CPO nano aquarium

[Hotshotdevil]

So I am looking at setting up planted nano tank for crayfish. I think the ideal species for the tank is going to be a CPO. from what I have read they can be kept in small tanks, are social, and will not eat live plants. I have also heard they will trim and dead leaves. Is this true? that would be a big help! Does anyone have any previous experience with this species? if so please respond I would love to pick your brain!

 

[Coursair]

So I am looking at setting up planted nano tank for crayfish. I think the ideal species for the tank is going to be a CPO. from what I have read they can be kept in small tanks, are social, and will not eat live plants. I have also heard they will trim and dead leaves. Is this true? that would be a big help! Does anyone have any previous experience with this species? if so please respond I would love to pick your brain!

They are territorial. Under 10g just one.
10g you can keep a pair with plenty of plants and hiding spots.

They are harmless to fish, but do try to catch dwarf Shrimp. Big eaters.

 

[Hotshotdevil]

Alright O a, looking at the ebi shrimp kit which includes an 8.8 gallon aquarium so maybe I will stick with one cray. I believe I had one as a child and he always used to crawl out of the tank. There is a good chance he was in less than optimal conditions and this may have been why he was trying to escape. Do you ever have this problem? Would he eat one or two endlers livebearers If I put them in a tank with him? Do you think the increased bioload would help or hinder plant growth?

 

[siva]

I've kept a large colony in a 10 gal with no issues. All crays are somewhat territorial, but CPO's less than most, and I've never had them do any real damage to eachother. They do seem to be social and enjoy being in a group. Bigger crays will eat babies, but in a planted tank some will survive. If you want to expand your colony faster, you can remove a female when she's berried to a smaller tank/container until the eggs hatch, and then return her to the main tank while growing out the babies for a while first. They do not damage live plants.

You're probably right about it trying to espace due to less than optimal conditions. I've kept CPO's in open top tanks, which is typically a no-no for crays, without any problems. Most CPO's will be fine with fish like endlers, but it's still possible things could go wrong. Personally, I've never had any issues with CPO's and fish. I've never seen them act even somewhat aggressive towards a fish. Should help plant growth, definitely won't hinder.

 

[Hotshotdevil]

I've kept a large colony in a 10 gal with no issues. All crays are somewhat territorial, but CPO's less than most, and I've never had them do any real damage to eachother. They do seem to be social and enjoy being in a group. Bigger crays will eat babies, but in a planted tank some will survive. If you want to expand your colony faster, you can remove a female when she's berried to a smaller tank/container until the eggs hatch, and then return her to the main tank while growing out the babies for a while first. They do not damage live plants.

You're probably right about it trying to espace due to less than optimal conditions. I've kept CPO's in open top tanks, which is typically a no-no for crays, without any problems. Most CPO's will be fine with fish like endlers, but it's still possible things could go wrong. Personally, I've never had any issues with CPO's and fish. I've never seen them act even somewhat aggressive towards a fish. Should help plant growth, definitely won't hinder.

Alright so maybe I will start with a male female pair and then go from there. How small are the babies? If I could I might use them as live food for the endlers livebearers I have in other tanks. I would be concerned about the little pinchers though. Im afraid that if the CPO starting breeding the population will far outgrow the space available! Yea that's why I figured the other crayfish was trying to escape I feel bad about it now but I was like 5 at the time lol. My brother a dmy girlfriend are both planning on setting up species tanks for endlers so I will have plenty of babies. If the CPOs knock one off every once in a while it might actualy be a plus. Hat Lind of plants do you find CPO prefer to live in? Probably hard to know unless you have taught them to speak lol.

 

[jetajockey]

A CPO population explosion is the least of concerns. If you get too many I'm sure someone will take them off your hands, they are worth a good bit. Not really something to worry about anyhow till the time comes.

 

[Hotshotdevil]

A CPO population explosion is the least of concerns. If you get too many I'm sure someone will take them off your hands, they are worth a good bit. Not really something to worry about anyhow till the time comes.

Yeah I guess that makes sense. The problem is going to be finding a store that takes them every time I bring them not just once.

 

[jetajockey]

Yeah I guess that makes sense. The problem is going to be finding a store that takes them every time I bring them not just once.

Trust me, getting overrun with CPO's is not all that likely, but even if it does happen they are not hard to get rid of. And yes you could feed the babies to your community fish if you wanted to, they are plenty small enough.

 

[siva]

Crays are super easy to ship, you can list them on aquabid and on the classified section here. CPO's are always in demand.

The babies are really small. Adult endlers will be picking them off. If you just let nature take it's course in the tank w/o removing anyone, your population will remain reasonable for quite some time.

I would start with a pair as well. No reason to invest more than that when she should be berried in no time.

LOL no actually with time I have noticed the plants they seem to use the most. I have marimo balls in all of my dwarf cray tanks and the crays really seem to enjoy them. Java moss is great too, berried females and babies will hang out in there a lot. Float something as well, I usually use pennywort, the just molted crays will hang out up there a lot to stay safe until they harden up.

 

[siva]

Trust me, getting overrun with CPO's is not all that likely, but even if it does happen they are not hard to get rid of. And yes you could feed the babies to your community fish if you wanted to, they are plenty small enough.

