I feed my blue cray shrimp pellets and only shrimp pellets. The thought just occured to me that there may be something better to feed him. Any suggestions???
BLUE CRAY FOOD
- Thread starter petluvr
- Start date
Feeder fish he will not touch. I had a few in with him and eventually I feed them to my flowerhorn. I will have to try the crab cusine. What about hermit crab food I think I have some laying around somewhere?
Not sure which blue crayfish you have, but it doesn't matter too much. Crayfish in the wild have very broad diets including live and dead vertebrates, invertebrates, plants, algae, and organic debris. Pretty much any fish diet should be adequate for your crawdad; you might want to supplement with some calcium-containing food (snails, cuttlebone, whole fish, etc.) now and again to promote a healthy exoskeleton.
The exoskeleton is what Iam worried about. I just worry too much about my animals I guess
Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with his exoskeleton I just believe in an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Nice to c someone who also uses the term "crawdad".
Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with his exoskeleton I just believe in an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Nice to c someone who also uses the term "crawdad".
Crawdad, crayfish, water roach, it's all the same to me. Just don't go calling them a lobster! 
Make sure that it gets enough food. It looks like you have a P. alleni, but I can't say for sure. Here's a picture of one of my old P. alleni;
Here are a few things that you should consider doing, if you're not.
If your water is very soft, you might want to add a pH buffer, such as crushed coral, or a cuttlebone. Another thing you can do to help replicate their natural environment is put dried 'brown' leaf litter (leaves from hardwood trees, oak and maple work well), that has been soaked in toxin free water. The process used to soak the leaves is very simple. Get leaves that have naturally fallen from the tree, and put them in clean water. Once the water turns brown replace it with clean water. When the leaves no longer turn the water brown they're ready to be placed in your tank. The soaking removes tannis and other potential hazards.
When introducing something new, like leaves, to a tank, do it slowly. Only add one leaf at a time. Give it time to soak. While the leave soaks, watch your invertebrates closely. If you see any unusual behavior, remove the leaf at once, and to a 15 to 20% water change. This is a common practice for shrimp. When used with shrimp, the shrimp 'appear' to be eating the leaves, but in reality they are eating the microbes that are eating the leaf. Crayfish will also do that, but I've had some that will eat the leaves as well.
Here are a few things to consider (or things not to do, if you are).
Crayfish eat anything that's digestible. They do pick through detritus, but they do not actually eat fecal matter from other animals. Vacuuming your gravel/sand is still required, to keep down nitrates and ammonia.
For years there have been people, who recommend adding iodine or other additives that 'improve molting'. These practices have been propagated via the web, even though there is absolutely zero scientific proof that it does any good. And there are some possible indications that it can do harm.
Adding salt is another. I've heard people say that it is like a multi-vitamin for aquarium animals. I don't know about fish, but it is not needed, at all, for invertebrates. The only medicinal use for salt is for diseases such as Ich.
There are some types of shrimp that require brackish water or even full marine water to mature from zoe to post larvae. However, I highly doubt that you're endeavoring to do that, yet!:grinyes:
Good luck with your crawfishdadroach
Make sure that it gets enough food. It looks like you have a P. alleni, but I can't say for sure. Here's a picture of one of my old P. alleni;
Here are a few things that you should consider doing, if you're not.
If your water is very soft, you might want to add a pH buffer, such as crushed coral, or a cuttlebone. Another thing you can do to help replicate their natural environment is put dried 'brown' leaf litter (leaves from hardwood trees, oak and maple work well), that has been soaked in toxin free water. The process used to soak the leaves is very simple. Get leaves that have naturally fallen from the tree, and put them in clean water. Once the water turns brown replace it with clean water. When the leaves no longer turn the water brown they're ready to be placed in your tank. The soaking removes tannis and other potential hazards.
When introducing something new, like leaves, to a tank, do it slowly. Only add one leaf at a time. Give it time to soak. While the leave soaks, watch your invertebrates closely. If you see any unusual behavior, remove the leaf at once, and to a 15 to 20% water change. This is a common practice for shrimp. When used with shrimp, the shrimp 'appear' to be eating the leaves, but in reality they are eating the microbes that are eating the leaf. Crayfish will also do that, but I've had some that will eat the leaves as well.
Here are a few things to consider (or things not to do, if you are).
Crayfish eat anything that's digestible. They do pick through detritus, but they do not actually eat fecal matter from other animals. Vacuuming your gravel/sand is still required, to keep down nitrates and ammonia.
For years there have been people, who recommend adding iodine or other additives that 'improve molting'. These practices have been propagated via the web, even though there is absolutely zero scientific proof that it does any good. And there are some possible indications that it can do harm.
Adding salt is another. I've heard people say that it is like a multi-vitamin for aquarium animals. I don't know about fish, but it is not needed, at all, for invertebrates. The only medicinal use for salt is for diseases such as Ich.
There are some types of shrimp that require brackish water or even full marine water to mature from zoe to post larvae. However, I highly doubt that you're endeavoring to do that, yet!:grinyes:
Good luck with your crawfishdadroach
the substrate that is in the tank is about 2-2.5 in of aragonite crushed coral, so I am not water about the exoskeleton because of water conditions. I just want to make sure that I am doing everything possible to make my little jungle happy. Thanks for the leaf tip....I already have some soaking