Re: NANFA-- crayfish in aquaria

Bob Bock (bockhouse_at_earthlink.net)
Sat, 2 Feb 2002 09:03:31 -0500

Will the dwarf crayfish eat hair algae?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Dame" <dameda_at_shands.ufl.edu>
To: <nanfa_at_aquaria.net>
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2002 6:06 PM
Subject: Re: NANFA-- crayfish in aquaria

I've sporadically kept ones I've caught around and about ... they're so cute
when they're ½" long, I have trouble resisting (even though I know better)
.. and I still have 3 of the 4 dwarf crayfish (Cambarellus shufeldtii) that
I got from Jonah's Aquarium maybe six months ago.

The reason I only have 3 of the 4 left is because I had a pair in one tank,
and the smaller one of that pair apparently eventually became dinner.

All my experience says that this is entirely typical crawdad behavior.

And of course, the "sooner or later" part: also applies to any comparably
sized fish you might have co-habiting with the crawdads ... they gradually
disappear over time too. Best to keep them with fish that aren't too
precious to you and are easily replaced ... exactly the kind of thing I have
going in my "common local fish community tank."

The other absolutely typical behavior I've seen is that pretty much any
crawdad over 1 ½" long can ... and will ... uproot every plant in a tank,
and if he/she is ambitious, snip them to pieces as well. So in my mind
there's a big flashing sign that says "Warning: Crayfish - incompatible with
nicely planted tank." However, mine seem to be very happy with
killie-keeper type "yarn-mops" serving as artificial plants and cover.

The best of all worlds IMO with crawdads is to catch 'em locally when
they're ½" long. Then when they get to be 1" long proto-trouble-makers, take
'em back you got 'em, pitch 'em back in (or use them as bait, bass love
them), and have the fun of re-stocking up on more of the very small ones.

.02

Doug Dame
Interlachen FL

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