Crayfish/lobster type that doesn't need shallow water?

[BeckyCats]

Hi. I've read that crayfish can't survive in water that is more than 6" deep. Does anyone know of a species that would be happy in a 55gallon long? It would be the only thing in there, so no worries about tank mates.
Thanks!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Hm, the crawdads in my local pond would beg to differ. I commonly see them in water a couple feet deep. I don't know much about the kinds commonly kept in aquariums. My advice, if you aren't picky about specific species, is to get a minnow trap, go to your local pond, set the trap in water at least a two feet deep (check with your local game and fish department first to make sure it's OK, but in the USA it probably will be), and see what monsters be in the depths.

 

[Archerfish]

I had a crayfish live for a long time in a 29-gallon tank and it did fine. Given you have a 55-long, you might consider an Australian Yabby. I also had one of those in a long tank like you have and it was amazing. Just be sure to have a tight-fitting top on the tank with a Yabby.

 

[Donya]

I may have found the origin of this weird 6" water depth thing; first result google searching crayfish water depth unfortunately. It's just straight up not true based on quite a lot of experience I have keeping various crustaceans at various depths and finding them in the wild, but this 6" thing seems to be the new first search result to turn up. A number of other sites that are on the first page of results have the same thing verbatim. I'm not going to link where I found this since I don't want to encourage visiting a site with wrong info but am putting what I read here for context:

Crayfish require an aquatic habitat. You should have holding tanks and habitats prepared before receiving your shipment. Use conditioned tap water, spring water, or well water. The water should cover the back of the animal, and needs to be no more than 15 cm (6") deep. If kept in deep water, crayfish can deplete the oxygen near the bottom. Since they cannot easily swim to the surface for air, they may suffocate.

Again, the info in that quote is wrong on both animal requirements and oxygen as it holds for a healthy aquarium. Oxygen doesn't deplete like that in a healthy aquarium with appropriate water circulation. The way to produce that situation is a nasty stagnant tank with no water turnover and a bunch of decaying stuff at the bottom, which is not something anyone should be keeping animals in. Given what else is on the site in question where I got that quote, I suspect they are thinking the crayfish will simply be kept in an unfiltered tub of water in a classroom. It's kind of shocking to me google would pull info from the company in question as a definitive-looking answer for care of these animals.

 

[Archerfish]

Good catch Donya! There is so much garbage out there causing untold damage to our hobby.

 

[BeckyCats]

I may have found the origin of this weird 6" water depth thing; first result google searching crayfish water depth unfortunately. It's just straight up not true based on quite a lot of experience I have keeping various crustaceans at various depths and finding them in the wild, but this 6" thing seems to be the new first search result to turn up. A number of other sites that are on the first page of results have the same thing verbatim. I'm not going to link where I found this since I don't want to encourage visiting a site with wrong info but am putting what I read here for context:



Again, the info in that quote is wrong on both animal requirements and oxygen as it holds for a healthy aquarium. Oxygen doesn't deplete like that in a healthy aquarium with appropriate water circulation. The way to produce that situation is a nasty stagnant tank with no water turnover and a bunch of decaying stuff at the bottom, which is not something anyone should be keeping animals in. Given what else is on the site in question where I got that quote, I suspect they are thinking the crayfish will simply be kept in an unfiltered tub of water in a classroom. It's kind of shocking to me google would pull info from the company in question as a definitive-looking answer for care of these animals.

Yes, exactly this. Literally the first thing that pops up when I typed in "crayfish water requirements." It didn't previously occur to me that water depth would be an issue, especially in a 55 long, which isn't even 2 feet deep, so this was a surprise. I was originally concerned with whether my water would be too soft for them as I usually think of animals with shells needing harder water than what I have.

And like you said, that info is repeated on most or all of the first page search results so I just stopped there. Also, I thought about the fact that in stores, I've only ever seen them in the small, shallow tanks, never in the deeper tanks. I always assumed that was for practicality because they are small bottom dwellers and no one wants to reach past their elbows to fetch them out for customers. After seeing that info online though I thought it was for the animals' safety.

But I know that many places where they live in the wild are deeper than that so that's why I came on here to ask about particular species that can live deeper than 6". It's frustrating that such misinformation is front and center online during a basic search. I think you must be right that they are thinking about keeping them in unfiltered tubs with debris.

 

[BeckyCats]

I had a crayfish live for a long time in a 29-gallon tank and it did fine. Given you have a 55-long, you might consider an Australian Yabby. I also had one of those in a long tank like you have and it was amazing. Just be sure to have a tight-fitting top on the tank with a Yabby.

I will look those up. Thank you!

