Should Dwarf Crayfish Be Housed With Fish? : No

while researching them prior to owning one, I noticed there were so many different verdicts an opinions, which are all respectable, as fish care is very diverse, but in my experience, no, dwarf crawfish cannot be housed with fish. I tried to keep one in my community fish tank. when I first purchased her, she was missing a claw and was fairly small. once she got bigger and grew back her claw in a shed, all **** broke loose. she grabbed 4 guppies by the tail, attempting to drag them into a cave and eat them, like something out of a horror movie. she didn't do this out of hunger; she was well fed. I caught her in the act the fourth time around and moved her into a separate tank. what was surprising, was these guppies weren't small; they were full-grown. 3 of the guppies were fantail, which I suppose made it easier, but even my round tail wasn't safe. he did, however, heal faster since his tail sustained less damage. she even terrorized my gourami and attempted once to take a chunk of his tail. the only tankmate she didn't terrorize was the Amano shrimp because they were equal to her in size and much faster. upon relocation, a placed her with a short-finned female crown tail betta (they are notorious for latching onto long betta fins and feasting as the fish swims), who had been housed with dwarf crawfish in the pet store. I caught the dwarf attempting to sneak up on her and attack, but the female betta had experience with them in her pet store tank, so she was very good at keeping her distance. about a month later, I put the betta in a community tank. it was larger, so she was happier there. could the dwarf crawfish+ short-finned betta duo workout long-term? perhaps, but the number of times I found my dwarf crawfish wanting and actively trying to eat her was unsettling. if the betta has started to slow down due to old age, which is inevitable after a couple years, she may simply become an easy target. so in my opinion, no, dwarf crawfish should NOT be housed with fish or small shrimp. and if you do decide to, expect a fish may turn up dead, or with their fins completely torn. they simply have a remarkable grip and are extremely strong.

 

Are you talking about the Dwarf Mexican Crayfish? I keep mine with Ember tetras, Cherry shrimp, and Amanos for quite some time now. No complaints here.

 

I’ve yet to make a concrete decision on this personally. I have a CPO(missing a claw) with a female betta, and ive seen them both actively hunt each other but scare away when the prey gets to close. My galaxy rasboras on the other hand will get eaten I’m thinking. The CPO they’re housed with lost both claws in a molt, but it hasn’t stopped him from trying to hop onto the nano fish as they swim by. No fish deaths have happened yet, but I’m wary for when everybody’s claws grow back.

 

I've got a CPO with a betta, danio's, chorydora's and various types of pleco's/kuhli's. I've never experienced any problems exept for one day when my betta's fins were slightly torn. May I ask how big your tank is? Both CPO and fish need plenty of room so that they don't run into each other constantly together with hiding places. A lot of plants help too.

I have not experienced any of the 'hunting' behaviour you're mentioning. Mine just scavenges the bottom of the tank. He will go after the fish if they come too close but they're simply too fast and swim behind some driftwood or plants.

 

I've got a CPO with a betta, danio's, chorydora's and various types of pleco's/kuhli's. I've never experienced any problems exept for one day when my betta's fins were slightly torn. May I ask how big your tank is? Both CPO and fish need plenty of room so that they don't run into each other constantly together with hiding places. A lot of plants help too.

I have not experienced any of the 'hunting' behaviour you're mentioning. Mine just scavenges the bottom of the tank. He will go after the fish if they come too close but they're simply too fast and swim behind some driftwood or plants.

Both setups are on the smaller side, with the betta/CPO being temporary as the females tank cycles.

The CPDs are also not helping themselves atm. They swim into him, so I think it's abit of a learning curve for them atm.

 

Yeah at first they may be curious but eventually they learn to simply avoid it. Even though my chory's just swim right next to him during feeding. Maybe I am just lucky that my CPO isn't very agressive. You would think he would be more aggressive looking at his size.

 

I get that CPD is Celestial Pearl Danio? What is a CPO?

 

I get that CPD is Celestial Pearl Danio? What is a CPO?

it's the abbreviation for Cambarellus Patzcuarensis (Orange), also known as the mexican dwarf crayfish

 

I guess it really depends on your crawfish's personality, just always have a spare tank at hand if it doesn't work out. and wow! I've never seen a CPO that big or that colorful before. it is awesome that it's working out for you.

 

How old is he? That is the biggest CPO I've ever seen!

 

Funny story. My local pet store sold the crayfish as CPO, turned out they had made a mistake during transport and their whole batch of CPO were actually Procarambus crayfish! These get up to 10-12 cm. Many people returned them because they didn't want such a big crayfish but I love mine so decided I would get another tank and put all my fish in there. Now my crayfish has a tank for himself!

At the time I still believed it had to be a CPO because that's what my LFS sold them as but now I know better! He's only 4 months old

 

Funny story. My local pet store... the time I still believed it had to be a CPO because that's what my LFS sold them as but now I know better! He's only 4 months old
View attachment 467315

Thank goodness you found out! I was actually going to suggest you make sure you had an actual CPO lol

 

I can't say for dwarf crayfish but I'm breeding different kind of crayfish and it really depends on species some are scavanger other like to prey I have been keeping guppy fry with like 10 15 crayfish ranging from all size at the same time
Basicly I put guppy in the breeding tank to keep it cycle while there's nothing and the only fish I have seen get eaten is one that were dead or really sick and that's not a lot

Btw that's just my opinion

 

Species temperment and individual personality are a thing. I have Marbled crays and have noticed, even among sisters in the same generation of clones, that some will leave fish alone entirely, and some prefer to hunt. I still don't lose many guppies, but when I do the culprits are 90% the same crays.