Odd Crayfish Behavior

I’ve had this blue cray in my 60 gallon for a month and he’s molted twice, always super active & hungry. He just molted on Sunday and was perfectly healthy before that. Now he’s acting strange and keeps putting himself on his back. (Still alive and moving) but he won’t eat or anything. Is this normal behavior after a molt? I have hard water & his molt looked perfect so I don’t think it was a molting issue.

 

Hey. Do you have a good solid cave for it? My cray goes into its hide and seals itself in for up to 2 weeks on a molt. I don't know how long it stays on it's side but I've seen it like that at times when I peak through the crack (between the gravel mound and the top of the entrance) with a flashlight. Second guess is a bubble in the new shell but that shouldn't happen unless it's been out of the tank; like if it escaped. I have has 2 such escapes. The bubbles come out eventually.

 

Hey. Do you have a good solid cave for it? My cray goes into its hide and seals itself in for up to 2 weeks on a molt. I don't know how long it stays on it's side but I've seen it like that at times when I peak through the crack (between the gravel mound and the top of the entrance) with a flashlight. Second guess is a bubble in the new shell but that shouldn't happen unless it's been out of the tank; like if it escaped. I have has 2 such escapes. The bubbles come out eventually.

Yes he has a nice cave but for some reason never goes inside of it. He’s always out roaming and even molts in the open. I just put him in a Breeder box and he’s still on his side /: I’m so worried that he’s gonna die. He seems very stiff.

 

Don't give up hope til he smells bad. Give it more time. I'll try to look up clues

 

Don't give up hope til he smells bad. Give it more time. I'll try to look up clues

Sadly he died a few hours after I made this post.. I’m so sad and I have no idea what happened ): I’ve had the worst luck with crayfish since I upgraded to my 60 gallon. He seemed perfectly healthy and happy until yesterday..

 

I'm sorry to hear this and surprised. Have you tested for heavy metal in your tap like copper? His molt came off fine, hard water, no ammonia or nitrite right? Ate well, so not startvation. Iodine? I would think disease or toxicity from something. He was in a basket so I'm not suspecting he was pecked at by fish

 

I'm sorry to hear this and surprised. Have you tested for heavy metal in your tap like copper? His molt came off fine, hard water, no ammonia or nitrite right? Ate well, so not startvation. Iodine? I would think disease or toxicity from something. He was in a basket so I'm not suspecting he was pecked at by fish

I only kept small fish with him (guppies, tetras, rasboras). My water parameters are all good. I keep Amano and red cherry shrimp also and they are all thriving & molting just fine. They are way more sensitive than crayfish so I’m not sure what the issue could be. There’s plenty of aeration also. I’m unsure about the iodine levels though. Am I supposed to be supplementing that? I never added calcium either since my water is hard. I’m on well water and my ph is around 8-8.2. I’ve been getting all my crayfish from petco, maybe a bad source? It’s just so frustrating not knowing what went wrong or if I should buy another.

 

I found another thread about iodine. It's important for building their new shell. It's with looking into.

Iodine For Crayfish; Is it important and How do you use it?

 

I support you in investigation and trying again. There could have been trouble from the store before. Ill tell you about mine. Over the years I fed shrimp pellets, earthworms, peas, algae waffers, whole krill, whole fish bits like silversides, fish food pellets. For a few years I was using a marine mineral supplement or complete trace mineral for fresh but she is itchy on the swimmerettes if I don't get the hardness right. I have a hard tap that seems to be best and with whole shelled krill a few times a week. I have a recent uneaten molt and one from a few years ago for size comparison.