what to do with crayfish

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#1
May 12, 2005
149
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63
Georgia
#1
My sis in law has a large koi pond. The other day she said she thought she had a crayfish in her pond eating plants and terrorizing fish. Anyway, today she captured it and brought it to my house. Right now it is in a small 5 gallon aquarium in my boys room that only had a mystery snail and ghost shrimp in it. I removed the mystery snail but left the shrimp. The crayfish is about 3 inches long. I don't know anything about them but I am assuming a 5 gallon tank is too small to keep him in. I have a planted ten gallon with a very old betta fish in it but If I switch the betta to the 5 gallon and put the cray in the 10 gallon will he eat my plants? My sisinlaw is blaming him for plant destruction in her pond. My other tanks are a 55 gallon community tank that is full and a 10 gallon dwarf puffer tank. Should I just take him and put him in the large public pond down the road. Geez, I can't believe I am worrying about a crayfish but he is kind of neat looking.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#2
Feb 7, 2006
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#2
cakelady204 said:
Geez, I can't believe I am worrying about a crayfish but he is kind of neat looking.
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Hehe...I know exactly what you mean. ;)
Well, if you think he's neat and you wanna keep him, I'd say just keep him in the 5 gallon tank. It sounds like all your other tanks either have unsuitable tank-mates (that will be eaten by the cray) or are planted...

The cray will absolutely devour just about any and all plants it can get its claws on! I know this quite well from personal experience. ;)

I'd be more worried about him eating the ghost shrimp than the mystery snail (as long as the snail is on the larger side). Of course, if you wanna house him permanently, you'd be best off moving the shrimp and the snail into another tank altogether, because they'd likely be eaten in the long run.

I'd love to see a pic of the cray if you get a chance to post some. :)

Hope this helps.
Big Vine
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#3
May 12, 2005
149
0
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63
Georgia
#3
I actually left the ghost shrimp in there because I thought maybe the crayfish would like a meal. LOL! My kids keep checking to see if it got eaten yet! However, they are more attached to the snail and that is why I moved it. Thanks for the advice. I will try to take a picture of him and post it.
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#4
May 12, 2005
149
0
0
63
Georgia
#4
Big Vine said:
I'd love to see a pic of the cray if you get a chance to post some. :)
Big Vine
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Here is his picture. He sure was mad about me trying to photograph him! I had to move all the fake plants out of the way. Oh yeah, I just wanted to add. Notice the ghost shrimp is still alive. LOL. He was so startled by me moving the plants he practically jumped right into the cray's mouth!
 

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Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#6
Feb 7, 2006
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#6
Thanks for posting that pic cakelady...it is a cute little cray you've got there! I can tell you for sure whether it's a male or female if you show me a pic of its underside (the underside of its tail, mainly).

If you're not brave enough to pick it up, then waiting for it to climb up on the side of the tank is your best photo opportunity...just entice the cray by tapping on the glass or floating some food on the surface of the water.
(Or, don't worry about doing any of that if you don't care whether or not it's a male or a female...personally I always like to make sure I name my crays based on their gender...but that's just me.;) ).

This is crazy...when I saw your post, I immediately thought about those cake pics you posted a few days ago. Then I instantly thought about the cray you recently acquired, and how it would be so funny to see it bursting out of the top of one of those cakes---it's claws breaching through the icing in an almost flexing-like motion...
Picture the Incredible Hulk...arrrgghhhh!:eek:

Hmm...kinda went off on a tangent there...
"Okay Big Vine...time for bed." Lol. *laughingc
Big Vine
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#7
May 12, 2005
149
0
0
63
Georgia
#7
Big Vine said:
This is crazy...when I saw your post, I immediately thought about those cake pics you posted a few days ago. Then I instantly thought about the cray you recently acquired, and how it would be so funny to see it bursting out of the top of one of those cakes---it's claws breaching through the icing in an almost flexing-like motion...
Picture the Incredible Hulk...arrrgghhhh!:eek:
Big Vine
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OMG! LMAO!!
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#9
May 12, 2005
149
0
0
63
Georgia
#9
We are having so much fun with our new pet! Yes Big Vine, he is in my avatar now cause we have become very attached to him. My daughter named him CHAMP which is an acronym for Crayfish Having All Mighty Pinchers. She is 12 going on 13. Took her an hour to come up with that! Anyway Just thought I would update. Had to edit this so I could add that we finally got a good long look at Champs underside and he is definitely a boy.
 

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cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#11
May 12, 2005
149
0
0
63
Georgia
#11
I am originally from Montana but have lived in the South for over 20 years. Two years ago I decided I would finally eat a crawdad. Unfortunately after I ripped off the head I looked inside at what I was about to eat and that was the end of that!!!!
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#13
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
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Florida
#13
cakelady204 said:
We are having so much fun with our new pet! Yes Big Vine, he is in my avatar now cause we have become very attached to him. My daughter named him CHAMP which is an acronym for Crayfish Having All Mighty Pinchers. She is 12 going on 13. Took her an hour to come up with that! Anyway Just thought I would update. Had to edit this so I could add that we finally got a good long look at Champs underside and he is definitely a boy.
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Hehe...that's great! Clever name. *thumbsups
And you even managed to see that CHAMP is a boy...nice work. I'm glad you're having fun. Has he moulted yet? That'll be quite the experience for you...I'm sure you and your daughter will be fascinated with your new cray for quite some time. If you're anything like me, CHAMP won't be the only cray you'll ever have...(think "Multiple Cray Syndrome"...lol).

Big Vine :)
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#14
May 12, 2005
149
0
0
63
Georgia
#14
My son called me at work this morning to tell me that Champ looked like he was sick. He hadn't touched his food from the night before. I asked my son to take out the food and do a water change hoping that would help. There was not a lot I could do since I had wedding cakes and consultations all afternoon. I came home after 14 hours of work to find that Champ had passed away. We really got attached to him in the short amount of time we had him. I am not sure what happened. He seemed to be doing so well. We're really going to miss him.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#15
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
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47
Florida
#15
Oh no...sorry to hear about CHAMP's passing. :(

He may have been getting ready to moult, and the moult just didn't go very well. :confused: Do you know if his shell was split at all (right behind his head, where it meets the tail)? Was he paler right before he died?

My blue cray typically stops eating before a moult, and he also turns a bit paler (which usually indicates a lack of oxygen, but I know his tank receives adequate filtration)...usually in the evening. I usually just turn out his light and leave him in peace. By the next morning, I'll find his old moulted shell underneath some fake plants, and he'll be hiding under his cave.

It's also normal for him to not eat for about a day prior to moulting and a day following moulting.

Anyway, again, sorry about CHAMP. Any plans on getting another cray?

Big Vine
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#16
May 12, 2005
149
0
0
63
Georgia
#16
Yes, he was paler but I didn't notice a split in his shell. Well now the tank is empty and we are not sure what we are going to do. I just vacuumed the gravel and rearranged the plants. I guess we will come up with something.
 

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