Crayfish Keepers, a Question!

[H. laoticus]

For those who keep crayfish, particularly Cherax quadricarinatus:

I've been keeping them for several years and I had a 3in one molt yesterday. I left the exo in as they usually eat it within a few days. However, I woke up today still finding the exo lying there with the freshly molted crayfish dead beside it. I took the crayfish out and was not surprised to find it still squishy since the old shell was not eaten for the calcium.

I'm wondering if it died before it got a chance to eat the exo or if it died because it didn't eat the exo. Have you ever dealt with crayfish that did not eat its exo after freshly molting? What was the rate of survival for those that did not eat?

Thanks for looking.

 

[Entomancer]

This exact thing happened to me a while back with a crayfish I had.

It looked like it was in the middle of a molt, so I left it alone, and then I awoke the next day to find it dead, but still partially stuck inside its old exoskeleton.

I don't know why it happened, but I think it had to do with water chemistry. I have since added some crushed coral to the tank to make the water more suitable for a calcium-dependent animal, and my new cray has had a couple molts and went though them just fine.

My setup is just a 5 gallon tank with a filter and an aerator, and lots of flat rocks on top of a coral/gravel mix; the current cray seems quite happy, and has dug a rather impressive burrow under some of the rocks. I feed him bottom feeder/catfish wafers, along with the occasional bit of shrimp and banana, or other safe table scraps.

 

[Pixxie]

Hello, I'm sorry, I'm not replying to answer your question, I've actually aquired a few crayfish myself within the past few days from a pond I've been going to to find aquatic bugs. I took six, but realized that is way too many for someone who doesn't have much experience with caring for them.. so tomorrow I'm returning all but two 2" long ones. But anyway, I was wondering if there are any tips you could give me on caring for them, like what are the most important factors in keeping them alive? And how often do I feed them? And I've heard that they're not fussy about water temp, but does water temp still matter? I would be very appreciative if you could help me by answering these questions, and thanks for reading this.

 

[Arianji]

Hi, I live in MS and if there's anything I've learned down here it's how to catch and keep crawdads. First to answer H. laoticus's question though, I am sorry to hear about your crawdad, and I am even more sorry to report that I do not fully understand why that happens, but it does seem to be associated with water quality. I had a specimen do that to me once and it was after I had done a water change. I don't know if its the ph or if its just stress related. All I can say is do not get discouraged and try again, it probably wasn't your fault, they're funny little creatures. Now for you Pixxie I would say keep them in a 10 gallon tank, and make sure you provide a lot of hiding spots, (flower pots, plants, driftwood, rocks, human skulls, etc) they can be fairly territorial and you'll come back to find they've pulled the claws off each other if they're too cramped. Gravel or sand, it's your choice they do well in either but they can dig easier in sand. They'd love for you to put a little pvc pipe in the substrate so they can have a hole to live in. I would definitely use a filter to keep the water quality up, as for current I wouldn't worry too much, I have found them just as much in fast running streams as in near stagnant drainage ditches. Temperature, just keep it in the tropical fish range upper 70s for steady growth, but they'll be perfectly happy in the upper 60s as well (probably live longer too since it will slow their metabolism), fairly variable, just don't get them too hot. If you want to provide an above water stick they may utilize it, but they can spend their whole lives submerged. As for tank mates it's iffy, they'll shred just about any fish that doesn't want to shred them. They can mix with plecostomus and other large armored catfish, but beware the predatory species as they are very well adapted to devour your little crispy crustaceans. You can try fast moving fish species or surface dwellers, just know their numbers will gradually deplete every time you turn out the lights. Surprisingly enough they mix well with apple snails, they may get snippy on their tentacles if they get too hungry though. As for feeding, LordRaiden has the right idea. I primarily feed shrimp pellets, they love them and they make them grow super fast. Also mix up their diet with cucumber, carrot shreds, bits of leafy greens, algae wafers, fish flakes (the betacarotene brightens their carapaces up nicely) heck a southern secret to crawdad fishing is to bait with bacon, they can't get enough of it, just know its oily and will cloud the water (plus its not terribly healthy, just fun to pull them out of their holes by). I think that's about it, but if you think of anything specific I am happy to answer.

 

[Pixxie]

Haha, human skulls.. But really, thanks for answering, this is all very helpful information. I think you about covered everything needed to know. The only other question I can think of is how often do I need to clean the tank with just the crayfish, and how often if I put fish in with them? Oh, and how often do I feed them?

 

[Arianji]

If you use a 15-20 gallon filter with only 2 crawdads in a 10 gallon you would only have to do like a 10 to 20 percent water change once a month, and that'd mainly be just for peace of mind, they don't produce too much waste themselves it's just how much comes off what you give them to eat. And answering that I would provide them with shrimp pellets 3 times a week (alternating days) and with "treat" foods once a week (on a non pellet day) and algae wafers ever 3 days (just one per crawdad, they can cloud the water bad.) Once the tank is established and you have algae growth and detritus you can feed even less cause they're always picking in crannies and sifting through sand and rock for food. As for the fish you can just put a small school of 3 to 4 live fish (anything in the gambusia genus or another small species) and they will happily pick the food the crawdads don't eat and the crawdads will happily pick them for food when they want to eat. The gambusia do not put much on your eco load either as they are fairly clean fish (relatively) plus they're live bearers so if you can get them breeding you may never have to catch fish again. OH! one more thing, crawdads are the Houdinis of the crustacean world, make sure they have a secure fitting lid in case they're in an adventurous mood. That about covers it, but I am always happy to answer more questions if you have them.

 

[Pixxie]

Thanks this helps out a lot. I'll be sure to come to you if I have anymore questions about crawfish in the future.