Franka the Crayfish

Some photos of our little dwarf cray

She is a little bit of a diva, does not like to have the same foods offered twice in the same week, stronger preference for fresh foods rather than prepared.

She eats raw shrimp, mealworms, bloodworms, OmegaOne flakes, Hikari Shrimp Cuisine, Bug Bites bottom feeder pellets, and crushed snails.






She lives alone in a 4 gallon tank with 3 faucet snails (an invasive snail in my area)



We target feed her daily to prevent wasted food and anything she doesn't eat is removed right away.

She likes to climb her rocks, anacharis, and her sponge jar filter.










Shes got an attitude too where she runs out with her claws up at you like she's gonna grab you lol


Behaviour seen here with target feeding her a flake

Super cool man. I’ve always wanted one but it will kill most of my fish. Have you ever seen the Solid white ones? Seen one at lfs for the first time this week. They are stunning

AfflictionX said:

Super cool man. I’ve always wanted one but it will kill most of my fish. Have you ever seen the Solid white ones? Seen one at lfs for the first time this week. They are stunning

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Franka is a Mexican dwarf crayfish which is one of the few that can be housed with fish and plants. They stay less than 2 inches. Just iffy with other bottom dwellers and shrimp. She doesn't like shrimp and I worry the corydoras would outcompete her for food.

The white crays are beautiful but another thats iffy with fish lol

NCaquatics said:

Franka is a Mexican dwarf crayfish which is one of the few that can be housed with fish and plants. They stay less than 2 inches. Just iffy with other bottom dwellers and shrimp. She doesn't like shrimp and I worry the corydoras would outcompete her for food.

The white crays are beautiful but another thats iffy with fish lol

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I am soooo in love with this diva!!!

Did you get this little guy in the wild? I have a ton in the creek beside my house. The biggest one I ever caught was around 5 inches long.

Good pictures!

(Also nice scape! What light are you using? It really brings out the colors in the rocks.)

Gah she's adorable! I watched that clip of you target feeding her over and over, that moment when she realises it's food... aaww! I really want one!!

Do they come in any other colours? I love the orange, just curious!

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

Gah she's adorable! I watched that clip of you target feeding her over and over, that moment when she realises it's food... aaww! I really want one!!

Do they come in any other colours? I love the orange, just curious!

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After some googling, found out I can't have one, they're illegal in the UK
Apparently there's a crayfish pathogen that has affected our native white clawed crayfish, so the sale of all but one species of crayfish is illegal here, to try to prevent that pathogen being imported.

So many irresponsible hobbyists of the past releasing aquarium life into the wild, have caused untold ecological damage, and are ruining the hobby for the rest of us. Never release anything from a tank into the wild! Fish, invert or plant. Nor keep it somewhere at risk of flooding so these things can contaminate wild popuations. You would think this was common sense, but apparently not.

PheonixKingZ said:

Did you get this little guy in the wild? I have a ton in the creek beside my house. The biggest one I ever caught was around 5 inches long.

Good pictures!

(Also nice scape! What light are you using? It really brings out the colors in the rocks.)

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Lighting is a combo of a little weak nano led light and sunlight from the window (tank is in the window ledge)
This light lol

And no shes an orange Mexican Dwarf Crayfish, purchased online and won't grow more than 2 inches, more likely at 1.5 inch where shes at right now. Not a native or invasive cray here.

AdoraBelle Dearheart said:

After some googling, found out I can't have one, they're illegal in the UK
Apparently there's a crayfish pathogen that has affected our native white clawed crayfish, so the sale of all but one species of crayfish is illegal here, to try to prevent that pathogen being imported.

So many irresponsible hobbyists of the past releasing aquarium life into the wild, have caused untold ecological damage, and are ruining the hobby for the rest of us. Never release anything from a tank into the wild! Fish, invert or plant. Nor keep it somewhere at risk of flooding so these things can contaminate wild popuations. You would think this was common sense, but apparently not.

