dwarf crayfish?

[fishboy]

Anyone have experience with keeping dwarf orange crayfish in a colony? It seems they only live for 1-2 years so I might need some breeding going. What's a good tank size to keep a colony in. I might also want to keep some medaka and/or cpds in there for the midwater and topwater but I'd be fine making the tank cpo only as well. 

Edited September 14, 2023 by fishboy

[Lennie]

I have Cambarellus diminutus and I didnt like mine in community setup so I separated them to their own tank.

They seemed to be feeling threatened all the time even by guppies whenever they swim nearby. Also after introducing them to a community setup, Ive seen a bit tail damage on some fish, which I cant tell if it is done by them during nighttime or not.

I personally don't think even the smallest crayfish is belong to a community setup

[JChristophersAdventures]

@fishboy I would keep them in a set-up as their own colony, rather than with a community of fish and/or other inverts. Having kept them and other crustaceans, I know it is very challenging to mix things as @Lennie has rightly stated. Fish that sleep near the bottom are vulnerable as many crabs/crayfish are nocturnal and hunt at night. It works in reverse also. Keep in mind how much fish love to eat baby brine shrimp (bigger fish also like to eat bigger shrimp, too). They can sense/smell them... fish are naturally attracted to all crustaceans as a potential meal... especially the more carnivorous fish, but omnivores as well. The nipping is natural.

Yes, you probably could get away with it if the crayfish were few, small and had a place they could hide from the fish. In my newest tank, I will have neo-shrimp in a community tank, but I won't be breeding (at least not in that tank) so, I don't expected any babies to survive. But, you have stated a desire to breed crayfish. That will be fun... but, much more fun if you don't lose fish or sleep over it. Definitely worth another tank set-up. Go for it and keep us posted. Thanks.

(As for a tank size it depends on the size of the colony. You could easily start with a 10G and go from there, moving babies to a separate grow-out tank and up-scaling the original tank over time as the colony expands)

Edited September 14, 2023 by JChristophersAdventures

[fishboy]

On 9/14/2023 at 12:37 PM, JChristophersAdventures said:

@fishboy I would keep them in a set-up as their own colony, rather than with a community of fish and/or other inverts. Having kept them and other crustaceans, I know it is very challenging to mix things as @Lennie has rightly stated. Fish that sleep near the bottom are vulnerable as many crabs/crayfish are nocturnal and hunt at night. It works in reverse also. Keep in mind how much fish love to eat baby brine shrimp (bigger fish also like to eat bigger shrimp, too). They can sense/smell them... fish are naturally attracted to all crustaceans as a potential meal... especially the more carnivorous fish, but omnivores as well. The nipping is natural.

Yes, you probably could get away with it if the crayfish were few, small and had a place they could hide from the fish. In my newest tank, I will have neo-shrimp in a community tank, but I won't be breeding (at least not in that tank) so, I don't expected any babies to survive. But, you have stated a desire to breed crayfish. That will be fun... but, much more fun if you don't lose fish or sleep over it. Definitely worth another tank set-up. Go for it and keep us posted. Thanks.

(As for a tank size it depends on the size of the colony. You could easily start with a 10G and go from there, moving babies to a separate grow-out tank and up-scaling the original tank over time as the colony expands)

 

On 9/14/2023 at 12:11 PM, Lennie said:

I have Cambarellus diminutus and I didnt like mine in community setup so I separated them to their own tank.

They seemed to be feeling threatened all the time even by guppies whenever they swim nearby. Also after introducing them to a community setup, Ive seen a bit tail damage on some fish, which I cant tell if it is done by them during nighttime or not.

I personally don't think even the smallest crayfish is belong to a community setup

Appreciate it! I will do a crayfish only setup then. I think I'll start with the water box 15 gallon which has the footprint of 24x12 and start with 6 cpos? I think I'll add a rock pile like this tank to add some hiding spots. 

 

[JChristophersAdventures]

@fishboy A really great project. Looking forward to hearing about it as it unfolds. I am familiar with Green Aqua (already subscribed to it, actually). Thanks.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I kept mine with shrimp and snails in a 20 long. Started as a shrimp only tank, and after a couple years I wanted to add something new. Colony of 6, they’ve bred and kept the colony going. 
 

Now, that tank is a blackwater tank with Chili Rasboras, Green Neon Tetras, shrimp, and snails. They continue to do well in that tank. 
 

I also split the colony when I turned that tank into a blackwater tank. I sold 15 to the LFS, and what was left got split. The other half are in my grow out tank with Angels, Cory’s, Platy’s and snails. They do well for me in all those scenarios. Mostly, they squabble between themselves and nobody else really.