My Crawfish is acting weird

Hi, I know I'm new but I came on here hoping to get some answers.
I have had crawfish in the past and never had a problem before now, and can not find anything online matching the description of what is happening.

I recently bought a white female crawfish (sorry, I don't know exact breed). She was relatively small when I got her. She is kept in a 5 gallon tank, by herself. I have conditioned the water and I have a bubbler and filter for oxygen. This is what I was told was needed by the worker where I got her. I was away for a day, and when I returned she seemed to have molted. Her shell was tucked into the corner and at first I could not find her. When I did, she was clinging to a fake plant in her tank which normally she ignores. When I moved it slightly she came off, and immediately started acting funny. Her claws and legs always seem really spread out and she is constantly gripping rocks with her two front claws. She is walking in a way I have never seen before, almost twitchy but not quite. Sometimes her tail goes up and (I can't remember the name for them specifically at the moment) but the feeler-like things under her tail begin moving like crazy. If anything moves she tucks under her tail. My boyfriend threw out the shell on accident, but I could not really tell if the tail came off with the molting. Could it be stuck? I also was told to check for eggs as she could have them since I bought her recently, but I don't see anything that looks like eggs. She does not go after food when I put it in.. or rather she claws at it but doesn't pick it up. It's almost as if she's not able to move properly. I was hoping maybe she was just acting up and would stop, but it has been a couple hours now. If anyone has an ideas I would really appreciate it.

 

Did you just set the tank up and throw her straight in? It could be the fact she's ina cycling tank, but crayfish are pretty tough so it shouldn't bother to too much.

Try breaking a few eggs, clean the shells really good. If you don't mind destroying some pantyhose snip a piece off, make a bag for the egg shells and put that in your filter, if it won't fit anywhere in the tank will do but filter is best. This should put a little more calcium in the water and I think it will make the water a little harder.

Crushed corals are great for crayfish too, they make the water pretty hard, crayfish like hard water better.

I won't say iodine yet as she has already molted, but that might have been the problem. Crayfish have bad molts when they haven't got enough iodine.

Try getting some calcium into the water first, see how she goes from there.

 

Did you just set the tank up and throw her straight in? It could be the fact she's ina cycling tank, but crayfish are pretty tough so it shouldn't bother to too much.

Try breaking a few eggs, clean the shells really good. If you don't mind destroying some pantyhose snip a piece off, make a bag for the egg shells and put that in your filter, if it won't fit anywhere in the tank will do but filter is best. This should put a little more calcium in the water and I think it will make the water a little harder.

Crushed corals are great for crayfish too, they make the water pretty hard, crayfish like hard water better.

I won't say iodine yet as she has already molted, but that might have been the problem. Crayfish have bad molts when they haven't got enough iodine.

Try getting some calcium into the water first, see how she goes from there.

No I made sure to give the water time to come to room temperature and then slowly introduced her to it with most of her old water she was in. I just found the shell in the garbage (dont ask, I got desperate) and saw that only the top half of her came off. They molt their tails too, correct? I think that may be it.. I currently don't have Iodine in my house and its midnight now so I can't run out until the morning. Is she panicking/freaking out because she's stuck in her tail? I've never had a crawfish have a problem molting before so this is completely new to me. Is there anything I can do to help for now without the Iodine? I feel awful thinking that she's suffering from this.. But I don't want to start poking and prodding her either and making things worse..

But I never heard the egg trick before and will try that, thank you.

 

You can add dissolved tums to the water for calcium too if you have any lying around.

You should be able to get iodine from a marine fish store, don't add too much if you do want to try iodine, your tank is very small and you don't want to add much, I'd add about half a ml. The iodine should get under the shell and help it come off, it's probably your best bet.

There is nothing you can do to help her without really stressing her out. I can't see her panicking too much over it, she's probably more uncomfortable in a way we would be if we were wearing tight jeans all day. Just keep the tank dark, water clean and try and get hold of some iodine.

A little more information, I don't think your tank is cycled. To cycle a tank properly read up on the nitrogen cycle on this site. It is the most important thing to understand when keeping a tank, this might have caused you crayfish to have trouble molting, it could have been weaker. It's good that you acclimated her though. Best of luck to you and your little crayfish, let me know how she gets on.

 

You can add dissolved tums to the water for calcium too if you have any lying around.

You should be able to get iodine from a marine fish store, don't add too much if you do want to try iodine, your tank is very small and you don't want to add much, I'd add about half a ml. The iodine should get under the shell and help it come off, it's probably your best bet.

There is nothing you can do to help her without really stressing her out. I can't see her panicking too much over it, she's probably more uncomfortable in a way we would be if we were wearing tight jeans all day. Just keep the tank dark, water clean and try and get hold of some iodine.

A little more information, I don't think your tank is cycled. To cycle a tank properly read up on the nitrogen cycle on this site. It is the most important thing to understand when keeping a tank, this might have caused you crayfish to have trouble molting, it could have been weaker. It's good that you acclimated her though. Best of luck to you and your little crayfish, let me know how she gets on.

Thank you for the link! I had not done all that you're correct, so I'm gonna buy a new aquarium kit and keep on top of everything. Hopefully she gets her shell off, I would hate for her to perish because of too tight jeans haha. Thanks again!

 

You're very welcome!

It's a mistake all beginners face, I once a had goldfish and koi carp in an uncycled tiny tank.
I hope your little girl makes it too, I'm sure she'll be fine. You can just pop out and get some tetra safe start, it's not too expensive and it will make your tank cycle really quick.

Best of luck!