Caring For A Crayfish?

[Fish Guy]

I have been keeping fish for over 10 years now, and I seen a Crayfish for sale in one of the LFS. I was always tempeted to buy one. I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on caring for them, espcially feeding them. Im not sure how picky they are. Thanks.

 

[demasonisrule]

They're actually really easy to care for, but they must be kept alone, unless you want the tankmates eaten. This includes plants. Other than that, you just plop him into a 10 gallon tank, with sand and plenty of hiding places, and your good to go.

They'll eat just about anything, I feed mine algae wafers, flakes, veggies, and the occasional spare livebearer

 

[Fish Guy]

Thanks for the info. Will they eat any frozen foods? What about filteration, I was planning on using an Aqua clear 50 aka 200. I was also wondering if Crayfish dig at all and would gravel be easier for them to do so rather then sand. I have sand and gravel so either is fine for me.

 

[raptorrex]

I have been keeping fish for over 10 years now, and I seen a Crayfish for sale in one of the LFS. I was always tempeted to buy one. I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice on caring for them, espcially feeding them. Im not sure how picky they are. Thanks.

first thing is to find what Crayfish you have. tanks size is the reason. if its a N American Cray, 10 us gallons is fine. if its Australian, you will need 20 us gallons minimum.
don't feed live fish to a cray. for one, they don't eat them in nature, unless they find them dead. but worms and snails go down well enough. as for the rest. most cray have the same dietary requirements as a common pleco.

they are very easy to keep. though you need good clean water, with a high O2 content. tanks are best less than 30cm deep. as for temperature? well if its a NA cray. they need unheated tanks. and they fair badly, if kept at tropical temperatures. the, common, Australian Cray, is the Redcalw. this is the ONLY, tropical cray, found so far. its happy from 72 up. (but can be kept at lower. however this stunts their growth, and hinders breading.) the "ideal" (if there is such a thing) is around 75-80f.

 

[raptorrex]

Thanks for the info. Will they eat any frozen foods? What about filteration, I was planning on using an Aqua clear 50 aka 200. I was also wondering if Crayfish dig at all and would gravel be easier for them to do so rather then sand. I have sand and gravel so either is fine for me.

they will eat frozen foods. but only feed them it sparingly. say once or twice a week. feeding is, usually, recommended as "every other day". flake, algae wafers, any veg that is past its best.

filtration is important. i would recommend at least 4-5 water turnover rate. indeed they need, much, the same as fish.
O2 is very important. whatever you do, make sure there is lots of surface disturbance. crays often like to play in bubbles from air stones. but that's all the use they are. airstones and the like, add little to the O2 content of the tank.

most cray dig. Redclaw are diggers. so planting is not really practical. as for substrate? crushed coral is, much, used. but sand or gravel(smaller grades) do just fine.
there is an good profile of the Redclaw, pinned in this section. it may be worth a look.
just post if i can help more.

Ohh, if you are in the UK. the only legal cray you can keep/buy is the Redclaw.