blue crayfish turning red

Hi!
I have a crayfish in my tank for about 3 days. This morning I noticed that he is turning red on his sides. Is that normal? Just did a water check and everything looks fine. I have a high 8.2 Ph but I don't think that is the problem. So far I am feeding him peas, and sinking wafers from Hikari. He also ate a whole live plant I had in my tank.

 

Hmmm... Mabey he is just marbling? I'm not very familiar w crayfish. Can you post a picture?

 

I have herd that sometimes blues turn red. Pretty sure its genetics.

 

My blue turns purple depending on some unknown factor almost daily

 

Ok, The first picture is from 2 days ago. The second is from today.

 

I used to have a crayfish like that one, they are naturally red or pink in places. I wouldn't be too worried, but I'm not a crustacean doctor, so keep an eye on it

 

Omg, I think I just figured why my crayfish is turning darker with red on his sides... I gave him pears and not peas... Maybe the sugar is causing him to turn color? What a mistake! Is he gonna be fine? :/

 

Hmmm.... He should be OK if this is the case. Keep monitoring though. I'm not very aware of the crayfish diet but wouldn't recommend feeding pear... I'm not 100% familiar with the species so.......

 

I am pretty sure it was the pear because I gave it to him at night and the next morning he was kinda red.I am not gonna give him pear anymore. I hope he gets his blue color back.

 

I wouldn't feed fruits to really anything in an aquarium unless it actually needs them. Crayfish prefer foods with meat and vegetable content. I wouldn't give outright meat, though, just tablets with meat as ingredients. Plain vegetables are mostly fine.

 

Thanks guys!

 

Hope he turns back! Should be fine. I am wondering how you mixed up peas with pears though!

 

I have no idea how I could do that! I must have misread... Not gonna happen again that's for sure

 

Keep us updated. If it makes you feel better, a few years back I mixed up wheat bread chunks and frozen brine shrimp: ( Still have no idea how I did it......

 

Hey, it happens. I almost sucked my betta while I was cleaning gravel the other day! Almost had a heart attack!

 

Update: he seems pretty healthy although his colors hasn't change back to the normal. He is pretty active and has a huge appetite. This morning tough When feeding him I noticed something unusual. I could see something like a jelly or a sponge growing on his claws... Is that a sign of overfeeding? I usually give him food 2 times a day, once in the morning and once at night before turning the lights off.

 

Where on his claws is it? Facing in, or out?

 

Its on top facing in

 

I was able to take two pictures of it while he was eating a spinach leaf
What is it? Anyone?

 

2 more pics

 

That's very strange lol.

 

That fuzz on his claws is nothing to worry about, I used to have a crayfish of that species. It's just a patch of hair. If you want, I can post a picture of mine here

 

I have 2 and they both are all blue.

 

Mine was blue too, but I gave the wrong food and I believe the sugar somehow affected his color... I am pretty sure he is gonna turn blue while he is growing. But the most important is that he is very healthy, I don't really care for his color as long as he is healthy. I really like his personality too, yesterday he made a big whole under a rock and he now hides there, its amazing! Thanks crayfish king, that gives me a true relief.

 

That's awesome. I wish mine had a better personality. They just hide all day. Ocasionally coming out trying to escape and leave me. They hate me.

 

Update: two days ago he got his color back, he was 100% blue like before. He was also super active and had a huge appetite. Yesterday he was hiding for the whole day, did not came out even when I was feeding the fish ( usually when he finds out the fish are been feed he comes out super fast to get his part). This morning I got scared thinking he was dead but it turned out he molted during the night.
Couple pics from his old body


So, I never experienced a crayfish molting before. I read that I should let his old body in the tank for about a week just in case he wants to eat it ( good source of calcium). Also I managed to put some food for him ( crab cousine from hikarI high in calcium) where he is now hiding.
Is there anything I am missing? Any precautions I should take?

Thank you guys!

 

I wouldn't feed him directly for a few days after a molt, they won't eat much other than their old shell, but other than that, he should be good. I'll assume that Crab Cuisine contains kelp or some iodine supplement. Iodine is important for helping them molt.
I used to have one of that same species, but he met an untimely end. I can post a picture of him here if you like.

 

Thanks for the tips! I am sorry for your loss. I would love to see his pictures!

 

Here he is staring thoughtfully at his plastic plant,
and here's just a profile view of him. I miss him

 

He was really beautiful! He seems very big!

 

Hey king,
I could see my crayfish today and he is brown. Is that normal since he just molted? He also ate all his old body already, should I feed him?

Thanks

 

Hey so I know I'm not the king, but I'm butting in bc I was curious and read some stuff. A blue crayfish must eat a food called spirlina? To maintain their blue color. Other reasons a crayfish changes colors is due to stress (i.e. poor water quality) and mating.
I hope he goes back to blue for you! I wish I could have one but my puffers would eat it. They are so cool looking!




I will try and find it for you online if U want?

It's spirulina and it's an algae that you have to feed your crayfish to keep it's blue coloring. I am currently avoiding cleaning by researching for you. Thank you for the distraction! It must come in wafer form too bc a guy online said he had to set the wafer in front of the crayfish so no other fish ate it before he could!
Ocean Star International AOSI1235 14-Ounce Pellet Spirulina Fish Food, Medium

 

Ive never fed these to any of my crays and they all still have their full color.
But you might as well give it a try.

 

Thanks for the help guys! I already give him food that contains spirulina. There are three kinds of food that I give to him, sinking wafers from hikari, algae wafers from hikarI and crab cousine from hikari. The first two contain spirulina and the last one has calcium. He seems pretty active and shows no sing of stress ( he doesn't try to escape ) he has a huge appetite. All water parameter are perfect too.

 

Sometimes I also him cucumbers and spinach
Here is a picture of him:

 

I'm not sure why he would change color, but his particular species can have many variations in color, and color can change between molts, so his color will probably change back. Mine however, stayed the same color for the whole time I had him