Tom

I was at the lake for 3 days this week and caught a bunch of minnows and caryfish. I released the miinows before we left because I didn't want them to grow too big and I released all but one crayfish. I set up the empty 10 gallon that I have that I use for wild caught animals and it seems to be doing fine. It has lots of rock caves in the bottom and has some of the native plants in the tank also. My question is, what would be suitable to feed the crawfish? I put in some sinking shrimp pellets and an algae wafer this morning.
Tom

sirdarksol

Crayfish are scavengers and hunters. I think they are omnivorous, but that might be a species by species thing.
I know that they'll eat bits of flesh (chunks of fish, shrimp pellets are probably good), you might want to try fresh veggies. Frozen meaty foods probably are your best bet, other than actual fresh food. I don't think they eat algae, but not sure of that.

Tom

What if I bought some feeder guppies for it?
Tom

sirdarksol

My standard response to feeder anything is "Don't."
Those things aren't cared for, are filled with disease and toxins from the water, and possess little nutritional value, as the body has already consumed anything resembling vitamins and minerals in an attempt to keep itself alive.
Aside from these scientific reasons, I think it's just wrong the way they're kept. I have no problem with people feeding carnivorous fish living prey. It's how things happen in the wild. However, the prey fish normally aren't kept in squalid conditions prior to being eaten.
Honestly, I think that the best thing for critters that have live food is to raise one's own feeder guppies/goldfish/whatever. Go out, buy a few guppies (you can even buy feeder guppies and hope they survive) and set up a breeding tank.
However, if you are going to use feeder fish, I would recommend regularly supplementing the diet with bits of fish laced with vitachem or other vitamins.

Tom

But one of the stores takes great care of their feeder tanks. I was planning on getting them from there. And if you haven't read my post about not beinga able to get any types of vitamins for fish here in Canada anymore, than I won't be able to supplement their diet with any vitamins.
Tom

Tom

Well anyways, the crayfish is still alive and I feed it any live insects I am able to catch around my house. It also has 3 feeder guppy friends if it gets really hungry. It has also already shed it's shell twice since I got it, so it has to be getting nutrients from somewhere.
Tom

sirdarksol

Awesome! That's probably a great setup, especially if it doesn't eat the guppies right away, and you are feeding them well. They should "plump up" as it were, and become better eatin'.

Gozer_1

I have had 3 crays in my day and all 3 absolutely LOVED earthworms. LOVED........ I have to chop them up for the little guy (2in) I have now, but definitely his favorite. He comes out for flakes, and blood worms too. 2 of 3 crays were store bought, 1 wild. They all ate the same food. The Cobalt Blue I had ate the most "viciously". I am a huge fan of crays, just watch for escapes and a mean streak.

How big is the cray you kept? Mine met tragic demises, one to copper getting in the tank and one to a large albino clawed frog. The frog ate a 5in cray. The one I have now I plan to give a private little place for hims little self. He lives with a Gold Gourami couple right now.

Tom

I too am a fan of them. My little guy isn't really mean, it goes and tries to sit on my hand when ever I go and feed it. I think it is about 3-4" now. I haven't tried earthworms, they were actually on the list next to flying bugs. The house for it is so neat. There is a bunch of rocks that are in a big circle and a bunch of sea shells on top of the rocks. It has a little entrance to the cave and is really neat.
Tom

Gozer_1

LOL maybe mean streak was a bad phrase to use. It's not so much meaness as it is hunger I guess. I keep a few feeder fish in with him and he is always trying to nab one, well has nabbed a couple and he ate a little tire track eel too. He'd go for a gourami if they weren't twice his size. Still likes to throw his claws up at them and act like a tough guy. Soon he'll have the 20 to himself. I'm waiting for a 30 for the Gourami pair and feeder storage. Then I can setup a little more appropriate home for the cray (i.e. a place to get out of the water), at least until he needs more space lol. I think my favorite thing about crays is their remodeling habits. I love watching them carry arm loads of gravel around to dig out their house and build walls. Guess it could really be a pain if you don't like how they setup. My first one dug up plants and carried them to his chosen corner where he used them as part his cave.
That's really cool that yours will come to you. Mine doesn't really care either way. Maybe if I had food in my hand lol. Sounds like you have a really neat setup. I can't wait till I get a full on cray setup going.

