I have been keeping fish for over 10 years now, mostly cichlids. However I just became the owner of a pair of blue freshwater crays. One is a female and has a clutch of babies under her tail. I have them in a tank with a sponge filter/powerhead setup and heater. I used logs and sunken pots as decor. They are eating the peeled shrimp I dropped in, and the female has tucked food under her tail for the babies. I was hoping there are some crayfish enthusiasts out there that have some hints on keeping these crustaceans in aquariums, eg any special requirments. I assume you maintain the water and conditions as applies to tropical fish.
Blue Crayfish enthusiasts
- Thread starter Kit Walker
- Start date
I haven't kept the blue crayfish sincce they cost 23$ here but i have kept the regular brown/red crayfish.
I kept a male that was about 3" in a 15gal for about a year but then he died for some unknown reason. For what i research about them they don't live very long. I kpet mine at a temp of 76 degrees(thats what the LFS kept theres at). I fed him shrimp pellets,cooked chicken,sinking carnivour pellets,flake food, all kinds of veggies and plant clippings.
i had pots and rock caves for him to hide in. I added plant clippings that he loved to shred and chop up. HE also loved to climb up the plants to try and grab the fish. I had a AC 150 on the tank. Make sure all the holes are covered securely in your hood,thery are master escape artists.
Good luck with breeding them,I heard that it is quite easy if you have the right setup.LEt us know how the babies do.
I kept a male that was about 3" in a 15gal for about a year but then he died for some unknown reason. For what i research about them they don't live very long. I kpet mine at a temp of 76 degrees(thats what the LFS kept theres at). I fed him shrimp pellets,cooked chicken,sinking carnivour pellets,flake food, all kinds of veggies and plant clippings.
i had pots and rock caves for him to hide in. I added plant clippings that he loved to shred and chop up. HE also loved to climb up the plants to try and grab the fish. I had a AC 150 on the tank. Make sure all the holes are covered securely in your hood,thery are master escape artists.
Good luck with breeding them,I heard that it is quite easy if you have the right setup.LEt us know how the babies do.
Thanks valerie. From your information it sounds like I shouldn't bother with any plants, because they will end up being shredded? I saw the male last night on the powerhead trying to climb out!
when I was living with a young married couple, the husband had a 55 gallon tank. He did get crabs and everyday the crabs would get out. Eventually, he got rid of the crabs because his wife gave birth to a child and the wife didnt want to have crabs crawling around the floor with the baby.
I've had one for about 10 months now. He's gotten along well with my aggro fish (Jack Dempsey and Blackbelt cichlid). I grew my fish up with him. I never really had any "hunting" done by mine. He seems fine to do his own thing, but doesn't like to be bothered by the fish either. He has occasionally gotten tired of being bothered and snapped at the culprit. He even "rode" one like a bull! My fish was REALLY bothering him that time!
Anyways, just for some basics.... They like generally cooler water than most tropicals. I keep mine at 77, but I'd recommend 75 or even a bit less. They will climb anything in the tank and try to get out occasionally. But interestingly, I haven't even seen mine try to do that in a long time. One thing I'd definately suggest is to heavily aerate the tank with O2. They will die most quickly from power outages when the oxygen is used up quickly. Give them a way to touch the surface of the water without escaping and they should be fine. I understand that they live about 3 years or so. They love caves and things to burrow under, so give them plenty of gravel to dig in. Just be careful to lay any heavy rocks down first, then add the gravel. I almost had mine dig his own grave under a piece of rock weighing about 50 lbs. It ended up almost crushing him. I had laid it on top of the gravel and he picked the area under it to dig around alot. I got lucky and was there when the problem occured! Anyways, have fun with them. enjoy the kiddies too!
Anyways, just for some basics.... They like generally cooler water than most tropicals. I keep mine at 77, but I'd recommend 75 or even a bit less. They will climb anything in the tank and try to get out occasionally. But interestingly, I haven't even seen mine try to do that in a long time. One thing I'd definately suggest is to heavily aerate the tank with O2. They will die most quickly from power outages when the oxygen is used up quickly. Give them a way to touch the surface of the water without escaping and they should be fine. I understand that they live about 3 years or so. They love caves and things to burrow under, so give them plenty of gravel to dig in. Just be careful to lay any heavy rocks down first, then add the gravel. I almost had mine dig his own grave under a piece of rock weighing about 50 lbs. It ended up almost crushing him. I had laid it on top of the gravel and he picked the area under it to dig around alot. I got lucky and was there when the problem occured! Anyways, have fun with them. enjoy the kiddies too!