Crayfish Food Allowance

[Fazzman]

Hi, first posting so be gentle with me.

Recently set up a 155L mixed community tank with a few dannios, tetras and becon fish plus one grumpy crayfish with attitude.

Fish all appear healthy and feeding them is going OK. To vary the diet of the crayfish we have been introducing cockles specifically for it to eat. Started with one a day and has increased up to four a day, all being eaten.

So question is really: How many cockles does the average crayfish eat, or should be allowed to eat?

Should mention he is probably about 15cm long now - and has shed twice since we have had him (in two months).

(Which I think is an indication that we are over feeding him).

Comments Please.

 

[three-fingers]

Emmm, i would move that crayfish . Crayfish in communities are technically possible, but at one point of time your cray will probably turn on your fish. It is debated quite alot here and there are many strong opinions, but the general consensus is that its really not worth the risks.
Do you know the type of crayfish? If not, where are you from?
I'm not 100% about feeding the cray though, 4 cockles a day sounds like alot, i hope you keep up your water changes. I would personally feed less, what else are you feeding the cray?

 

[Fazzman]

Emmm, i would move that crayfish . Crayfish in communities are technically possible, but at one point of time your cray will probably turn on your fish. It is debated quite alot here and there are many strong opinions, but the general consensus is that its really not worth the risks.
Do you know the type of crayfish? If not, where are you from?
I'm not 100% about feeding the cray though, 4 cockles a day sounds like alot, i hope you keep up your water changes. I would personally feed less, what else are you feeding the cray?

Thanks for the reply.

Feeding the tank a variety of food, dried, frozen and bits in gel, also tried a few loads of live bloodworms. Crayfish picks up the bits left over.

Everything in the tank is healthy (at the moment anyway) changing ~25% water evry 3-4 weeks. Not lost any fish yet.

Bit of a concern over what you said, how many people have succesfully kept crayfish in a community tank?

 

[three-fingers]

I know of a few, one on this forum. But thats not forever. It depends on the cray. Some people can buy one for their tank, wake up next morning with dead fish. Others have a cray in a community tank for 6 months+ then it suddenly over night decides to turn on fish. Very very few people manage it over the long term, i don't know of any but i have heard they exist.
I suggest you read this thread thoroughly, and judge the risk yourself. But i would personally say it's not worth the risk and you should choose between crayfish and fish . They are both great. After you have read that thread, you should visit a crayfish forum and ask there .

 

[raptorrex]

Hi, first posting so be gentle with me.

Recently set up a 155L mixed community tank with a few dannios, tetras and becon fish plus one grumpy crayfish with attitude.

Fish all appear healthy and feeding them is going OK. To vary the diet of the crayfish we have been introducing cockles specifically for it to eat. Started with one a day and has increased up to four a day, all being eaten.

So question is really: How many cockles does the average crayfish eat, or should be allowed to eat?

Should mention he is probably about 15cm long now - and has shed twice since we have had him (in two months).

(Which I think is an indication that we are over feeding him).

Comments Please.

i must admit i don't feed cockles to my Cray, but 2 every 2 or three days, sounds right. as the Ctay also cleans up what your fish drop. they need veg more than meat. cucumber and peas go down well. give bloodworm a miss as well, too much fat. if you have read the linked thread, and still want to carry on with the community thing, knowing the potential problems. you will be rewarded! Cray can be an attractive an amusing addition to any community. i watched tonight as one of my honey guramis was just about laying on the crays head, and a large pleco, lay between her claws. and her antics doing acrobatics off the decco are fascinating. i still count all my fish every time i look at the tank, but it stubbornly remains at the same number!

 

[puddle_inc]

may help if you tell us what type


i just feed my crawdad fish food. of course he is still young. i accidently picked him up out of a pond when i was collecting some plants for my tadpole habitat.

 

[raptorrex]

well it had better be a Redclaw. for the simple reason its the only true tropical Crayfish! keeping any Cray other than A Redclaw in a tropical setup will cause real problems.IMO it will move the Cray into a temp area that will cause breading behaviour. also Cray need well oxygenated water. if you increase the water temp there is a corresponding drop in O2 content.

 

[three-fingers]

The redclaw isn't the only tropical crayfish is it? It will be the most commonly available crayfish, but not the only one, right? . I find that extremely hard to believe .

 

[raptorrex]

The redclaw isn't the only tropical crayfish is it? It will be the most commonly available crayfish, but not the only one, right? . I find that extremely hard to believe .

lol yeh me to. the reason its legal in the UK is because its the only truly tropical Crayfish. though new species, do get found every so often. the Redclaw is the only one so far.