# Crawfish in aquarium?



## Fishy622 (Oct 19, 2009)

Hi everyone i'm new here :fish:

This summer the kids found a baby crawfish in the pond. He was missing a claw. They put him in our tank, and at first I said no, but it seemed harmless. Now that months have gone by, his claws have grown out, and he's more than doubled in his size. 
A few fish have become missing. At first I thought well maybe they died and then he ate them? So... I guess that is my question, would he be killing them, or would it be that they died and he ate them afterward?

Should I take him out? Whats best, let him go in a pond, or put him in another tank? He is so much fun. He is just a lil hoot. We watch him, he builds lil banks w/ the rocks, he goes all over the place, its also cute to watch him eat. We love him a lot, but don't want him if he is hurting our other fish.

What do ya'll think?


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## petlovingfreak (May 8, 2009)

Yes, he is catching and killing them. Take him out if you have smaller fish, they prey on whatever they can catch/kill. I had some too, and though they are awesome little guys to watch, unless you have the right setup they are no good for an aquarium. I have a couple in my snapping turtle pond now though, and they seem to be doing good, well the ones that are able to hide and not become food that is.


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## Fishy622 (Oct 19, 2009)

petlovingfreak said:


> Yes, he is catching and killing them. Take him out if you have smaller fish, they prey on whatever they can catch/kill. I had some too, and though they are awesome little guys to watch, unless you have the right setup they are no good for an aquarium. I have a couple in my snapping turtle pond now though, and they seem to be doing good, well the ones that are able to hide and not become food that is.



Would he be okay if I put him in a 10gal tank alone?
And will he need the filter, bubbler and all of that? 
I hate to let him go into the wild now.. we've had him for a while and it's getting so cold (we have snow) I worry he might not make it. Must be strange to going from someone dropping in your food for you and having tons of fun cool things to play on to going into an ice cold pond all alone 
Ahhh i'm heart broken.
Thanks for getting right back to me.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

A crayfish is not usually much of a threat to other fish in the aquarium. Bigger crayfish may pose a bit of a threat to bottom feeder fish or slow moving fish. Crayfish will try to catch fish sometimes, but they usually can not catch a fish. They will certainly eat a fish if it dies though. How often have the fish disappeared? How many fish have you lost? Have you tested your water for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?

If you find out that you do have a somewhat aggressive crayfish, you can either put him in a tank by himself, or release him. Depending on state laws, you may not legally be allowed to keep him. This may or may not affect your decision though. I know I probably wouldn't care. If you decide to move him to a new aquarium, you don't need much. A standard 10 gallon tank will suffice for 1 crayfish.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Fishy622 said:


> Would he be okay if I put him in a 10gal tank alone?
> And will he need the filter, bubbler and all of that?
> I hate to let him go into the wild now.. we've had him for a while and it's getting so cold (we have snow) I worry he might not make it. Must be strange to going from someone dropping in your food for you and having tons of fun cool things to play on to going into an ice cold pond all alone
> Ahhh i'm heart broken.
> Thanks for getting right back to me.


10 Gallons will be fine for 1 crayfish. Feed it food made for invertebrates. 
It will need a filter, but a bubbler is probably not needed. I would not put him out in the wild now. He has gotten used to warm water, so putting him outside will cause him shock, and he may just die right away.


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## Fishy622 (Oct 19, 2009)

No I have not tested the waters for that. Infact never have. Do I just get a kit like that at the local Walmart?

Since we got him... we've lost about 6 fish. And we put him in there around June. He does not allow new things, or live plants. he eats them or digs them up.

I have a shark ive had for a couple years, and he hides out in the log a lot, Ive seen the crayfish bully him around and whatnot, but not actually hurt him. I was thinking of taking him out today and putting him in a 10 gallon, but I need to go get him some plants, rocks, and possibly a filter, I think the one I have is real old. He eats fish food just fine, are you saying he needs something else?
Would snails do fine in my tank?

Ive had fish for years, but we always just make sure the PH is good, and do our water change, and keep the filter clean, and we don't ahve that bad of luck. (I'm excited to be on this forum and learning more though! I love my fish)


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## Fishy622 (Oct 19, 2009)

Here is Sebastian himself.


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

He probably is catching your fish if you have lost a few since June. He just got lucky enough to catch them. Old filter media will be fine for him as long as it is not falling apart. Somewhat dirty filters could actually be good for him. 

If he eats the fish food it will be OK. Many people like to feed the invertebrate food to their invertebrates because it contains the proper nutrients for them. Fish food will be good though. Just make sure it doesn't have any copper in it. Copper is bad for crayfish.

I am not sure weather or not snails will be ok with crayfish. They are compatible with most fish though.

Testing the water is the first thing you should do when you notice something wrong. You can pick up a test kit from any pet store. Get the ones that use liquid regants instead of the test strips. They are way more accurate and you get many more uses out of them. They are usually labeled Master Test Kit if you get all of the tests at the same time.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

if you have been keeping fish for years without a test kit;i see no reason to waste the money now..you are doing just fine without it....
set up the 10 gallon with a decent filter,,,,some plants and rocks..make sure there are a number of caves for it to hide in..don't bother getting a heater though...he won't need one...you might even try to get a couple more...i have caught thousands upon thousands of crayfish.i live in ohio and they are all over the place..have caught many that were around 5 inches long..
feed them almost any kind of fishfood..plus algae wafers and some fresh fish now and then.they are opportunistic feeders...or what i call predatory scavengers.....


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

petlovingfreak said:


> Yes, he is catching and killing them. Take him out if you have smaller fish, they prey on whatever they can catch/kill. I had some too, and though they are awesome little guys to watch, unless you have the right setup they are no good for an aquarium. I have a couple in my snapping turtle pond now though, and they seem to be doing good, well the ones that are able to hide and not become food that is.


Woah man you cant base your knowedge on the couple you had, Crayfish only eat slow moving fish or sleeping fish. If you have fast moving fish like neons and silver dollars it won't catch them unless they die then he would eat them. Crayfish eat plants and slow moving fish and need cold water in some cases but are fine it heated.


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## muffineatsfish (Jan 25, 2009)

can i ahve a crayfish with goldfish and just feed him little 13 cent feeder fish>


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## bmlbytes (Aug 1, 2009)

Muffin, the cray fish probably wont catch the 13 cent feeder fish. You can feed a cray fish invertibrate food. 

Anyone have any idea about goldfish compatibility? The goldfish might even bother the cray fish.


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## muffineatsfish (Jan 25, 2009)

thank you very interesting. i have a 39 gallon long tank and ill prolly only have 4 goldyfish, do you still think they will harrass a crawdad


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## muffineatsfish (Jan 25, 2009)

take it back ill have 2 gold fish. going for a crawdad, gonna have him live in a conch shell.


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