why is may crayfish acting weird?

Question

i got a crayfish today and a tank and got rocks and filled it up with water when it goes on top of the water it flips to its side is there somthing wrong?

thanks guys i found the problem there was no oxygen at the bottom so i put a bubbler thingy in it now hes sleeping on the bottom of the tank and his name is dr pepper, pepper for short

Answer 1

Did you add conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramine from the tapwater? This can kill a crayfish, the same as it will fish and other aquatic animals.

Do you have a filter or airstone? Crayfish need to have dissolved oxygen in the water to be able to breathe. The dissolved oxygen gets into the water by movement at the surface. If your tank is over 2-3 inchs deep, there may not be enough dissolved oxygen at the bottom of the tank, making it necessary for the crayfish to swim upside down at the surface where the most oxygen is (their gills are on the underside of their tail). I've kept both exotic and local crayfish in tanks, and never had them do this, but I've always used filters or powerheads with an undergravel filter in their tanks. They would spend most of their time digging burrows under the rocks so they could have a place to hide.

Answer 2

you're supposed to get the tank and let the water filter running for 2 to 3 days so it can clean the water out.. put in water conditioner (as much needed) and when you get your crayfish or any other fish.. you leave it in the bag of water and put it in the tank.. leave it in for a half an hour so the water temperature in the bag can adjust to the water temperature in the tank.. then you put it in the tank but without the water it was in.. sorry if i don't make sense.. but you can google "how to start a fish tank" and it'll better explain the situation.. and your cray fish is most likely in shock because of the change of water or the chlorine in the water.. hope i helped.. good luck