Yeah really you should be so lucky to be overrun with CPO's

 

[Hotshotdevil]

Trust me, getting overrun with CPO's is not all that likely, but even if it does happen they are not hard to get rid of. And yes you could feed the babies to your community fish if you wanted to, they are plenty small enough.

Alight well thats reassuring. I am just wary of that kind of thing when it comes to any species that breeds in captivity. So how exactly do CPO breed? Are the eggs cast into the water column? Can the babies be raised in the presence of adults? Can they be feed the same food as the adults or do they need a special kind of food?

 

[siva]

You'll probably see it happening sometimes..the male pins the female down in quite a brutal fashion. Then she will become "berried". She carries the eggs on the underside of her tail until they hatch. The babies can be raised in the presence of adults, but the adults will pick off some babies, as will the endlers. The more plants you have the better for the survival of the baby crays. They will not require special care or foods.

 

[jetajockey]

They hold the eggs until they are ready to hatch so they basically give birth to live young. They scavenge just like the parents so there's no special care needed. I use RCS culls as feeders from time to time and couldn't imagine using a CPO as one, they are easily 5x the price. But that said the babies are so small that they couldn't hurt a community fish even if they wanted to.

 

[MABJ]

If your heart is set on a pair CPOs, I think it is a good choice.

But if it isnt, I'd suggest a pair of Dwarf Cajun Crayfish and a colony of shrimp

The cajuns are less colorful and less aggressive, but I like their personalities more..

They will reproduce nearly the same way a CPO would. They're about the same size.

 

[siva]

I love the cajun's as well. They are smaller. They eat their young less so I've found they multiply faster. There are some slightly different color morphs, but in my colony the males are brown and the females are a really pretty deep bluish brown. These guys are a lot of fun. When I try to net some out, they scurry about like crazy and completely burrow into the substrate so I can't get to them.

 

[MABJ]

I love the cajun's as well. They are smaller. They eat their young less so I've found they multiply faster. There are some slightly different color morphs, but in my colony the males are brown and the females are a really pretty deep bluish brown. These guys are a lot of fun. When I try to net some out, they scurry about like crazy and completely burrow into the substrate so I can't get to them.

What is your opinion on a good aquarium size for them for this OP?

I would say they can have a lot more than they can have CPOs.

I love the blue female coloration.

 

[Hotshotdevil]

Crays are super easy to ship, you can list them on aquabid and on the classified section here. CPO's are always in demand.

The babies are really small. Adult endlers will be picking them off. If you just let nature take it's course in the tank w/o removing anyone, your population will remain reasonable for quite some time.

I would start with a pair as well. No reason to invest more than that when she should be berried in no time.

LOL no actually with time I have noticed the plants they seem to use the most. I have marimo balls in all of my dwarf cray tanks and the crays really seem to enjoy them. Java moss is great too, berried females and babies will hang out in there a lot. Float something as well, I usually use pennywort, the just molted crays will hang out up there a lot to stay safe until they harden up.

I don't really see my self getting into selling crayfish. Don't get me wrong I would appreciate the extra cash but it may be more trouble than it's worth. Just a personal opinion and nothing is set in stone till I see eggs lol. Are marimo balls the same thing as normal algae balls? I think I am going to do a lot of rock and driftwood in the tank so a layer of java moss to it would add some nice color and depth to it. How about some amazon frog bit as a floating plant?

If your heart is set on a pair CPOs, I think it is a good choice.

But if it isnt, I'd suggest a pair of Dwarf Cajun Crayfish and a colony of shrimp

The cajuns are less colorful and less aggressive, but I like their personalities more..

They will reproduce nearly the same way a CPO would. They're about the same size.

I do happen to really like the CPO so I think I am going to stick with them but I will keep the species in mind when I do any other builds that I want to include crayfish in.

I love the cajun's as well. They are smaller. They eat their young less so I've found they multiply faster. There are some slightly different color morphs, but in my colony the males are brown and the females are a really pretty deep bluish brown. These guys are a lot of fun. When I try to net some out, they scurry about like crazy and completely burrow into the substrate so I can't get to them.

Do you think in a pretty heavily planted tank the CPOs could maintain a stable population or would it falter over time? How long does a CPO live for? How long does it take for them to mature?

 

[MABJ]

They live right around or just under 2 years in the best conditions.

They'll boom eventually in a large enough tank. Especially if the young have hiding places to scatter to when the parents get hungry.

 

[Hotshotdevil]

They live right around or just under 2 years in the best conditions.

They'll boom eventually in a large enough tank. Especially if the young have hiding places to scatter to when the parents get hungry.

So eventually the population would outgrow the size of the tank if they are they kept in a well planted enclosures?

 

[MABJ]

So eventually the population would outgrow the size of the tank if they are they kept in a well planted enclosures?

Well... Actually I have to say yes. Most people are happy about that tho. Because every single cray would bring in about 6-8 dollars if you're selling at a reasonable price to forum members.

Even kids on This forum ship like pros. Severum Mama has a great article on how. Basically you just need to be able to read and you make a profit off your hobby

Of course a lot of people here will trade/give/surprise comrades with different things just at shipping price.