Crayfish - My experience

Forum for discuss freshwater/ Brackish Invertebrates.
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khamba
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Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by khamba »

I 1st came across these creatures at a fellow hobbyist's house while I was working in Chennai about 4 years back. Amazed, I then picked up 4 of them in December 2009. Got the right water parameters and gave them enough places to hide as I had read that Crayfish are territorial creatures.

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All 4 of them

It was fun to see them fight. They did not harm each other but only chased each other around

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Fighting :dua

They did like spending time outside the water too.
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They were doing well and one of the females soon had eggs but before the eggs could hatch the female died :cry:
I then decided to move back to Delhi and packed and brought them with me as I did not want to part with them. Unfortunately 1 more died before I left Chennai and 1 after coming to Delhi, I guess being in a water bag for over 48hrs really stressed them out. So I was left with only 1.

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Gangsta pose

One characteristic of theirs anyone who has kept them will tell you about is that they are great escape artists. From the day you get them they have only 1 aim - ESCAPE!
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I had always been careful of that and always had a tight hood so they would not get out. One day the filter conked and the water got really messy so had to do a complete water change. I put him in a bucket and added a an air-stone and left him overnight. Next morning he wasn't there, I looked all over the house and could not find him. I gave up and was really sad :cry: A little while later the house cleaner came and I heard her scream! The whole family rushed to see what had happened and we saw that the bugger was sitting behind the dustbin in the kitchen :D He was completely dry but as soon as I put him back in the water he was normal again.

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They are great to interact with and are much more fun than fish or shrimp. This 1 in particular was always ready for a fight whenever someone came near the tank, even to feed him 666

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Overall great pets to have, would highly recommend to all!
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khamba
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by khamba »

Some pics with the Flash on:

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Top view


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Ready for a fight


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In his house
jack
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

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i never knew they spend time outside water also...
nice crays ... :)
Finally i am Broke but Happy :D
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Abhishek
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by Abhishek »

Very nice :)

Yes they are big time escape artists :)
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

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cool pics. how big can they grow?
and btw: nice rocks...what kind of rocks are those? did you collect them somewhere?
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Romi
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by Romi »

This is fine thread, Khamba. :0

The pics are very good, and the fact that you enjoy your pets shows.. :thumup

Can you tell me the exact species you have? I think i can see a glosssotigma or marselia in the subtrate. Do they tolerate those?
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by SCORPIO »

Nice picks. Let us know more about these fish.
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by vikas »

nice one buddy :)
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khamba
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by khamba »

Thanks all ;)
jack wrote:i never knew they spend time outside water also...
Ah yes.....they can actually spend lots of time outside water as long as their gills stay damp. When he escaped from the bucket he was out for atleast 7-8hrs.

juanico wrote:cool pics. how big can they grow?
and btw: nice rocks...what kind of rocks are those? did you collect them somewhere?
These grow to about 5 inches.....mine is about 4 inches long.
Which rocks? The brown ones in the 1st 3 pics or the grey in the latter pics?

Romi wrote:Can you tell me the exact species you have? I think i can see a glosssotigma or marselia in the subtrate. Do they tolerate those?
Procambarus clarkii, not 100% sure.
You can't put real plants in with Crayfish, they rip everything out. But yes, that is a little glosso anchored with the help of the rock. I usually fed him shrimp food or Tetra bits but once in while I put in a real plant for him to feed on.

SCORPIO wrote:Nice picks. Let us know more about these fish.
Sure, will keep adding
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Re: Crayfish - My experience

Unread post by juanico »

khamba wrote:
juanico wrote:cool pics. how big can they grow?
and btw: nice rocks...what kind of rocks are those? did you collect them somewhere?
Which rocks? The brown ones in the 1st 3 pics or the grey in the latter pics?
the ones in the first picture...the 3 pillars
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