New Crayfish Keeper Needs Help

[katcetera]

First time Crayfish keeper here. Got my first one today, his name is Julian. I've got him in a tank with a hollow log, soft aquarium plants and rocks for him to climb on. One thing I'm confused about. Online, some people say they will drown without being able to come out of the water. But, the pet store I bought him from had him totally submerged for over a month with no tank decor or anything. I filled my tank half way and he does have the option to climb out if he wanted to onto a rock platform. I have a waterfall filter, that seems to be adding a good amount of oxygen to the water. I do have an air pump/stone I could add too if necessary.
So my questions are, is it true they drown without access to the surface? Should my filter provide enough oxygen or should I add the air stone too? The pet store told me to feed him shrimp pellets or live feeder fish. I heard they are omnivores, would he eat algea wafers too?Also, I live in the country on a well with very hard water. I heard that's good for them. So, would water conditioning be unnecessary? And, how do I prevent iodine deficiency? Is a supplement always necessary and how often should I add it?

 

[henningc]

First, no he will not drown. Some types of crayfish like to burrow and will keep traveling until they find a place to do so, but not likely you have one of those varieties.


You may want to post what type of crayfish it is as it makes a difference.


Your tank should be fine, although if the plants are real they will end up a snack. If you make the crayfish feel secure most get a few pronounced personality. They are neat to work with and can be a good laugh now and then,


As for food, no live fish. If you want to house the crayfish with live fish feeding them to him is a bad idea. I feed mine frozen then blanched green peas cut in half. I give him a green bean same way now and then. Pellet food is ok as long as it doesn't disintegrate too quickly. I feed mine at least one ramshorn snail per week, you can actually throw 10 or so in the tank and feed them a pinch of fish food every other day and they will do the rest. They crayfish will eat the leftover fish food.

 

[katcetera]

I'll be housing him alone. No idea what kind of Crayfish it is. All I know is that he's cold water. The pet shop couldn't give me any useful info on them really. Very exotic pet up here in Canada.

 

[ImACoolguy]

If it's the one in your picture I would be willing to bet it's an Orange Dwarf Crayfish. Small and cute

Crayfish are mainly scavengers and will eat about anything. In the wild, they are mainly herbivores, eating small amounts of algae and plant material.

I have 2 wild caught Crays with live plants and they don't bother them one bit from what I can tell.



Mine eat about anything I throw in there. Algae wafers, shrimp pellets, veggie wafers etc.


Caleb

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[katcetera]

Here is another pic of him. He has been eating his veggie wafers & shrimp pellets. I am interested in knowing more about his need for iodine and calcium supplements though.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Definitely a orange dwarf. He's pretty!


Caleb

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[katcetera]

Thank you! Definitely caught my eye at the pet store. I'd never seen one in real life before. Did about a month of research and worked on setting up a habitat and I went back and got him. How long have you had your crayfish?

 

[sinibotia]

I know I say this to everyone on this forum- you could prettymuch replace me with a bot that says "Loaches! Sponge filters! Dropsy/columnaris!"

But you should hook up your air pump and air stone you have to a sponge filter and use that. It's cheap, it's a bunch of extra biofiltration, and also a great emergency filter if you need to quickly set up another tank to treat a disease or quarantine a fish. I run them on most of my tanks. If you've already got the air pump and air stone you may as well turn it into more filtration!

 

[ImACoolguy]

Thank you! Definitely caught my eye at the pet store. I'd never seen one in real life before. Did about a month of research and worked on setting up a habitat and I went back and got him. How long have you had your crayfish?

Just a few weeks. Very fun little dudes to watch


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

 

[katcetera]

I know I say this to everyone on this forum- you could prettymuch replace me with a bot that says "Loaches! Sponge filters! Dropsy/columnaris!"

But you should hook up your air pump and air stone you have to a sponge filter and use that. It's cheap, it's a bunch of extra biofiltration, and also a great emergency filter if you need to quickly set up another tank to treat a disease or quarantine a fish. I run them on most of my tanks. If you've already got the air pump and air stone you may as well turn it into more filtration!

Never heard of this type of filter. How do I go about setting that up?

 

[sinibotia]

Never heard of this type of filter. How do I go about setting that up?

Basically, it's a plastic tube attached to a hollowed-out cylindrical sponge. You put an airstone down through the center tube and the rising bubbles draw water through the sponge and up through the tube.

You can make them yourself really easily, or buy them for super cheap. With a battery powered pump for power outages, they're basically the perfect emergency filter.

 

[katcetera]

I'll look into that! Thanks for the info.

 

[ThatsCrayFish]

Yes all you need is an airstone and hell be fine

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