Joys of a new crayfish owner.

[warthog76za]

On Friday I got my pair of Cherax Lorentzi crayfish,watching them now a few days on, its a true joy to watch, and being new to having crayfish it makes it even more interesting. Seeing them dig holes, do this intimidating dance with claws raised before both bolt off to their hiding spots (which we, my wife and kids, find hilarious) seeing them drag along the Alder cones to their hiding spots another of their traits in the tank.

Their behaviour in general I find interesting, today the one who hides in the coconut, pushed sand to block the entrance, later when we threw some food in you just saw some legs stick through and feel for the flake food

 

[cavnoe]

I agree with you. I just got my dwarf crays this weekend and they are so much fun to watch. I made caves for them but they chose to go hide else where for now. I hope to see some cray babies in a few months. From what everyone tells me it is going to happen. I have two females and one male orange cpo.

 

[ErinF90]

Sounds really cool, I always see them at the LFS. What kind of set up do you have for them, if you don't mind me asking

 

[cavnoe]

I have them in a ten gallon tank for now. I keep them in the tank with my cherry shrimp, two purple mystery snails, some plants , drift wood, sand substrate and a few caves I made for them. Also more then a few ramshorn hitchiker. I have a fluval whisper filter but I plan on maybe switching to a sponge filter.

 

[Austin.b]

I have them in a ten gallon tank for now. I keep them in the tank with my cherry shrimp, two purple mystery snails, some plants , drift wood, sand substrate and a few caves I made for them. Also more then a few ramshorn hitchiker. I have a fluval whisper filter but I plan on maybe switching to a sponge filter.

I'm sure you know this, but the CPO may go after the shrimp. I'm 90% sure the CPO will get ahold of some, it's really just a matter of time. Also, when they breed and you get some CPO baby's, the parents will only tolerate the young ones for about a week then they will kill them if they can get ahold of them.

As a matter of fact, I also picked up a CPO pair about a month ago, and I already have some CPO baby's running around

 

[ErinF90]

Are they totally aquatic or do they need some land?

 

[BillD]

Cherax sp are tropical and require very clean water, and don't tolerate high nitrates well. This one doesn't seem to get quite as large as quadricarinatus, although it is believed it may be part of the same species. They are interesting and attractive. A good secure lid is essential to keep them in the tank.
If I remember correctly, keeping Cherax with fresh water shrimp is a bad idea, as the shrimp can carry something that is harmful to the crays. As well, they have to be kept away from any of the North American species of cray, because of a virus/disease the NAs carry.

 

[Austin.b]

Are they totally aquatic or do they need some land?

They are fully aquatic and do not need any land above the water level

 

[cavnoe]

I purchased these CPOs from a family that breeds and sells mostly crayfish. They also breed shrimp and some things you wont find in a pet store. They were nice enough to let me view their tanks and they had crayfish living with the shrimp in peace. There is also a shrimp breeder in my area as well who kept his regular crays with his shrimp for 10 yrs with no problem. I have read it is okay to keep them together and that it is not.

I have multiple tanks so if I see a problem arise I will just move the dwarf cray to another tank. For now they are getting along fine with the shrimp. I make sure the crays are not hungry. They also came from a mixed tank as well. I heard the regular crays will go after the shrimp but I have not heard this about the dwarf crayfish. So far my dwarfs are not bothering any of their tank mates.

 

[cavnoe]

Austin when you got your CPOs were they already adults? I have juvies they are about the size of an adult cherry shrimp. In fact some of my shrimp are bigger then the dwarf crayfish.

 

[Austin.b]

I purchased these CPOs from a family that breeds and sells mostly crayfish. They also breed shrimp and some things you wont find in a pet store. They were nice enough to let me view their tanks and they had crayfish living with the shrimp in peace. There is also a shrimp breeder in my area as well who kept his regular crays with his shrimp for 10 yrs with no problem. I have read it is okay to keep them together and that it is not.

I have multiple tanks so if I see a problem arise I will just move the dwarf cray to another tank. For now they are getting along fine with the shrimp. I make sure the crays are not hungry. They also came from a mixed tank as well. I heard the regular crays will go after the shrimp but I have not heard this about the dwarf crayfish. So far my dwarfs are not bothering any of their tank mates.

Yeah, there's definitely some conflicting info on these guys! I decided not to risk it, so I got them a tank of their own

Definitely a good idea to have a back up plan! That's good to hear, maybe it's just wether or not the individual cray will put up with shrimp or not.

 

[BillD]

Yeah, there's definitely some conflicting info on these guys! I decided not to risk it, so I got them a tank of their own

Definitely a good idea to have a back up plan! That's good to hear, maybe it's just wether or not the individual cray will put up with shrimp or not.

If I remember correctly, the shrimp can carry a disease that will kill the Cherax and not harm the shrimp. For the same reason, you don't feed fresh water shrimp to Cherax, but salt water shrimp are okay. This is all from memory from a presentation one of our members did (he is the Curator of Invertebrates at the local zoo), which was from an article/presentation he did for other zoos.

 

[cavnoe]

The dwarf is different type of cray from the Cherax. I have read that there is a crayfish that gets sick very easily but the CPO is not part of the genus that is affected. I will try and see if I can find it. I was looking at it recently.

 

[cavnoe]

Found it! Below is the article I read on the net about Crayfish getting sick.

Crayfish

I don't know if that is related to the disease you were talking about BillD but take a look and let me know. Near the bottom they speak of some type of crayfish plague. It is an interesting read even if it isn't what you were telling me about.

 

[Alyxx]

Found it! Below is the article I read on the net about Crayfish getting sick.

Crayfish

I don't know if that is related to the disease you were talking about BillD but take a look and let me know. Near the bottom they speak of some type of crayfish plague. It is an interesting read even if it isn't what you were telling me about.

That article made me want some crawfish and they are out of season! Lol, can you tell I live in Louisiana? Apart from loving to eat crays, I like keeping them as pets, too. I have some arriving this week, but mine are marbled crays. The best advice I can give you is be sure there is no space they can escape from. The last crayfish I kept escaped and made it all the way through my apartment.

 

[cavnoe]

That is funny. These little dwarfs aren't the escape artist the regular crayfish are. Waterbugs are bigger then these guys.

Since your in Louisiana you should be able to go out and catch your own cray. So what kind of crayfish did you purchase?

 

[Alyxx]

I probably could, I see them in ditches all the time. But I wouldn't want to bring in parasites or toxins. If I had a tank just for them, I might. I got marbled crayfish, which are the only crays that reproduce by self cloning. So these will be a live food source for my puffers. These I will raise to adulthood and keep as pets, their babies will be live food. It's a win/win. I get awesome little pets, my fish get tasty food.

 

[cavnoe]

Poor crayfish , they are just too popular. Everyone wants to eat them. I love lobster not crays so they are safe with me. Let your Marble know it can run away to my house , I will create and old bay free shelter for them.

Post a picture when your marble comes in if you can. I would like to see it. I will post a picture of my cajun crays when they arrive.