First time crayfish owner has questions.

HrdWodFlor

HrdWodFlor

Tiger Dog is on the lookout!
Oct 7, 2008
197
0
16
49
Hope Mills, NC
Last weekend I found a 10 gallon on the side of the road. My plans are to set it up as a crayfish tank. I am getting the crays from the local river before they start to hibernate. The guy at the local DEC office didn't seem to care that i was going to do it. I want to do a simple setup for my dads classroom. They will only be captive till the spring, then i will return them back to the river. The tank will host gravel and rock from the same river, I may add a few plants from there also.
If anyone has suggestions or links to good info, it will be a big help. My main goal is to make sure that the little guys have a good home first and foremost.
Thanks for looking!

Criticisms are also welcome!
 
It is fantastic you are exposing wildlife and nature to kids!

Usually the rule of thumb is once you keep it in an aquarium you don't release it back to the wild. That goes on the philosophy that once it's been in an aquarium and exposed to aquatic equipment it is also exposed to bacteria and disease from all sorts of tropical locations.

In your case- the risk might be minimal- but is something to bare in mind. You might want to give them away to a classmember instead to keep when you are finished with them.


Also bare in mind if you get multiple crayfish and confine them together they may kill each other. (depending on species- some are more tolerant than others). Crayfish in general don't like other crayfish though.

You could consider cambarellus shufeldti dwarf cajun crays- I got mine from jamesstill on here- they are great, inexpensive, and one of the few species that can be kept in groups.

I certainly wouldn't release them into the wild though because they would have been aquarium raised... even though they are native to parts of the US.
 
my friend had some when we were little we would go to this sewer/stream and tie some meat in a pantyhose with fishing line
those suckers are easy to catch ^^
if you get everything from their enviroment i dont see a problem
 
I agree with wyco. If you are catching them, its not a good idea to release them again, they could bring many diseases back into the wild from being captive, and offset the natural balance. Even if they are not showing any diseases. And a ten gallon would be only good for 1 crayfish, 2 maybe if there is many hiding spots. They will fight and eventually kill each other.
 
OK. thanks. I don't plan on having more than 2. I will look into a new home for them at the end of the year.
Does any one know of a good way to get a good current flow? I was planing to put in a maxi jet 750 converted to a filter in one end and have the outlet dump into a spreader/spraybar type thing in the other end to get that moving water effect that they are used to.
Any ideas or thoughts on this?
 
Depending on species- if you've got two be prepared to put in a seperator or they may kill each other.

Having two the same size may limit aggression and give them both a sporting chance.

I also think the general recommendation is having more hiding spots than you have crayfish.

Oh- and make sure you have a lid- most crayfish are escape artists.

You can buy powerheads that will provide plenty of flow for a 10 gallon at Petsmart for $15.
 
thanks everyone. I know that thee are about 10 different species of crays in the Hudson river system. i guess i need to catch a few and see what ones we have. I will only keep one. i dont want to stress them out and make them fight.
Thanks.
 
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