electric blue crayfish?

[fishguy228]

could i keep a electric blue crayfish in my 55 gallon i wanted to keep other invertibrates but smaller shrimp would probably be eaten and i cant find any crabs that dont live in brackish conditions, i have a few bottom dwellers could i keep one?

 

[Blueiz]

I would say no. The crayfish can eat your other fish. However, I don't have any personal experience with them.. I have seen the LFS feed them feeders before and they are pretty good at catching them.

 

[Evilameba]

they would much rather eat not live stuff. they are probably only good at catching fish because most fish at pet stores, especially feeder fish, are in very bad and stressed conditions. unless its i sick, stressed out, or really slow fish and they crayfish is hungry and underfed, then its usualy not a problem. but every crayfish is different. some are very good hunters. i have lots of fish and a very large crayfish and its fine. just keep him well fed. and watch out for any weak or sickly fish. if you have any questions you can message me. ive been keeping crayfish for awhile

 

[strokinbyeu]

iv had two diff blue crayfish and had them in with many other fish. the only fish that he ate that i diddnt notice was sick b4 hand was a pleco. he ate a few others but they mite have died and then he ate them. he did kill my red tie crab i watch the two of them start fighting over a new cave structur i put in the tank but i had to leave to go to work when i got home he was eatin the last lil bit of the crab(minus a part of the claws was realhard like a bone) i have tomany bottom dwelers now to get another 1 but would like to someday set up a tank to keep another one imo i would say go for it but dont be upset if you have a fish or two come up missing there a blast to watch. mine loved alge wafers and turtle pelets and the rare goast shrimp

 

[bs6749]

In short, if it CAN catch a fish, it WILL try to eat it. You may be able to make it work, but you'd have to provide a constant supply of "easy food" for it to eat, like dead shrimp or something. I'm guessing that a crayfish would rather spend less energy eating easy food rather than trying to catch live food, which would require spending more energy...it just makes sense to me that way.

 

[strokinbyeu]

the only times i recall him eating a fish was just b4 he molted not sure if it ws to get a few things he wasnt from the other foods or if he was just being agresiv bc he was cramped when it molts make sure he has a place to hide and eat his old shell without being bothered he'll need the calsium from his old shell

 

[fishguy228]

ok im still debating but i think this will be the tie breaker i keep hearing that if you have any live plants in your tank that they will eat them because i want to turn my tank into a planted tank

 

[strokinbyeu]

i had fake plants and he would up root them if they got in his way like a clear cut logger lol

 

[GlennJ]

Crayfish

Never dealt with the exotics like electric blues but did keep domestics as scavengers in a large native(Pennsylvania)setup that contained mostly sunfish and a small Gar(12").The small crayfish usually avoided the other fish but had a large fellow that probably measured 5" that wasn't afraid to to grab ahold of the feeder minnows or the smaller crayfish.Occasionally would even latch on to the Gar's fin should he hover close enough and go for a ride,nor was he afraid to rearrange anything he could move if it was not to his liking.He wasn't much of plant muncher though.