Hey ADsnail,
Yes I am fully enthused !!! That's my plan this weekend to just rejig my tanks and get it ready just in case. Few aquatics centres I'm going to check out this weekend also to put feelers out.
So exciting !!! Big thanks for your advice and help.
Been researching there food etc.
I know they eat almost anything. And you buy the wafers but seen videos of people putting peas in tank and egg shells too. Are these good ?
Can you use any eggshells if so?
They do need calcium but not egg shells. Here's the food breakdown:
-A basic building block is crustacean food, like Hikari Crab Cuisine. That's the Cadillac of these foods but there are other brands if you can't find that. Look at Hikari's ingredients online and compare them with whatever brand you choose. This contains calcium as well as other shell building ingredients. One thing you don't want to see is copper. If that's on the list, don't buy the product. Copper kills crustaceans. Just a tiny bit 2-3 times per week depending on how much other stuff he's eating, whether he's just molted and needs extra calcium, or you're feeling lazy and just want to throw something quick in there on a busy day. It's a supplement, but an important one.
-Frozen peas and carrots. A pea every day or every other day depending on how quickly he snatches it and drags it into his lair, meaning he's hungry. A little carrot cube every once in awhile for variety; they don't love these as much. Defrost in your fingers under running water. The pea must be squeezed so it pops out of the outer skin so he can access it. It will sink to the bottom. It's good to drop this right in front of him because he comes running and drags it into his lair. Fun.
-Frozen shrimp. Just 1/3 or 1/2 depending upon how big it is. Defrost under running water in your fingers. Once or twice a week depending on how much he's eating. He'll want it all before and after a molt. Great calcium and protein.
-Algae tablets. Very important nutrients and they love them. It's another thing you can toss in when you don't have time. I feed 2 times a week. Watch when you drop it in front of him - they eat it like a cookie, turning it round and round and nibbling the edges. Ugh, they are just so adorable.
-Fresh veggies. There's a wide variety to experiment with but I usually do zucchini or cucumber. Both do contain some calcium. Other things like broccoli and onion become too stinky if they don't eat it all. So, how to do the veggie? Slice and blanch. Blanching is boiling for one minute to break down the outer fibers and make it accessible (snails adore blanched veggies too - they need a day to let it get good and old before they chow down). Blanching is quick and easy. Slice veg 1/8-1/4 inch and place into a small amount of water (like 1 inch) in a small pot. Boil one minute. Let it cool. That's it. *Note about sliced vegetables: they tend to float and you want to keep it on the bottom, so skewer it with a chopstick and press down so the stick is into substrate. I have many videos of crayfish working at prying zucchini slices off chopsticks. It's hilarious. My friends are totally over it. *Note: leave the chopstick. He'll play with it for days. I once actually found my Cherax Thunderbolt using a chopstick as a leverage device to lift something heavy in the tank for his digging. That is scary intelligent. I wonder if he could do my taxes.
-The exoskeleton. When your cray disappears for a day or two he's probably molting. For babies this would be approx every 6-8 weeks; it slows down as they get older and becomes 1-2 x per year as adults. Each time, they back out of the old shell and the claws are last to go. Leave the exoskeleton. They need to eat it for the best possible calcium and nutrients. They are very hungry before and after a molt and need extra calcium and protein. *One way to tell if they're hungry is if you see him standing on his hind legs reaching up trying to get your attention when you walk by. No, he's not saying hello. He's saying "feed me, you giant!"
There's a concern among some that they drag and bury their food, allowing rot and making a dirty tank. In my experience, yes, they do drag and bury food but they always find and eat it later. They do like a bit of rot. There's a fine line about how much is too much; the key is to watch his eating patterns and feed accordingly so he does dig up his stash and eat it. One way you'll know how you're doing is by the occasional vacuuming: if you don't find any chunks and it doesn't smell bad in there, you're feeding the right amount.
