Crayfish and shrimps?

phanizzle

AC Members
Jun 27, 2007
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first of all in a 20gal tank am i allowed to put more than 2 crayfish or its best to keep it to 1 or 2? and can i keep shrimps with the crayfishes or crabs? or will the be aggressive towards each other?
 
i am new to keeping cray fish but what i have read so far is that live shimp carry a virus or a desies that would harm you craysor even kill them, but i have only read about it ......
 
I have kept four different species of shrimp with two different species of crayfish, so yes you can keep crayfish and shrimp in the same tank. Most dwarf shrimp will not be aggresive at all. However, macrobrachium shrimp do tend to be very aggresive.

As to the number of crayfish you can keep in a 20g tank, it depends on the type. You could keep more than 2 crayfish, if they are a dwarf species that is peaceful with their own kind. However, some species are aggresive towards any 'invading' crayfish.

What you should do is, find a species of crayfish that is available in your area and find out what their environmental and population requirements are (water conditions & number in a 20g tank). Then see what kind of shrimp have the same water requirements.
 
Some species of shrimp, and possibly crayfish, do like to dig in sand. In particular m. mirabile is one species that does well in a sandy environment.

Find a species that you like, and see what you need to keep it happy.
 
i want 1 hammer blue cray fish along with cichlids for my 20gal tank the shrimps im gonna just use my spare tank and breed them but thats later after i setup my 20gal tank..i like the looks of sand but anyone that has a hammer cobalt cray can you use sand or will it be weird for the crayfish? thank you
 
Cichlids w/ any crustation is not a good mix. Even if the crayfish is large, cichlids will eventually kill it. They are particularly vulnerable when they molt and have a soft shell.

I've kept hammers in a gravel substraite (see my avatar). They did fine.
 
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