I am doing. I have researched and even mated my own small reef lobsters in the past...I am just doing this for fun, again, some people grow pigs...cows...what ever...They do it for the pleasure of eating something they took care of for the most part, not because it was too expensive at the Grocery.

It takes years for frags to get huge too, does that mean you should not try to have an aquarium? Patience is the key to this hobby, Thus for me to raise lobsters to eat would be the mother of all tasks. If I can handle that long of a time taking care of the same exact animals in a non changing environment than reefing will just be that much easier to handle for me. Again the title of the thread does not Ask "IS LOBSTER RAISING AN ECONOMICAL VENTURE?" So with that in mind please save the information on the lobsters and Share the salt info. Thank you.

 

[Pkunk35]

Lol, well thanks to all for the information that was about salt.

To the Off tangents,
I am aware of what I am doing. I have researched and even mated my own small reef lobsters in the past...I am just doing this for fun, again, some people grow pigs...cows...what ever...They do it for the pleasure of eating something they took care of for the most part, not because it was too expensive at the Grocery.

It takes years for frags to get huge too, does that mean you should not try to have an aquarium? Patience is the key to this hobby, Thus for me to raise lobsters to eat would be the mother of all tasks. If I can handle that long of a time taking care of the same exact animals in a non changing environment than reefing will just be that much easier to handle for me. Again the title of the thread does not Ask "IS LOBSTER RAISING AN ECONOMICAL VENTURE?" So with that in mind please save the information on the lobsters and Share the salt info. Thank you.

Brother I think you should raise little lobsterlings and then devour them but wow would it be weird the day you do eat them. 5 years!
Would be awesome tho to see that tank full of lobster in your house, hah!

So would you plan on raising them from hatch? What would you feed the fry? I didn't even realize cleaner shrimp were being aquacultured now too. Pretty cool.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Brother I think you should raise little lobsterlings and then devour them but wow would it be weird the day you do eat them. 5 years!
Would be awesome tho to see that tank full of lobster in your house, hah!

So would you plan on raising them from hatch? What would you feed the fry? I didn't even realize cleaner shrimp were being aquacultured now too. Pretty cool.

HAHAHAHA you know how many purple lobsters it would take to make a pasta!?!??! I think it will be awesome though. I plan on setting a career goal that will fall in line with my lobster progress.
I plan on having a Male and a Female to mate, and raise the babies into food sized beasts. when the larvae is not reliant on the mother, I will cook the parents to celebrate.

From what I have learned with my small lobsters, they eat off their moms stuff for a while, then they float like brine shrimp and you have to feed them like corals basically. Just green water, rotifiers, what ever, I will have all kinds of micro organisms culturing like I do for my reef tank and have them auto fed via air pumped into a waterjug on a timer. (i can explain that device if need be)

Once they drop to the bottom they mostly become carnivores. Again, the biggest thing is patience here. I just have to be on top of feeding alot and cleaning the water.

 

[Paul B]

What salt water do they use? If im not mistaken, regular instant ocean is not good for you.

Lobster tanks in restaurants and supermarkets use a special salt that they buy from the people they get the lobster tanks from. It is much cheaper than
"Instant Ocean" because it does not have to support corals.
I have kept northern lobsters in my tank (yes I know it is illegal, shoot me) Sometimes I would accidently find a baby in the stuff I would collect. They grow fast and can eat all the time.
For many years I would SCUBA for lobsters here in NY. You could legally take 6 a day

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Lobster tanks in restaurants and supermarkets use a special salt that they buy from the people they get the lobster tanks from. It is much cheaper than
"Instant Ocean" because it does not have to support corals.
I have kept northern lobsters in my tank (yes I know it is illegal, shoot me) Sometimes I would accidently find a baby in the stuff I would collect. They grow fast and can eat all the time.
For many years I would SCUBA for lobsters here in NY. You could legally take 6 a day

Well i will call red lobster and ask them what company they use, heck i might even buy a labster tank. For a 5 year in the making dinner, i guess i could get a specialized tank. Im pretty far from any lobsters so i will have to buy them most likely

 

[robert]

Jeez - google "lobster salt" - the stuffs called "lobster salt" - marineland sells a version called - what else - lobster salt.

A local coral distributor told me they that when they started off, they used lobster salt in all their systems to save some money - manually dosing up the levels they wanted...

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Jeez - google "lobster salt" - the stuffs called "lobster salt" - marineland sells a version called - what else - lobster salt.

A local coral distributor told me they that when they started off, they used lobster salt in all their systems to save some money - manually dosing up the levels they wanted...

Im having trouble coming up with the right terminology to type into my search engine. Just kidding, I found The stuff. Thank you. lol.