have crayfish can i add any fish now ????

[sarahxxx]

hi everyone

just posted message on newbie forum they said to try here ......

i didnt have any idea about keeping crayfish bought two yesterday from local fish dealer , he advised easy to keep ideal for starter

think now he did some amount of lieing.

anyway bought two together were already in tank as lfs together (hope this ok) having read lots on here today am now worried that i would not be able to add any more fish to aqaurim i will be gutted if this the case.

dont have room for another tank they are in a juwel 125 (fair sized tank to be honest) used to have one of those little biorb (not with crays in though) which has guppie in it with fry waiting for these to mature to put in larger tank (the one with the crays)

can i add fish to the tank and if so could you give me list of fish i can add thanks

sarah

oh yeah cray shed its skin today do i leave it in tank or take it out cheers guys

please be gentle we all make mistakes and i gotta a feeling i made big one here
as noone seems to like the crays

 

[ScoutCarcer]

Do you mean 125 Gallons???

 

[sarahxxx]

hi will find out no dont think its 125 gallons that would be huggggeeeeee
just the name of the tank will cheque now and post back. cheers for getting back so quick

 

[Teelie]

I think Juewl uses liters for their numbers which would make it 30 gallons approximately.

Leave the shed shell in there. The cray wll need to feed on it to regain some of it's lost nutrients and make sure it has somewhere safe to hide from the other cray while it's shell hardens. Fish of an appropriate size can be kept with crays but it's a difficult balance. Too small, the cray eats the fish, too big, the fish eats the cray.

I don't think they are hard to keep so he was right they're okay to start with but some of the other regulars who keep crays like steelhealr can tell you more.

 

[sarahxxx]

I think Juewl uses liters for their numbers which would make it 30 gallons approximately.

Leave the shed shell in there. The cray wll need to feed on it to regain some of it's lost nutrients and make sure it has somewhere safe to hide from the other cray while it's shell hardens. Fish of an appropriate size can be kept with crays but it's a difficult balance. Too small, the cray eats the fish, too big, the fish eats the cray.

I don't think they are hard to keep so he was right they're okay to start with but some of the other regulars who keep crays like steelhealr can tell you more.

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yes you are right tank is measured in litres so 125 litres it is (not sure what that is in gallons)

how long do i leave the shell in there for after is has shed ?
will it pollute my tank if left to long?
feeding them at the moment on blood worm and crab crusine is this ok?

so am guessing not small fish like tetras more gourami sized?

sorry so many questions but dont want to use new fish as baite (expensive cusine for my crays lol)

 

[ScoutCarcer]

feeding them at the moment on blood worm and crab crusine is this ok?

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Im not sure what crab crusine is but the bloodwroms are ok. I feed my 3 crayfish frozen krill, shrimp pellets, and every now and then a bug falls in the tank and gets the honor of being lunch

 

[superjalami30]

You can keep fish in the tank with the crayfish, providing you dont mind losing one every now and again.
Crayfish are scavengers, and will most of the time simply take the easiest food source, that being in our case, what we feed them.
However, they will hunt your fish as well, they will chase them, and they will, from time to time catch a healthy fish.
For the most part though, they have a hard time catching healthy fish, usually if they do get one its because the fish was already dying or hurt.
Keep in mind, the crayfish may inflict wounds to your fish that will eventually cause its demise.

I have two glolight tetras and two wild river chub housed with my electric blue crayfish atm, I originally I had 6 river chub, but they're pretty stoopid fish and 4 of them got caught the fist night, and eaten!!!!
The other 4 fish (the two river chub and the two glolight tetras) have been in the tank for quite some time now, the glolights have been in the tank for 4-5 months and not one of them has been caught.

This being said, my tank is only 10 US gallons, I would think fish would have a better chance of surviving in a larger tank such as yours.

I feed mine brine shrimp pellots, frozen larvae of assorted sorts, peas, the occasional "feeder" goldie. tubifex worms, earthworms and spirulina pellots.

You must ensure you have a lot of water flow towards the bottom of the tank, if all the oxygenated water remains at the surface they will suffocate and die.
Make sure you provide plenty of hiding places.
Use real plants if you know a bit about plants, they'll help clean the water and provide oxygen.
Crayfish will however eat some of the plants occasionally, or dig them up.
I use cuttings from my other tanks, so I'm not too worried about losing any plants.
change 25-30 percent of the water once weekly.
You can leave the "molt" in the tank for the crayfish to eat, as said above they will get the calcium they need from the molt to help they're new shell to harden.

I, myself add "seachems" calcium fert to my tank, 1/8 capfull each change to ensure mine is getting enough calcium for 'bout a year now with no ill side effects.

If you do get a bit of green hair algae you can leave it in the tank if you like.
It adds to the realism of your tank set up to that of what they live in the wild, depending on the species you have that is.
Some crayfish will actually eat it as well.

Ummm, thats about all I can think of atm. Hope this helps.
Good luck!

 

[sarahxxx]

hi there thanks for all your help so far with this

was just wondering cleaned tank today did 25% water change due to tannin in water of some wood( this is aquarium wood bought from the lfs) but its started to have get some fluffy white stuff on it should i was this off with the next water change or leave it its it good or bad for tank thinking its probably algee.

also one of my crays sadly died last night unsure as to why but didnt ever seem as active as the one from day one, so maybe problem from start.

thanks for advise its been really helpfull

sarah

ps anyone no how to post pics with my posts and how do i make them smaller to attach thanks sarah

 

[ScoutCarcer]

ps anyone no how to post pics with my posts

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Use Photobucket

 

[superjalami30]

You can leave the white fluffy stuff on the wood, but I would take it out and scrub it off when you see it.
I get the same stuff on mine now and again.
Sorry to here about your crayfish dying.

 

[sarahxxx]

thanks loads for all your advice sure i will be asking lots more questions in future

gonna try stock the tank this weekend will keep you posted sarah