A Few Questions About Mexican Dwarf Crawfish

[peterwins]

I just got my first tank today for breeding mexican dwarf crawfish. I have a few questions about getting the tank set up to the crawfishs liking.

1. is it ok to fill the tank with tap water that I drink out of at my house?

2. is it better to use live plants or plastic ones?

3. If real plants is my best bet what plants do they like?

4. is 2 female and 1 male fine for a 10 gallon tank?

5. Is it ok that I only have one tank or should I get another one for breeding?

6.what is my best option for feeding the crawfish?

7.should I have the tank at 72ish degrees and lower it to 65 when I want them to mate or leave it at 65 for best mating results?

8. after the craw fish are born what are some places to sell them and how old should they be before selling them?

9. I heard that it takes 14-28 days for the babys to begin to hatch is this correct?



Thats it for now if I think of any more questions I will post them.

thanks for any advice you may have for me I really appreciate it.

Peter

 

[Baccus]

As long as your tap water is clear of heavy metals and pesticides then yes it should be fine for your dwarf crays, just make sure that its not to hard or  too soft as both types of water can cause moulting issues. Always add dechlorinator to the water as well to remove chlorine and chloramine that essentially kills the bebeficial bacteria in your filter.
 
Most crawfish will devour live plants and I have even heard of them attempting to eat plastic plants. You could try having some timber in the tank with quick growing moss like java moss attached or even less palatable plants like java fern. This is no guarantee that the crawfish wont eat it but hopefully if they are getting enough other vegetable matter they will let the plants grow a bit. Just make sure that the plants/ timber do not allow the crawfish an easy escape from the tank and that you have a secure fitting lid with no gaps.
 
Personally I would aim at only having the one male and one female in the tank and ensure that there is at least 2 hidey holes per crawfish, hopefully this will reduce any completion and aggression over hidey holes and reduce stress on them.
 
Food wise give them plenty of vegetables like blanched carrot, pumpkin, zucchini, even fresh peas and beans. You should be able to also purchase specially formulated crawfish foods that are generally in a pellet form. When giving them fresh foods just don't leave the food in the tank so long that it fouls the water. Any meat given to the crawfish will quickly foul the water and is best avoided. But you can give them treats of defrosted bloodworms which they will enjoy.

 

[peterwins]

As long as your tap water is clear of heavy metals and pesticides then yes it should be fine for your dwarf crays, just make sure that its not to hard or  too soft as both types of water can cause moulting issues. Always add dechlorinator to the water as well to remove chlorine and chloramine that essentially kills the bebeficial bacteria in your filter. Most crawfish will devour live plants and I have even heard of them attempting to eat plastic plants. You could try having some timber in the tank with quick growing moss like java moss attached or even less palatable plants like java fern. This is no guarantee that the crawfish wont eat it but hopefully if they are getting enough other vegetable matter they will let the plants grow a bit. Just make sure that the plants/ timber do not allow the crawfish an easy escape from the tank and that you have a secure fitting lid with no gaps. Personally I would aim at only having the one male and one female in the tank and ensure that there is at least 2 hidey holes per crawfish, hopefully this will reduce any completion and aggression over hidey holes and reduce stress on them. Food wise give them plenty of vegetables like blanched carrot, pumpkin, zucchini, even fresh peas and beans. You should be able to also purchase specially formulated crawfish foods that are generally in a pellet form. When giving them fresh foods just don't leave the food in the tank so long that it fouls the water. Any meat given to the crawfish will quickly foul the water and is best avoided. But you can give them treats of defrosted bloodworms which they will enjoy.

Thanks all this is very useful what do you mean by too soft or too hard?

Thanks,

Peter!

 

[Wildbetta]

I currently have 2 of these little buggers.  They do not bother live plants so if you have the choice, I would choose to go with live plants.  They are the only cray that doesn't bother plants from my knowledge.  I feed mine a mix of vegetables and bottom feeder tablets which seems to keep them in good shape.  I have kept my 2 in a 5 gallon but they have have lots of places to hide and get away from each other.  

 

[fm1978]

 
Thanks all this is very useful what do you mean by too soft or too hard?

Thanks,

Peter!
 

 
Water hardness is a measure of the mineral content of your water. Hard = High concentration of minerals. Soft = Low.
 
You should be able to find out from your local water suppliers' website what the concentrations are. 

 

[peterwins]

I currently have 2 of these little boogers.  They do not bother live plants so if you have the choice, I would choose to go with live plants.  They are the only cray that doesn't bother plants from my knowledge.  I feed mine a mix of vegetables and bottom feeder tablets which seems to keep them in good shape.  I have kept my 2 in a 5 gallon but they have have lots of places to hide and get away from each other.

Thanks for the tips! Do you breed them? If you do what temp do you keep the water at I heard ideal temp is 65 for breeding.what live plants do you have? I have heard people say they eat up plants and others like yourself say they don't I think that keeping them with a steady supply of food has an effect with that.

Do you mind sharing where you got yours from?

Thanks,

Peter!