 

[BeckyCats]

Hm, the crawdads in my local pond would beg to differ. I commonly see them in water a couple feet deep. I don't know much about the kinds commonly kept in aquariums. My advice, if you aren't picky about specific species, is to get a minnow trap, go to your local pond, set the trap in water at least a two feet deep (check with your local game and fish department first to make sure it's OK, but in the USA it probably will be), and see what monsters be in the depths.

I don't care what species I have as long as it would be happy in my care. I looked up regulations and it seems like it would be considered bait, although I couldn't find specific mentions of crayfish. I would probably feel guilty though about taking something from the wild and sticking it in an aquarium. I suppose it would be tradeoff: freedom for safety and consistent food.

 

[Archerfish]

BeckyCats, think about what you will see when walking in from a long hard day's work. A vivid, Colbalt Blue crayfish (or Yabby), with claws gently moving back and forth like in a line dance begging for a treat! The magnificence is barely indescribable. Bait food? Naw, no way. Rather, it will be an amazing member of your household. They taught me so much while keeping them. Some of the on-line information is just pure garbage. Given your tank, you have a golden opportunity to create a wonderful habitat and beautiful conversation piece. Please let us know what you decide to do.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I think wild crawdads are fascinating pets. They are really fun to watch and they become almost tame. You can definitely get them taking food from your hands (because they aren't very smart). I doubt they care much about being in the wild or in a tank, as long as they have enough food and places to hide.

Decorate your tank with lots of rocks and caves, and a sand or find gravel substrate. Put the rocks on the bottom of the tank, then fill in the sand around them, rather than putting the rocks on top of the sand, because they will dig under the rocks and can crush themselves. (Did I mention they aren't very smart?) Feed sparingly. That was always a challenge for me, because it's so fun to watch them eat.

 

[BeckyCats]

BeckyCats, think about what you will see when walking in from a long hard day's work. A vivid, Colbalt Blue crayfish (or Yabby), with claws gently moving back and forth like in a line dance begging for a treat! The magnificence is barely indescribable. Bait food? Naw, no way. Rather, it will be an amazing member of your household. They taught me so much while keeping them. Some of the on-line information is just pure garbage. Given your tank, you have a golden opportunity to create a wonderful habitat and beautiful conversation piece. Please let us know what you decide to do.

Oh I could never use them as bait myself! I just meant that when I looked up regulations for catching them from the wild, all I could find was mentions of bait. Any species of crayfish/small lobster/crab is definitely high on my list for sure! I still have some time before I get anything new though. There are still 4 little head and tail light tetras in there and I'm letting them live out their lives in peace without the stress of adding new residents or changing their scenery too much. I don't remember exactly when I got them but I'm pretty sure it was about 4 or 5 years ago. I read online their lifespan is about 5 years but as we've already established, internet info isn't always the most reliable.

I am assuming that they may not have more than a year or two left and I'm trying to decide what to do with the tank when they are gone. I have another thread open for suggestions on this, but I wanted clarification on this crayfish issue specifically because they are one of my strong contenders.

 

[BeckyCats]

I think wild crawdads are fascinating pets. They are really fun to watch and they become almost tame. You can definitely get them taking food from your hands (because they aren't very smart). I doubt they care much about being in the wild or in a tank, as long as they have enough food and places to hide.

Decorate your tank with lots of rocks and caves, and a sand or find gravel substrate. Put the rocks on the bottom of the tank, then fill in the sand around them, rather than putting the rocks on top of the sand, because they will dig under the rocks and can crush themselves. (Did I mention they aren't very smart?) Feed sparingly. That was always a challenge for me, because it's so fun to watch them eat.

I currently have sand substrate. I have a few stones that I put in at the bottom like you mention because I had some stiphodons (S. atropurpureous) that I adored with all my heart and they burrow. They are the cutest dang things but even under the best conditions they have a short lifespan and because they're wild caught, you never know how old the ones you're buying are. They seem to be vulnerable to stress and starvation because many stores try to feed them flake or algae wafers and they may or may not eat the wafers. They can be difficult for many folks to keep alive because the tank has to be well established for them to have food. They eat little microscopic stuff, biofilm and algae that you can only get from having your tank up and running for awhile. You can't have too clean of a tank or they won't have anything to eat, but the water really does need to be clean and the parameters stable. It's an odd balance of being religious about water changes but not over cleaning the rest of the tank. Also they need high oxygen levels and water turnover.

Anyway, I digress. They are probably my favorite fish that I've kept because of the way they sit on the sand or on rocks, climb the glass, and burrow with their little faces peeking out of the sand. Their behaviors are so interesting. They chase each other off of the best rocks and best grazing spots on the glass but they will also sit right next to each other peacefully. I doubt I would get more though because they are wild caught and difficult to keep which means they are yanked out of their natural habitat just to come die in the store or in people's aquariums. I did get mine to live closer to 3 years (internet says 2 years is their lifespan in captivity), but I had the perfect set up for them.

Next time, I want something hardier.