Got a "sort of" blue cray!!

[lauraj]

Picked up a cray yesterday for $20. Although I may have been ripped off. He/She (haven't sexed it yet, but already named it Clyde) doesn't have all that much blue, but definitely with some blue.

I asked at the store what influences the amount of blue and was told it has to do with health and water quality....not sure she knew much about crays though.

She did tell me that my 6 gallon is too small. I have Clyde in there for now to see if it's able to catch the danios in there. No luck so far, so maybe my fish in the 20 gallon would be safe to have him in there (except for the cories, and they're one of my favorite). Anyone have any thoughts of this?

Also, what would be the best food for him?

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Congrats!!! Crays are Great Fun!

From what I understand the "blue" comes from the genetics, although substrate will make the cray appear more/less vibrant (BV can probably comment further on that).

6 Gallons is just fine, even for an adult cray, however it's preferred to be a "long" style tank as opposed to the "vertical" style hex or whatever. I believe BV keeps "Jerry" in a Eclipse 3g system.

As far as being able to "catch the tankmates" put it this way, if he/she wants them bad enough, he/she will get them, just a matter of time.

As far as what to feed them? I fed "Wardley Shrimp Pellet Formula" as well as I'd buy rosie red feeders from my LFS (like 12 for a buck). My crays did enjoy stalking live food from time to time. But you may have to clean up the leftovers, my crays almost never ate the heads

Edit: I noticed your sig. The cray will definitely eat/kill that snail, and will probably shred your plants, mine even chewed on the plastic plants.

 

[lauraj]

Eat my snail.....OH NO! Here I thought he was the safe one because of being able to pull into his shell. Guess the cray moves faster than the snail can pull in. Thanks for the warning!

That's right, I forgot BV keeps his in a 3 Eclipse! Great, because I really didn't want to watch the fish in my 20 be pulverized!

He is fun to watch. Since he wasn't having much luck from the bottom, I noticed he's now perched halfway up a fake plant, just waiting to snap at whatever passes by.

Thanks again for all the good info, Denny!

 

[Unexpected]

The blue is affected by it's stress. When really stressed they turn brown. The less stressed the more blue. Once he settles in you should have a nice blue cray.

 

[Big Vine]

Congrats on getting Clyde, Laura. *celebrate
As for how blue he is and what size of tank you'll need for him---it all depends on what species of cray he is. Pics would come in handy here. Odds are that he's the same as my crays (P. alleni), but there is a chance that he could be a species of Australian cray (C. quadricarinatus), which are typically a duller blue with 'orangish' joints. If it's a quad, you'll need bigger than a 6 gal. tank (they get to 10+" ). I can't really comment on Unexpected's 'stress theory' because I've never heard that before. Like Denny said, substrate seems to be what makes the biggest difference. Lighter/brighter-colored substrate = lighter/paler-colored blue. Darker substrate = deeper, more vibrant blue.

BV

 

[lauraj]

Thanks BV! Wish I had a camera that takes good shots. There's just no way I'd get one clear enough for you to tell the species. I can tell you that there's not a whole lot of blue, and I do see a hint of orange at the joints. I suppose I should return him to the store. Bummer!