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Releasing non natives is an issue where I live too. People are dumb.
No joke, maybe about 8-10 years ago someone found a small shark washed up on an island in our lakes. We are freshwater, locked inland! Someone released it out into native waters. And goldfish have taken over here too. Whether they've been released, flushed, or escaped from flooding, we have breeding populations of koi and goldfish here. That's where my goldie Neowise came from.


I never flush bodies either. I bury them in the back garden. I just always worry what will be introduced wild, plus its just disrespectful to me to flush a pet. I try very hard too not to flush plants because those are another invasive issue here.

Looks like a professional light, ngl... still stunning!

NCaquatics said:

Lighting is a combo of a little weak nano led light and sunlight from the window (tank is in the window ledge)
This light lol

Top Fin® Flexible Nano Aquarium LED Light

Buy Top Fin® Flexible Nano Aquarium LED Light at Petsmart

www.petsmart.ca

And no shes an orange Mexican Dwarf Crayfish, purchased online and won't grow more than 2 inches, more likely at 1.5 inch where shes at right now. Not a native or invasive cray here.


Releasing non natives is an issue where I live too. People are dumb.
No joke, maybe about 8-10 years ago someone found a small shark washed up on an island in our lakes. We are freshwater, locked inland! Someone released it out into native waters. And goldfish have taken over here too. Whether they've been released, flushed, or escaped from flooding, we have breeding populations of koi and goldfish here. That's where my goldie Neowise came from.

I never flush bodies either. I bury them in the back garden. I just always worry what will be introduced wild, plus its just disrespectful to me to flush a pet. I try very hard too not to flush plants because those are another invasive issue here.

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Oh,in my area,when It's flooded a lot got out too,just to be dead a few hours later.maybe the water is so polluted

thuctoanvietnamese said:

Oh,in my area,when It's flooded a lot got out too,just to be dead a few hours later.maybe the water is so polluted

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But native fish have no problem

NCaquatics said:

Lighting is a combo of a little weak nano led light and sunlight from the window (tank is in the window ledge)
This light lol

Top Fin® Flexible Nano Aquarium LED Light

Buy Top Fin® Flexible Nano Aquarium LED Light at Petsmart

www.petsmart.ca

And no shes an orange Mexican Dwarf Crayfish, purchased online and won't grow more than 2 inches, more likely at 1.5 inch where shes at right now. Not a native or invasive cray here.


Releasing non natives is an issue where I live too. People are dumb.
No joke, maybe about 8-10 years ago someone found a small shark washed up on an island in our lakes. We are freshwater, locked inland! Someone released it out into native waters. And goldfish have taken over here too. Whether they've been released, flushed, or escaped from flooding, we have breeding populations of koi and goldfish here. That's where my goldie Neowise came from.

I never flush bodies either. I bury them in the back garden. I just always worry what will be introduced wild, plus its just disrespectful to me to flush a pet. I try very hard too not to flush plants because those are another invasive issue here.

Click to expand...

I'd never flush bodies either, or plants. Plant matter gets netted out from the bucket and into the bin, so it would be long dead before it makes it to landfill, and fish are buried in the garden too. It would feel disrespectful to flush them or just throw them in the bin. I couldn't do it.

You're right, there are too many pathogens and diseases that could be in our tanks from fish bought in from other countries that our native species hadn't been exposed to before. People releasing goldfish, plecos, even snakeheads back in the day - have caused so much damage, and it's so preventable I could scream. If they'd researched the fish they were getting before buying it, they'd know it's going to get huge and need a massive tank or pond, and should never have bought it. Releasing it into the wild is so selfish, stupid and irresponsible. Rehoming or as a last resort euthanising those goldfish instead of putting them into the wild would have been the right option. They're happy that *their* "Nemo" or "Goldie" can survive in their local lake, and hey, it can live with the goldfish other people have dumped there already! Not caring that these goldfish are out-competing native species and eating everything, destroying that lakes ecosystem and spreading whenever it floods.

I would bet good money that people are still dumping fish into that place you showed in the video, while wildlife officers and divers are trying to eradicate and catch them all.

@NCaquatics Thanks for posting pictures of your crayfish, she has a very pretty color and looks great. I dispose of all my dead plants and dead fish in my wife's garden.