wat do crawfish eat and how do u take care of 'em?

Question

wat do crawfish eat and how do u take care of 'em

Answer 1

Crayfish will drown if they are kept in water that is significantly over their head for 3-6 hours without supplemental oxygenation. This makes air bubblers mandatory, and long bubble walls are the best. Filter oxygenation is not enough, because filters fail way more often than air pumps. IF the power goes out, gather up your crayfish and place each one into its own tall container with just enough water to completely cover the crayfish when it’s standing on all of its legs (NO More!), and put a flat comfortable rock in each bucket so that the crayfish can climb out of the water if desired. This will prevent them from drowning. If you have to house your crayfish this way for any length of time, change all the water at least once a week, and no filter is necessary in a bucket house. In an aquarium crayfish need working filters. The best solution to prevent crays drowning, is to have an uninterruptible power supply powering your air pump(s), so that if the power does go out, the U.P.S. will simply take over, and oxygenation will continue.

Crayfish love darkness, so don't keep the tank light on a whole bunch, unless you are in the room looking at them, or unless you are meeting the tank's minimum lighting requirements for the plants, like 5-8 hours per day.

Crayfish are escape artists, because they are curious, and love to climb. Seal off all possible escape routes, especially the filter opening. If your cray escapes, it will dehydrate and die, in a few hours. Very good ways to seal off the tank are: a) cut an X in the center of a small cool whip lid and slide it ALL the way up the filter intake until it can’t be slid anymore (this blocks the filter opening from the inside of the tank), AND b) use aluminum foil and rubber bands and / or scotch tape to seal off the filter opening from the outside of the tank lid. If you do this, don’t let the aluminum foil touch the actual tank water, as metal in water is not good for aquarium inhabitants.

There are very few good tankmates for crays, because crays eat tankmates and tankmates eat crays. Cichlids are known for eating crays.

Some apparently good tankmates that MIGHT or MIGHT NOT become cray food are white cloud mountain minnows, rosy red minnows, and rainbow darters. Goldfish get BIG and POOP a LOT. I don't recommend them with crays.

The tank must be cycled: ammonia=0, nitrites=0, nitrates 10-20 (40-80 means change the water now!), PH 7 or higher. Crayfish should not be in water with a PH of less than 7. Water parameters should be checked every 2-3 weeks, to make sure the conditions are good, healthy and stable. If you are uncomfortable with your water parameters for any reason, check them more often, so you will know when to take corrective action. Weekly water changes of 20-30% are recommended. Bottled spring water or tap water that has been dechlorinated should be used. When changing water, make sure the new water is about the same temperature as the existing water, to prevent temperature shock to the crayfish.

When your cray moults, leave the old shell in for one week, and then remove whatever (if anything) is left. The cray will eat the old shell to harden his new shell.

Do not feed your cray for a few days after he moults, because he will eat the old shell before any food you put in. So the food you put in will spoil.

When crays moult, they are very soft, weak, and vulnerable for about a week. So leave them in darkness, undisturbed as much as possible, during that time.

Crays should be fed shrimp pellets or crab and lobster bites as a staple, about the equivalent of ONE 3/4" pellet every day, at most. They also enjoy veggie treats from time to time (frozen peas, romaine lettuce, raw potato, carrot, cucumber, etc). And the occasional live minnow treat may be appreciated, too. Lettuce has to be weighted down with a rock. Use a rubber band to bind it to a rock. Do not over feed. The uneaten food will dirty the water; also over feeding your crayfish will cause them to be unhealthy, developing gelatinous shells.

Never put seashells in an aquarium with crayfish in it, because they cause unhealthy PH fluctuations.

Never feed live or uncooked shrimp to your cray. Shrimp can carry a disease that can be fatal to crays.

Never use copper-based medicine in a tank that has crays in it. The copper will kill the cray.

Ally

Answer 2

Ally is correct for SOME crayfish. The ones she's talking about are the species that are considered to be "terrestrial" - these are the ones that dig holes in your yard and build a little "mound" around them. If you drop a pebble in the hole, you'll hear a splash because the holes go down to water (all crayfish have gills, which must be kept moist in order to breathe).

There are other species which are totally aquatic, however. Some are sold in pet stores (check into the electric blue), while others are natives. Billie gives good advice on their care, however, it should also be noted that when crayfish molt, they are vulnerable to larger fish and may become their meal! They should have an airstone or filter so they get oxygen to the bottom of the tank. And I'll vouch for them being escape artists - they can climb airline tubing and they can also travel a considerable distance outside the tank before dying.

Answer 3

crawfish are freshwater crustaceans. They prefer foods like shrimp pellets or various vegetables but will also eat tropical fish food, algae wafers, and even small fish that come too close, such as goldfish or minnows. Their disposition towards eating almost anything will also cause them to consume most aquarium plants in a fishtank; however, crawfish are fairly shy and may attempt to hide under leaves or rocks. When keeping a crawfish as a pet, remember to give it a hiding space. At night, some fish become less energetic and settle to the bottom. The crawfish might see it as a chance for an easy meal, or a threat, and injure or kill it with its claws. If you have a crawfish living with other fish species, you will not need to scoop out as many dead fish, as crayfish are effective scavengers. Crawfish are great escape artists and may try to climb out of the tank so any holes in the hood should be covered. In nations where imported alien crawfish are a danger to rivers, such as England, crayfish spread because specimens captured for aquariums in one river are often flung back into a different one.

Answer 4

Crayfish are sometimes kept as pets in freshwater aquaria. They prefer foods like shrimp pellets or various vegetables but will also eat tropical fish food, algae wafers, and even small fish that come too close, such as goldfish or minnows. Their disposition towards eating almost anything will also cause them to consume most aquarium plants in a fishtank; however, crayfish are fairly shy and may attempt to hide under leaves or rocks. When keeping a crayfish as a pet, remember to give it a hiding space. At night, some fish become less energetic and settle to the bottom. The crayfish might see it as a chance for an easy meal, or a threat, and injure or kill it with its claws. If you have a crayfish living with other fish species, you will not need to scoop out as many dead fish, as crayfish are effective scavengers. Crayfish are great escape artists and may try to climb out of the tank so any holes in the hood should be covered. In nations where imported alien crayfish are a danger to rivers, such as England, crayfish spread because specimens captured for aquariums in one river are often flung back into a different one.

Answer 5

They are scavengers, decaying meat and plants but mostly meat. A small fish tank with some rocks for them to hide works great. if you use a small tank or have several crawfish you may want to install a air stone. Keep them out of direct sunlight.
You can also get shrimp pellets from your local pet shop.
Good Luck

Answer 6

I disagree with allyalex… i have kept a crayfish without air bubles or without be out of water for 2 weeks but now i have buble maker . Almost all water creatures need oxyginated water but dont need to be out, Water can be oxygenated without air. Some crayfish stay in water for there whole life. Feed em worms, shrimp pellets, live fish for protein because crayfish need alot of protein. Include vegies and provide many hiding spaces. Provide a good filter and keep it at about 75 to 80 degrees F

Answer 7

craw fish are almost like cleaner fish they'll eat leftover food from fish or they'll attack the fish. Not the best idea to put fish and crawfish together. At our church they had gold fish and crawfish togeter and the crawfish over a week had eaten 5 fish!

Answer 8

Crayfish Care

Answer 9

Crayfish As Pets

Answer 10

They would eat anything, considering they are really good scavengers. It is simple to take care of them. They would get food from the floor or you can feed them peices of meat or so.