Any experience with Cambarellus Diminutus Dwarf Crayfish?

[Lennie]

Hey guys,

As the title says, Does anyone have any experience with Cambarellus Diminutus dwarf crayfish?

Are they suitable for community tanks? Do they pose danger for neocaridinas/amanos? 

Are they territorial? do they need caves or just planted tank with driftwood is enough?

Would they mind being in temps around 25-27C?

 

Thanks for the help.

[AquaHobbyist123]

I've had experience with Cambarellus patzcuarensis, the CPO Dwarf crayfish. I'd assume they are very similar they would probably be even less of a worry than described here, as they're half the size. Of CPOs. Of course I'm not certain about diminitus so take this with a grain of salt.

They work well in a community tank with fish. Never had a single fish harmed, not even guppy fry when it was in a fry tank temporarily. They are quite shy though, and will usually only use claws to scare away fish that get too close (quite amusing to watch)

I think the best time to view them is morning or evening. If the driftwood cover is sufficient, they'll be fine. Driftwood is where mine spent most of it's time anyway. They are slightly territorial with other CPOs, but it's a non-issue given enough room.

I don't know about their compatibility with shrimp. Given a decent size tank with one or two Cambarellus, you could almost certainly maintain a population of Shrimps in a planted tank. At night you may lose one or two occasionally when they are most active. Shrimps do have the advantage of being much more agile than them. Crayfish can also swim backwards really fast but I've never seen them pursue anything that way, and they're a bit slower due to their bulk. 

I know CPOs could tolerate tropical Temps with 27 C as the Upper end of their range. Diminitus is found  north of them in the southern US while CPOs are in mexico, so you may want the Temps  lower than 77 to 80 degrees. You could try though.

Hope this helps!

[Lennie]

On 5/17/2023 at 3:33 AM, AquaHobbyist123 said:

I've had experience with Cambarellus patzcuarensis, the CPO Dwarf crayfish. I'd assume they are very similar they would probably be even less of a worry than described here, as they're half the size. Of CPOs. Of course I'm not certain about diminitus so take this with a grain of salt.

They work well in a community tank with fish. Never had a single fish harmed, not even guppy fry when it was in a fry tank temporarily. They are quite shy though, and will usually only use claws to scare away fish that get too close (quite amusing to watch)

I think the best time to view them is morning or evening. If the driftwood cover is sufficient, they'll be fine. Driftwood is where mine spent most of it's time anyway. They are slightly territorial with other CPOs, but it's a non-issue given enough room.

I don't know about their compatibility with shrimp. Given a decent size tank with one or two Cambarellus, you could almost certainly maintain a population of Shrimps in a planted tank. At night you may lose one or two occasionally when they are most active. Shrimps do have the advantage of being much more agile than them. Crayfish can also swim backwards really fast but I've never seen them pursue anything that way, and they're a bit slower due to their bulk. 

I know CPOs could tolerate tropical Temps with 27 C as the Upper end of their range. Diminitus is found  north of them in the southern US while CPOs are in mexico, so you may want the Temps  lower than 77 to 80 degrees. You could try though.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the help! Very appreciated.

 

they are cute little creatures. I can’t really keep shrimp directly in my big community tank or betta sorority community tank for breeding purposes, so I thought maybe these guys can be fun 🙂

My worry is if my rosy barbs and angels would leave them alone.