crayfish

[eastcoast420]

i know this is the cichlid forum... but i like to rely on most of my advice from my fellow cichlid lovers.. Do any of you have problems with crayfish hurting or attempting to go after plecos?

[vfrex]

I wouldn't keep the two together.

[GEV83]

I put a crayfish with three plecos it did not turn out good. The crayfish got one pleco by the eye it let go but the pleco looked like it had pop eye it eventually died for it stopped eating after that it ate another pleco tail and that one died from fungus. THe other pleco was unharmed though it was a baby pleco and move away when the crayfish was in sight. I would not recomend it you are risking your plecos life.

[Tim Bo]

Amazing predators if you ask me. Crayfish will go for pretty much anything if they're hungry (and big) enough.

[ChilDawg]

eastcoast420, if you do end up trying to keep crayfish in tanks with specimen-type cichlids (Oscars, RDs, Doviis, and the like), you will have some pretty expensive (and messy) fish food ready to be taken greedily by your fish. I only mention this in this thread because it seems as though you are a true cichlidiot (as I am, and it's not an insult to be called one :D) and this could cause your whole pleco point to be moot once Oskie decides to enjoy the snack with which you have so nicely provided him.

[MotorcyclesFish]

is a crayfish the same as a lobster? i've tripped up over inter-atlantic terminology before, but all the piccys i've seen just show lobsters. also an LFS near me has blue "armoured shrimp", is that their trade name for crayfish?

cheers

[ChilDawg]

Slight difference between the two, but they taste the same. I think that there might be a difference in habitats, but I'm not sure if there is a true taxonomical difference.

[MotorcyclesFish]

:D "they taste the same" :D

i'm guessing it's like bettas + gouramies - same general thingy, slight technical difference. cheers for info.

man i got four tanks already, two in my bedroom - this is no time to suddenly decide i need crustaceans in my life :p

[GEV83]

I think the difference is in the claws if anything. There are both fresh and saltwater crayfish same goes for lobsters. Crayfish have longer and thinner claws where as the lobsters have short but thicker and more powerful claws. This would be my guess. I read that the difference is Lobster dont have claws and crayfish do but how do you explain the Live maine lobster I see at Red Lobster??? Im pretty sure theres a difference but what it is for sure I dont know.

[h20man]

i had a blue lobster for a while about a month ago my jack dempsey ripped off a claw, and then yesterday after molting he was eaten by my pike cichlid, but before that he was mean and didnt back down to anything

[ChilDawg]

After my roomie and I did extensive research last night, there is a difference between the colloquial and precise usage of crayfish and lobsters.

Precise usage: Crayfish only live in fresh and brackish waters. Lobsters only live in brackish and marine waters.

There are differences between the crayfish as well: those from North America and Northern Eurasia are approximately the same morphologically, while the Southern Hemisphere contingent are quite different from these.

This could have been the source of the confusion, but hopefully that will be resolved, thanks to Joe, the roommate with free time and desire to learn yesterday.

[ChilDawg]

crayfish.byu.edu is the URL from whence this info came, Joe just informed me.