Tom

If I try and pick mine out of the water, it just literally jumps back into the tank. It doesn't even pay any attention to the guppies any more, and just waits for me to throw in a shrimp pellet or some insect. The little guy also doesn't like moving stuff around since it was also caught in a huge pile of rocks and I had about 4 others on the way home and they all competed for dominance and this one seemed to have won and is the strongest.
Tom

Tom

Well to keep you up to date, my crayfish is doing great and eats like a little pig. I feed it some of those cabbage butterflies by hand and it devours them.
Tom

Wolfgang8810

cray fish are so cool how often do they molt? mine gets a thawed krill everyother day and eats every last bit

Tom

Mine has molted 3 times since I got it. But they molt whenever they grow to big for their shell.
Tom

Edit: fixed small to big

Wolfgang8810

how long has it bin since you caught the little guy?

Tom

I got it at the beginnign of July.
Tom

Wolfgang8810

now i see thanks im still new and figguring things out. it ways i cant personal message people why is that? is it because of the rude person spamming porn everywhere?

Tom

That's ok, we are still new to some things, even Dino. No, you need to have 3-4 stars, I think.
Tom

sirdarksol

Actually, it is because of spam. Someone spammed a number of the members with PMs, so Mike set a restriction that newbies couldn't PM. It made things rough on those who don't have the posts yet, but it forces people who would abuse the system to do more work than they're willing to do. They're looking for an easy buck, not honest work.

Wolfgang8810

if someone pms you first then you can reply and activate messaging there

Tom

Really? I didn't know that.
Tom

Wolfgang8810

thats what just happened to me

Tom

But anywho. I bought 10 more feeder guppies and it ate 3 already.
Tom

Tom

Well, the little brat is still alive, so now all I have to do is find it someplace for the winter. I have bought about 50 more feeder guppies and 20-30 crickets for it since my last post. It just gobbles up the crickets when they sink due to drinking up so much water. I feed it one cricket and about 2-3 guppies everyday and it seems to love eating them all the time. Is there any way to tell the gender of a crayfish?
Tom

Gozer_1

Good to hear your cray is doing well.

Not sure about sexing. The only way I know of is if they get eggs attached to their "stomach" area they are female lol.

I think I'm going to return my to the pond he came from. I love crays so very much but I need the 20 hes in for a refugium and the Gouramis have a 45 or will in a couple weeks. I would like to try to have some gourami babies one of these days and I'm sure a cray would be fine with that also, just for the wrong reasons. lol Plus, as you have mentioned, they are hungary little things and my Oscar is a big enough mouth to feed.

Tom

But whenever I go to bring home more then one cray from the lake, there is always one that kills them rest, so it is kind of pointless to put more then the one in the tank. I can't really go and return the cray since the lake area is in freezing cold water and I keep my cray in room temp water and it doesn't have to kill any food for itself any more because I kill the food for it, so it will get lazy that way. I have I think 2 choices for over the winter, put it in a 3 gallon tank that I just bought as a sick tank, or give it to my uncle to watch with his many goldfish in a 30 gallon tank. I am really in a pickle to try and choose which one. Which would you do?
Tom

Wolfgang8810

i would do the 3 gallon tank that way you can still see it and it nbeing in a smaller tank mightgive you a chance to have a relationship and interaction with it.

Gozer_1

The pond I got mine in is still very warm. Very close to the 75-78 in my tank. I have been feeding live food and letting him scavenge so he'll be fine finding food outside. He is quite the goldfish hunter.

I'd say go with the 3gal also. If the cray got to feeling fiesty in the 30 he might go for some of your uncles goldfish. I don't know, mine is just a VERY skilled hunter of goldfish.

Tom

Mine is too lazy for it to try and catch those fast little guppies and just waits for me to either bring it food or for the other fish to die and it eat them up.
Tom

MrWaxhead

I know eons ago when I was a kid, I used to go fishing and after I caught and cleaned the fish. I would take the spine and what ever meat was left on it after filleting the fish, and tie a line to it and drop it in the swamp or lake close to shore. I would come back that evening and net it up and it would be crawling with crayfish. So they definitely like fresh salmon or trout hehe. Granted I didn't put my crayfish in aquarium, they went in water but it was usually a little to warm for them, they sure were tasty though