Natural stream pond...crayfish problem.

[lagunabridge]

Hi.

For those of you out there that are familiar with the joys of a natural pond I would like to know how you have dealt with what I presume is, well, a natural problem: Crayfish attacking and killing relatively slow swimming goldfish (Oranda, Ryukin, Lionhead, etc.). My pond in question is approximately 150 s.f. so is large enough if not for the fact that the crayfish population grows quickly once Spring begins. I spent about 4hrs draining the pond and catching approx 40 crayfish (which I gave to the LFS) but this was hard and dirty work that is obviously not an efficient method as it is merely minimizes the crayfish population for the near term (in addition to the hard work).

I have also created a "crabbing" cage trap made of chicken wire which has caught a few crayfish but my sense is that this method merely dents the crayfish population rather than annihilating it.

If you have had success with controlling crayfish in your pond please reply.

Regards...


Some pics of pond...it's 2 pond actually, 1 larger pond is then diverted into the smaller goldfish pond as well as a run-off stream along the outside of the goldfish pond...

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[stezatois]

nice looking pond. How about a crayfish lunch?

Sounds like a tricky situation really.

[carolinyens]

How about a stick of dynamite? I've also heard that you can take an old telephone like the one from the 30's or 40's thats a wind up, take two wires and hook it up to that part inside the box and it takes care of everything in the water. But in all seriousness, I think your just gonna have to set up more traps. If you can take out the bigger ones maybe the fish will take out the little ones

[petluvr]

Ever thought of selling some here on the forum there are lots of people here, myself included, that keep crays. Got any pics of them?

[crimsonmoon]

isn't shrimp a no no to feed to crayfish? because there is copper in them? try putting some thawed shrimp in the water and letting them eat it...?
idk, worth a shot maybe?

[arcanecircle]

how does the crayfish get into your pond? is there a natural body of water somewhere close to you? is that pond fed by water diverted from that natural body of water?

if there is a natural body of water with crayfish population and your pond isn't connected to it directly, maybe some sort of barrier to keep them from migrating into your pond will help.

If your pond is fed by that natural body of water then there may not be much you can do other than continuously trap them.

life give you lemon make lemonade, pond give you crayfish i can offer you a good crayfish recipe and you can have a cook out

[Vicious_Fish]

Get a crayfish trap and then cook'm up with some Old Bay.

[cam191919]

if you could heat up the water that would take care of them real fast, like 84 degrees. kinda a longshot but...

[247Plants]

Wow, quite the project. I would imagine diligence and time would be the only way to get rid of them. bait your traps well and check them as often as you can and dispose as necessary.

If its a live stream from a natural body of water that contains crayfish, then I would imagine it would be virtually impossible to keep them out of such a paradise.

[mellowvision]

It looks like from the pictures that your pond is fed by natural sources, and the flow continues past the pond... if that's so, I'd consider setting traps further upstream as well, so crays don't make their way downstream as often. this should make trapping in the pond a lot more effective.

[cam191919]

or put up some kinda screen befor your section of the stream to keep the crays from coming in

[Sounguru]

I would ID the crays first you maybe giving to the pet store to sell a illegal species putting them at risk and yourself. Also check your local laws you may not be able to trap them or just not trap that species.

[msouth468]

You will never get rid of the crayfish problem, or really get ahold of it. Having that many in your pond means they will never go away. Years ago I had a pond where the closest source of natural water was over a mile away. And I constantly had problems with crayfish attacking and eating my fish. I put up a fence and everything and it never stopped them. One time when it was raining really hard at night I saw a crayfish walking along in the yard towards my pond. If they want in, they get in. And since your pond is perched in a very natural spot. I don't think there is anything you can do other than physically removing the crayfish to keep them out. Sorry for the bad news but they are a ***** to get rid of.

The only thing that I did to keep control over them was to make sure there was no where for them to hide. Crayfish don't like to be exposed during the day and they will burrow to hide. And if your pond is concrete they can't. A friend of mine put a channel catfish in his pond and he said it controlled the crayfish population really well. But, it also controlled the goldfish population.

Edit: It looks like your pond is part of a concrete culvert. If that is the case then you will battle crayfish forever, concrete culverts are the Hilton for crayfish.

[lagunabridge]

Thx All for the replies, suggestions and thoughtful non-sequiturs ;) My pond is sourced from a larger natural pond that is located a few blocks away and streams along my neighborhood which is located in a region that has several arroyos created by nearby mountains. A road was built over the arroyo (rather than a bridge) which is the reason why a short culvert was constructed prob during the WPA in order for the stream to flow through unobstructed under the road. The crayfish are naturally in existence all along the stream's route: 2 notes, 1) I like the little buggers myself as they actually have somewhat distinct personalities themselves, and 2) they are a source of food for other animals such as raccoons and hawks (one of which uses my deck as it's dining table and leaves me the uneaten crayfish shells regularly). I don't believe the crayfish actually "walk" into my pond but rather the eggs/larvae? prob flow along with the stream and eventually some will naturally settle in my pond as no screen would be able to contain their small size (and i wouldn't want to restrict the stream's natural flow regardless).

My goldfish pond is also a koi pond so - as I suspected my crayfish issue had no practical solution - it will have to be primarily a koi pond henceforth. This is somewhat unfortunate as I really like the fat and slow swimming goldfish for their personalities but it's clear that they would eventually be a juicy meal for the crayfish.

[cris gaston]

Three things I can think of:
1. Put a fine screen mesh at the water inlet.
2. Put efficient traps in the pond.
3. Put in some kind of fish that will predate on the crays especially when they molt but friendly with the goldfish. Small cichlids or catfish maybe but not plecos.

BTW, you have a very beautiful place there.

[SubRosa]

If you try to fight nature you'll have to maintain eternal vigilance just to obtain a draw. The second you stop fighting nature wins.

[THE V]

There is no way to screen them out with that setup. The only thing that you can do is to constantly trap them. Peeled carrots work surprisingly well as bait, so does my mothers meatballs (always had plenty of those leftover when I was a kid). If you want I'll have my mother send over her recipe. Warning - these may be toxic to fish, dogs, cats, birds, plants, and other living organisms.

The good news is large koi will eat the smaller crays when they get big enough. So give your koi a few years to grow and you may be able to keep goldies then.

[pyroman9]

get a few nice big catfish... they should gobble them right up... maybe some bullheads?

[Muske]

Bass Pro sells cray traps. Old Bay, lemons and beer.

Maybe get a hold on the large ones by trapping and let the fish eat eggs/baby crays.

sounds like an uphill battle. Any SMB in the area?