My Fresh Water Aquarium Lobster is growing an algea like substance on his shell - what can I do to cure him?

Question

My lobster is actually an Australian Yabbie. I has been recently moved to a new aquarium set up and is now losing it’s appetite as well so I know it is ill. He began with a white cotton like substance and I tried PimaFix which cured that - and then this is going on.

He is large enough and aggressive enough to make me not wish to remove it by rubbing it off. The reason he is in a new environment is due to his aggressive behavior and eating others! I can tell he is not feeling well by his decreasing appetite!

He is not with any other fish and I have been doign a 30% water change every 7 to 10 days for 4 weeks now. There is NO algea anywhere in the aquarium. The light is not used excessively and windows are not a problem. The 'apparent' algea is very odd sice I hve had him about a year with nothing like this ever happening while he was in the community tank. The new set up has me worried about fungus thus the 'Pimafix' and now I am wondering if it is really bacterial or somthing????? What woudl be safe to try!

Note Regarding Answers:
I really appreciate your efforts everyone but ....

'Primate' - you are sick!

'Zoe' - you make the best sense and salt will help with bacteria and I am treating for fungus. I will give the salt a try!

Answer 1

Is it really a freshwater lobster? Technically, there are no freshwater lobsters - they are actually crayfish. If you actually have a lobster, it is a saltwater creature, and may be dying in FW.
However, you probably have a crayfish. What type of growth is it? Is it green, white, black, or brown? Can you remove it with your hand? Is your lobster/crayfish healthy otherwise?
You need to determine whether its a fungus, an algae, gangrene, etc.
In the meantime, a good cure-all would be salt ; add 1tbsp aquarium salt per 5 gallons of water.
However, it may just be a natural growth. Can you post a picture?

Answer 2

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF IT'S ISOLATED TO JUST THE FISH OR IF IT'S THE WHOLE TANK...IF IT'S JUST THE FISH IT CAN BE REMOVED WITH A CLEAN SPONGE...I WOULD REMOVE THE FISH FROM THE TANK TO DO THIS AS TO NOT SPREAD UNWANTED ALGAE SPORES THROUGHOUT THE TANK...IF IT'S THE WHOLE TANK...CLEAN OUT ANY EXCESS FOOD,DUE A PARTIAL WATER CHANGE AND TRY CUTTING BACK ON THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT YOU RUN YOUR LIGHTS...ALSO MAKE SURE THAT YOUR TANK IS NOT LOCATED IN FRONT OF A WINDOW...THIS CAN EFFECT WATER TEMPERATURE AND ALSO ALLOW LIGHT TO ENTER...YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU HAD RECENTLY RELOCATED THE FISH SO THERE MAY ALSO BE A STRESS ISSUE...KEEPING THE LIGHT OFF FOR AWHILE WILL EASE THE STRESS LEVEL AND ALSO HELP THE FISH TO ACCLIMATE TO ITS NEW SURROUNDINGS...LOBSTERS,CRAYFISH AND SHELL FISH IN GENERAL LIKE TO HIDE IN DARK AREAS IN THE WILD,SO CUTTING BACK ON THE LIGHT MAY HELP THE FISH TO FEEL LESS VENERABLE...IF YOU DON'T SEE AN IMPROVEMENT IN A COUPLE OF DAYS...YOU MAY HAVE TO MOVE THE FISH TO A SICK TANK AND MEDICATE.

Answer 3

Are you talking about a crayfish?
You don't need to cure him because he isn't sick. The algae won't hurt him. In fact, in the wild it would help camouflage him. If it bothers you you can try to gently rub it off but I wouldn't bother.

Answer 4

This probably isn't too much of a problem. However if you are worried you can try contacting a pet store and see if they have some professional advice for how to take care of freshwater crustaceans.

Answer 5

the Australian Yabbie is a crayfish..

Answer 6

It is harmless, in the wild it acts as camouflage helping him hide from predators.

Answer 7

Well you could wipe off the algea. I'm not really sure what else you could do.

Answer 8

It's normal, don't try to remove it. He probably likes it.

Answer 9

scrap it off with a razer blade