Electric Blue Crayfish Breeding

[taernster]

Hi All,

I would like some guidance on breeding crayfish such as the Electric Blue Crayfish Procambarus alleni. I would like to know the best way to house as many as possible as I know they are territorial. I do not want to purchase a bunch of different tanks but would like to be able to begin breeding them. Does anyone know what other breeders do that have hundreds on hand or do they really have that many separate tanks?

Thanks

 

[Nils]

Well, I may have a little experience in this. My crayfish were much smaller (they were CPO's) and they never actually bred, but I had a male and female in a 10 gallon. They never bothered each other, just kept to their own side of the tank. As for your bigger crayfish, I would say no less than a 30 gallon tank(for a male and female). This will help to have two territories on each different side of the tank. Then, if they ever decide to get creative, they have enough space. It's a hit or miss with crayfish as there is nothing special you can really do to make them breed. They are almost guaranteed to breed, and they will keep reproducing for probably every month after their first time. But make sure that when you buy that you have a certified male and female. Otherwise, their will probably be crayfish scattered everywhere around the tank, and the other one will probably die of battle scars. Females usually tend to be not as bright in coloration and have smaller pincers, and usually stay smaller. Males, on the other hand, have much bigger pincers and are much brighter, probably to attract females. If you want to keep 2 pairs, I would say no less than a 55. That's a lot of crayfish, even for that size of a tank. Sorry for the long post, and good luck! Send me the remains in a body bag if you get two males! Hehe

Nils

 

[taernster]

Thanks for the info! I have two CPO's right now that are breeding but I would like to try the full size crayfish as the blues really pop!

When they are young I would assume they could be kept together as they will not yet be territorial but I would like to know at what age they would need to be separated. Then I would be able to removed the berried female and place in my separate tank until she has her young and keep them in there for the first 6 months or so.

 

[Autumnsky]

They will cannibalize each other. Pretty much from the beginning and the mother could eat them too.

Think about that in nature they have untold areas of protection to retreat to (although some are eaten by predators, that isn't my point, lol) but in a small aquarium there are few places to go when there are so many babies in the tank, and especially when they are fragile after molting...

 

[livefishguy124]

if you want crayfish babies than do marbled crays, they are less expensive, and self cloning meaning you only need 1 to have babies, they don't eat there babies ether, and are really hardy

 

[henningc]

I'm setting up some blue alleni in a 6'x6'x12" kiddie pool this summer. What I discovered last year is as follows: First don't over crows the adults. I have made 5 distinct territories each with 4 pieces of PVC pipe sections and a 4" flower pot on its side. Everything is spaced out so the crayfish have roving room. I realize they will meet up in the evening while foraging, but is you can make food abundant it really cuts down on aggression. I have also added 2 big handfuls of dried Oak leaves to each territory. I the middle of the pool will be a large area of small and med pipe sections layered surrounded by a stone buffer zone with stones piles up several deep to create crevices. I'm pretty sure the young will take advantage of the cover and any they stray out or grow to a decent size will be relocated to one of my grow-out pools. I'm not expecting to produce a ton of then but 100 or so works for me.
Just as a side note, I did this with marble crayfish starting with 2 adults and ended the summer with close to 500 crayfish.

 

[Autumnsky]

I'm setting up some blue alleni in a 6'x6'x12" kiddie pool this summer. What I discovered last year is as follows: First don't over crows the adults. I have made 5 distinct territories each with 4 pieces of PVC pipe sections and a 4" flower pot on its side. Everything is spaced out so the crayfish have roving room. I realize they will meet up in the evening while foraging, but is you can make food abundant it really cuts down on aggression. I have also added 2 big handfuls of dried Oak leaves to each territory. I the middle of the pool will be a large area of small and med pipe sections layered surrounded by a stone buffer zone with stones piles up several deep to create crevices. I'm pretty sure the young will take advantage of the cover and any they stray out or grow to a decent size will be relocated to one of my grow-out pools. I'm not expecting to produce a ton of then but 100 or so works for me.
Just as a side note, I did this with marble crayfish starting with 2 adults and ended the summer with close to 500 crayfish.

What do you use to keep them from crawling out?

 

[NatureFish]

if you want crayfish babies than do marbled crays, they are less expensive, and self cloning meaning you only need 1 to have babies, they don't eat there babies ether, and are really hardy

I was looking at those! I want some!!!


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[livefishguy124]

yea, i hade 1 and now i have about 201 crayfish.