I have a crayfish in 10 gallon tank with no heater. Are there any possible tankmates that I could put in with it? Also, when I bought the crayfish 6 months ago it was red. Now the crayfish has turned blue. Is that common? I know that his value has increased by about 10 times.
Crayfish Questions
- Thread starter PredatorFish
- Start date
Crayfish are for the most part scavengers. BUT if giving the chance and something is small enough they can and will grab it. A small sleeping fish would not be a good idea. I've kept them before and I think they are great for cleaning the bottom. They will also dine on the algea. Or tasty treats for carnivores. Keep in mind though. These things will go from tiny to big. I used to have a tank set up with native fish. I caught some very small (under 1") crayfish from one of our streams. They got very big before the tank was broken down a few years later. They were fun to enjoy watching also. They are mostly nocturnal but on many occasions I watched them venture out when the lights were on.
If possible and you don't mind doing so. Keep it buy itself in a species tank. If you just have to put something in there with it... Make sure it's big enough for the crayfish not to grab. However in a tank that size a big fish wouldn't be an option. Also make sure the top of the tank is covered. They will escape if given the chance.
As for the color change. I'm not sure what's up with that. The only ones I've ever kept were natives. From streams and pond. The only difference I could notice there was claw size and shape. The stream crayfish had big fat claws and the pond crayfish had thin long claws. Thier colors were generally brown, slighty reddish, or light gray, and they all had red tips on thier claws. They did have a blue-ish tinge sometimes when the lights were on.
I'm not sure if the colored ones are dyed, or if they are found naturally like that. So I can't help you there.
As for feeding they will generally eat anything. Mine were fed flakes, krill, and tetramin tablets. If it's tasty though, and they can get thier claws on it they will eat it. I remember as a kid catching them in minnow traps that had bread in them as bait.
Hope this helped.
Also make sure you provide a place for it to make it's home. And once it gets full size becareful about sticking fingers near that home. They are teritorial to anything that gets close to thier hiding spot. A stack of rock that has an opening in the front would work. Make sure it's something that gives them protection from 3 sides and above. They seemed to like that. Like a cave of some sort would be a good idea. Or maybe some type of tube. Just make sure they are able to get traction while inside it.
If possible and you don't mind doing so. Keep it buy itself in a species tank. If you just have to put something in there with it... Make sure it's big enough for the crayfish not to grab. However in a tank that size a big fish wouldn't be an option. Also make sure the top of the tank is covered. They will escape if given the chance.
As for the color change. I'm not sure what's up with that. The only ones I've ever kept were natives. From streams and pond. The only difference I could notice there was claw size and shape. The stream crayfish had big fat claws and the pond crayfish had thin long claws. Thier colors were generally brown, slighty reddish, or light gray, and they all had red tips on thier claws. They did have a blue-ish tinge sometimes when the lights were on.
I'm not sure if the colored ones are dyed, or if they are found naturally like that. So I can't help you there.
As for feeding they will generally eat anything. Mine were fed flakes, krill, and tetramin tablets. If it's tasty though, and they can get thier claws on it they will eat it. I remember as a kid catching them in minnow traps that had bread in them as bait.
Hope this helped.
Also make sure you provide a place for it to make it's home. And once it gets full size becareful about sticking fingers near that home. They are teritorial to anything that gets close to thier hiding spot. A stack of rock that has an opening in the front would work. Make sure it's something that gives them protection from 3 sides and above. They seemed to like that. Like a cave of some sort would be a good idea. Or maybe some type of tube. Just make sure they are able to get traction while inside it.
My Blue crawfish is fine with my larger cichlids, but I wouldn't suggest a friend in a 10 gal. Too small to have their own spaces. I agree to give it a cave of some sort. Mine loves to dig alot, so be careful with heavy rocks with gravel under it. It may dig under the heavy rock until it collapses on itself. Also make sure you have plenty of airation. They are prone to suffocate if power goes off and the water loses O2 and they can't reach the surface.
In a tank by himself. Fill the water half way and allow him to climb out of the water occasionally. I'd do that if I had a separate tank.
In a tank by himself. Fill the water half way and allow him to climb out of the water occasionally. I'd do that if I had a separate tank.
I had mine in a 15gal tank. He would love to shred up the plant clippping ai added to his tank so i would add any plants. Make sure you have lots of caves so he can pick where to live and if there are more hiding spots they come out more.
I kept mine alone for a long time but i added some zebra danios for upper water movement. My crayfish would occasionally catch one but I didn't care since i knew it would happen sooner or later.
I suggest that if you want to add fish make it cheap ones that would wont mind loosing a few. I chose zebra danios since they are fast and cheap but i'm sure you could do feeder guppies(not the ones with big tails) WCMM or what ever you want.
As for the color I don't know how blue crays start off but maybe they don't have they blue color right from birth. GOod deal though since the blue are so much cooler.
I kept mine alone for a long time but i added some zebra danios for upper water movement. My crayfish would occasionally catch one but I didn't care since i knew it would happen sooner or later.
I suggest that if you want to add fish make it cheap ones that would wont mind loosing a few. I chose zebra danios since they are fast and cheap but i'm sure you could do feeder guppies(not the ones with big tails) WCMM or what ever you want.
As for the color I don't know how blue crays start off but maybe they don't have they blue color right from birth. GOod deal though since the blue are so much cooler.
We had a red crayfish that molted and turned dark indigo. We have no idea why either. She died before she molted again which was disappointing because we were really curious to see whether she would stay dark blue or turn red again.
As for electric blue crayfish, they are born blue.
As for electric blue crayfish, they are born blue.
The crayfish has a cave in his tank and the tank has a hood so he can't escape. I feed him Hikari Crab Cuisine (which has extra calcium for crustaceans) and Wardley Shrimp Pellets. He has shed his exoskeleton about 4 times since I have had him and every time he has eaten it when he was done. Before he shed his exoxkeleton the last time he was that indigo color with orange spots. Now he is just as bright blue as the electric blue crayfish. Does anyone know about breeding crayfish? That might be interesting.
Hmmmm.... maybe it's turning color because of its diet....
I know this is a wierd analogy, but there are plants that have different colored flowers depending upon what kind of soil/fertilizer they have....hydraengeas come to mind right off the bat...
Also, in the animal kingdom, scarlet ibises, spoonbills, and flamingos get their color from the foods they eat, mainly red shrimp and krill...sounds like something similar is possible for crayfish as well...
Maybe something you are feeding him has a color-enhancing effect on him....just a thought....
That is pretty cool, though....
I know this is a wierd analogy, but there are plants that have different colored flowers depending upon what kind of soil/fertilizer they have....hydraengeas come to mind right off the bat...
Also, in the animal kingdom, scarlet ibises, spoonbills, and flamingos get their color from the foods they eat, mainly red shrimp and krill...sounds like something similar is possible for crayfish as well...
Maybe something you are feeding him has a color-enhancing effect on him....just a thought....
That is pretty cool, though....
yes and you can get red/white/blue yokes in eggs depending on the color corn you feed the hens.
Last edited:
try feeding more veggies,they need a balanced diet.
Mine loved peas,carrots,zuchini,cuke, basically anythign i had left over.
Mine loved peas,carrots,zuchini,cuke, basically anythign i had left over.
Well they crayfish solved his tankmate problem on his own. I have a stand that holds two ten gallon tanks on above the other. He was in the top tank. On friday he climbed up the filter intake tube, out the space in the hood for the filter, down the filter cord, and ended up in the feeder tank below. I figured that since he put out so much effort to get down there that he could stay there. He seems happy. Yesterday I gave him part of a sprilina tablet. What is cuke?