Crayfish compatibility

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na06003

AC Members
Mar 29, 2010
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Salisbury, MD
Hello all.
I recently had to move my crawfish out of my 55gal because I got some new cichlids and he was cutting their fins while they were asleep. So I put him in a spare 20gal. I hate to get rid of him because he is very entertaining to watch... so I'm thinking of maybe making the 20gal a planted invert tank. However, I don't know much about inverts. He lived with some snails and turtles in my 55gal and didn't bother either, so I think I could add some snails to the 20gal... What else can live with him? Are shrimp compatible or would he eat them? Any suggestions? Thanks!
 

Dwarf Puffers

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Dec 11, 2006
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NS, Canada
Usually crayfish eat any other inverts and most fish that can't eat them. You could either keep it alone, or you could replace him with some dwarf crays or CPOs for some peaceful crays.
 

na06003

AC Members
Mar 29, 2010
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Salisbury, MD
I'm not sure what kind he is... he was free because the pet store gets them in with their freshwater plants and ends up with way too many of them. So when I bought some plants, they asked if I wanted him...
His body is brownish... His tail has a black stripe down the middle. His legs are very light colored but not quite white. His claws are brown but have a reddish tint.

I hate to get rid of him, he is fun to watch! Or at least he was when he was in with my fish and turtles. Now he seems bored almost. He needs something to interact with.
 

deeleywoman

All men are equal before fish.
Mar 9, 2009
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you could always go ahead and throw some plants and stuff in the tank with him so he's get stuff to climb around and hide in... at least give him something to do until you find him someone to harrass :D
 

piggy67

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Apr 24, 2008
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Battle Creek, Mich.
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Dion
Crays should not be kept with any species of fish or inverts. They will eat anything they can catch that doesn't eat them first including other crays. Craws are very vulnerable while molting and can be picked on/killed by fish during this process so if the cray doesnt eat the fish, the fish might eat the cray while in the process of molting.Im not saying that its impossible to keep crays with fish/inverts, because i keep a P. alleni with my acei/crystal red cichlids but its not a good idea IMO....
 

Keyman1

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Jul 1, 2014
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I have 3 Louisiana swamp crawfish in my 100g community tank. They are full grown as I saved them from the boil pot at our last crawfish boil. I (years ago when I lived in LA) had another 100g and kept 2 oscars. You can get crawfish during the season for next to nothing (usually free for a few), I just put them in the tank, the bigger the craw the better. The oscars love to eat them and it is quite a show to watch them eat. Sometimes it took a couple days to get one down (the really big ones). I live in AL now so crawfish are not easy to come by, so I decided to keep them as pets. They are fascinating to watch. I have noticed that if any of my community fish become sick or weak the craws will take them out. They don't seem to bother the healthy fish as they simply can't catch them. It is usually right after I make a fish purchase, if one of the say 6 or 8 fish bought doesn't seem to have made the trip to their new home very well, that the craws will take out a fish. They also make a great clean-up crew for left over food that settles to the bottom. I have read that you should have 20 gallons per crawfish , with lots of hiding places for them to molt. You can watch him climb ALL OVER my tank on you tube here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CPJ1FXvbbI
He's quite large for his species. The really big craw is never aggressive towards any of his tank mates, the other craws slightly smaller just stay out of his way.
 
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