Unidentified Crayfish.

[fishfool58]

I found this crayfish the other day, & was curious if anyone could tell me what it is.. & what his temperaments are.. Right now he's housed alone.. With plenty of aeration.. Is he able to go with my other fish? 6 Zebra Danios, 3 plecos, & 1Frontosa, that is about a 1 1/2 inch long. The cray fish hisself is about an inch long.. Still young I think.. He's got red tipped claws & his coloration is brown with a sort of clear coat look to it.. He's hiding in the rock formation I gave him, & can't get him out.. The first is his separate tank, the second is my 75 gal tank. & the third is the best picture I could get of him.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Looks like a rusty crayfish to me. Can you get a better pic? They can grow to about 6" and are highly aggresive and territorial. Also they're invasives in many states.

 

[fishfool58]

I'll keep trying, I got him in a 10 gal aquarium alone that had gravel.. Someone told me to put play sand in it.. Well it looks ******, & is always cloudy.. But I had a flower pot in for him, & he dug up under a rock.. I put 4 rosy red minnows in the tank, they all died.. I assume from the fact the dirty sand killed them..

 

[Cichlid Kid]

There may have been something in the sand if it wasn't rinsed well enough. Is the tank cycled? If not then that may be the cause of death as well. Even the hardiest species can only take so much ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Start with a pwc, test water first tho to see where your levels are along with ph.
Then you'll have a better idea of what your dealing with.

 

[fishfool58]

I rinsed it for like hours.. & hours.. I think. Rinsed it about 2 1/2 hours.. & the water was cycled.. I filled up 3/4 of the tank with water from my 75 gal.. Knowing 5-6 gallons wouldn't really dent the water in that.. So it's fine.. & I got the minnows from walmart. Lol

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Just because the water came from an established tank doesn't mean your new setup is automatically cycled. Unless you moved filter media from one to the other i can almost guarantee your dealing with a toxic level of ammonia. Do you have a test kit?

 

[fishfool58]

Yes, I moved media rings over,
& a piece of foam from my filter over, put some rocks that were in that tank to the new one.. Never let it dry.. So it should have good bacteria from all that.. The only thing new was the sand, & the carbon filter..

 

[Cichlid Kid]

You did the rite thing by moving media over w/out letting it dry. I'd still check to see where your parameters are. 1crayfish and a few minnows aren't too much of a bioload for a 10gal. Though.

 

[Cichlid Kid]

Maybe the sand did indeed leach something into the water.

 

[fishfool58]

You did the rite thing by moving media over w/out letting it dry. I'd still check to see where your parameters are. 1crayfish and a few minnows aren't too much of a bioload for a 10gal. Though.

Yeah, my parameters are fine.. He seems to be doing fine, made his home under a nice rock, & he's been eating good,
He had 2 minnows shortly after they died.. working on his third one now.. Never removed them.. As it didnt seem to be messing with ye paras.. But the creek I found him at is now running smoothly.. Idk why it dried up so quick.. So I might release him back.. If you guys think he will be alright if I do?