Crabs, shrimp and snails, Oh my!
- Thread starter Bigbob55
- Start date
A few months ago I purchased a Hammer's Cobalt Blue lobster -- Procambarus sp. and not Cherax sp. -- from LiveAquaria.com and that boy has never been any trouble to the plants or the fishes. Only time I saw him do anything aggressive was to wave his claw at a dollar that was trying to take his wafer.
He's in my 4 year old son's 20 gallon planted aquarium and living with 3 silver dollars, 2 tiger barbs, 1 Blue Dwarf Gourami, and a pl*co. These are semi-aggressive fish and they don't bother him and he doesn't bother them. I don't know how he'd be in a peaceful tank. He's moulted once (boy, THAT was cool!) and he comes to the front of the tank every night (like clockwork) for his wafer.
We've never had a problem with Mr. Cleaner (my son named him and I think that name rocks). Never had a problem with the plants and the dollars either until recently
I put a couple of new plants in the tank and I guess the dollars liked the taste. ROFL! Gone bye-bye
Anyhoodle, the Cobalt Blue only gets to 5" in an aquarium and he's an awesome color.
I DO have a cherax sp. in another tank and that boy is VISCIOUS! He's in there with 2 guppies and a gourami. If you even get close to the tank he's got his claws up in the air and ready to go a few rounds. My daughter (she's nine and it's her lobster) named him "Slifer the Sky Lobster" but I think his name should be Rocky Balboa
Slifer pulls up the plants and throws the bogwood around. He has dismantled the filter tube more than once, too. I'm waiting for him to mangle the airline tubing next
I'd give a huge thumbs up to Procambarus sp. in a semi-agressive tank, possible risk in a peaceful one.
Roan
He's in my 4 year old son's 20 gallon planted aquarium and living with 3 silver dollars, 2 tiger barbs, 1 Blue Dwarf Gourami, and a pl*co. These are semi-aggressive fish and they don't bother him and he doesn't bother them. I don't know how he'd be in a peaceful tank. He's moulted once (boy, THAT was cool!) and he comes to the front of the tank every night (like clockwork) for his wafer.
We've never had a problem with Mr. Cleaner (my son named him and I think that name rocks). Never had a problem with the plants and the dollars either until recently
I put a couple of new plants in the tank and I guess the dollars liked the taste. ROFL! Gone bye-byeAnyhoodle, the Cobalt Blue only gets to 5" in an aquarium and he's an awesome color.
I DO have a cherax sp. in another tank and that boy is VISCIOUS! He's in there with 2 guppies and a gourami. If you even get close to the tank he's got his claws up in the air and ready to go a few rounds. My daughter (she's nine and it's her lobster) named him "Slifer the Sky Lobster" but I think his name should be Rocky Balboa
Slifer pulls up the plants and throws the bogwood around. He has dismantled the filter tube more than once, too. I'm waiting for him to mangle the airline tubing next I'd give a huge thumbs up to Procambarus sp. in a semi-agressive tank, possible risk in a peaceful one.
Roan
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Oh... and for anyone getting a crayfish... make sure you have no spaces in your lid.
Monster has escaped at least 3 times....
Monster has escaped at least 3 times....
Wippit Guud said:
cherax sp. is not really a species... it is what they call a crayfish without a current scientific name.
I have 2 tiger or zebra crayfish in a 10g with guppies and plants... no touching of anything. They are a peacefull crayfish if bought from someone who has tank raised them.
often when you get a crayfish native to your area or close by, they are from the wild and will be agressive because they have been fending for themselves since they were born.
Looking into where they came from and how the breeder has raised them helps to get you the kind of cray you want.
Looking into where they came from and how the breeder has raised them helps to get you the kind of cray you want.
I think what many are forgetting is that crayfish survive by instinct in the wild, and that instinct hasn't left them just because we threw them in a fish tank. A breeder can not change that instinct, and, I am willing to bet, one day Mr. Cray will decide the fishies just taste too dang good to pass up.
Oscars have been tank bred for many years, but still go after smaller fish eventually if they are left with them.
Oscars have been tank bred for many years, but still go after smaller fish eventually if they are left with them.
shediddily said:
Cherax is a genus of crayfish, indiginous to Australia.
And anything followed by an sp. has no species name, fish get those all the time too. But there are certain Cherax that have an actual species:
Cherax quadricarinatus - red-claw crayfish
Cherax tenuimanus - Marron crayfish
Cherax destructor - "Yabbie"
As others have said, skip the crayfish as they are more suited to a species only tank. I would recommend getting a couple of bamboo shrimp (aka wood shrimp or singapore fan shrimp). These shrimps ar larger than your ghost shrimp as they grow to be about 3.5 inches and are typically already 2 inches or more in the LFS. After adapting to your tank and feeling safe, they will roam around the tank in search of food. They are filter feeders and are interesting to watch as they have 4 fan like appendages instead of pincers. After filtering for food they will stuff their hands into their mouths.
Cherax sp. Tiger - is not from australia (from the research I have done online) it is said to be from papanuguini (spelling???)
