My new pet, Crayfish.

[RayneForhest]

What should you feed it? after all... they're scavengers

[bettanova2]

Originally Posted by Cattitude

He looks cool! He reminds me of the crayfish I caught in the wild when I was a kid. I kept him in my 10-gal tank for months until he disappeared. I assume he escaped, but we never found him. I have never seen one in a pet store or I might have bought another one someday. They are fascinating to watch.

Yeah, I feel quite excited to keep him in my 5G tank in companion with tetras and danios. I've also did some research and learned that crayfish is very good at escaping too..I can always see him trying to climb and escape..just got to make sure that my tank is always closed tightly..he also likes to dig a hole lol

[Leeniex]

Ya, my kid's crayfish chased me around the house one night.

[bettanova2]

Originally Posted by RayneForhest

What should you feed it? after all... they're scavengers

At this moment, I feed him with algae wafers and I can see that he loves to hold and eat it :)..

[ReefTrooper]

Hey bettanova2. That is a Red swamp Crayfish and it can grow up to 6 inches long... so it is not suitable for a tank under 20 gallons...

i suggest you put him in a larger tank or he will be stressed and will not color up nicely. I have done extensive research on them since i too have got one recently and they are truly delightful usually
i keep mine in a pond where he eats dead plant matter along with any insects or worms available. sometimes i feed him a raw shrimp which he takes happily.
They help keep your aquarium clean and look a wonderful when they are fully colored up; a deep red and sometimes with a blue sheen on the pincers Good luck

[Cattitude]

Back then (late seventies/early eighties) I fed my crayfish on a variety of foods including algae pellets, frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp, and tropical fish flakes. He seemed to thrive on those. I kept him alone because I was afraid he'd eat any small fish in the tank. We didn't have internet back then to do research.

[bettanova2]

Originally Posted by Timothy 1998 cremer

Hey bettanova2. That is a Red swamp Crayfish and it can grow up to 6 inches long... so it is not suitable for a tank under 20 gallons...

i suggest you put him in a larger tank or he will be stressed and will not color up nicely. I have done extensive research on them since i too have got one recently and they are truly delightful usually
i keep mine in a pond where he eats dead plant matter along with any insects or worms available. sometimes i feed him a raw shrimp which he takes happily.
They help keep your aquarium clean and look a wonderful when they are fully colored up; a deep red and sometimes with a blue sheen on the pincers Good luck

I see, thanks for the information!..it surprised me to know that he can actually grow up to 6 inches long..I would try to get a bigger tank for him as soon as possible, and hope it doesn't stress him so much..

[RayneForhest]

Originally Posted by bettanova2

Yeah, I feel quite excited to keep him in my 5G tank in companion with tetras and danios. I've also did some research and learned that crayfish is very good at escaping too..I can always see him trying to climb and escape..just got to make sure that my tank is always closed tightly..he also likes to dig a hole lol

put him a rock in there where he can crawl under it. When I used to find them in the creek, that's where they'd be

[bettanova2]

Originally Posted by RayneForhest

put him a rock in there where he can crawl under it. When I used to find them in the creek, that's where they'd be

I've added an aquarium wood for him to crawl, and also created an environment where he can hide

[Cattitude]

Looks great! I hope you enjoy him.