These representatives of a large subtype of crustaceans have long been of interest to aquarists, attracting attention with their bright colors, unpretentiousness and extraordinary appearance. But in practice, it turned out that some difficulties may arise when maintaining such extraordinary inhabitants, and it is better to know about them before the crustaceans get into the home pond. How are crayfish kept in an aquarium, and what is important to consider when breeding them?
If the owner of a community aquarium containing fish and other underwater creatures wants to diversify the fauna with crayfish, then it is better to immediately weigh the pros and cons. Some crayfish can only get along with dwarf arthropods, but such a neighborhood will not benefit fish.
In general, to date, about a hundred types of crustaceans have been discovered and studied. In addition, a number of species were obtained artificially, thanks to painstaking selection work. And although they have a similar appearance, they still need different living conditions and environmental parameters.
Even a beginner can get an aquarium crayfish, but you just need to first learn about the characteristics of the species. It is best to start with dwarf crustaceans, whose representatives can even coexist well with fish.
Home keeping of river crustaceans
It is advisable to place river representatives in separate tanks. They require an environment that is as close to natural as possible. Therefore, the owner needs to take care of the following:
- Suitable housing. You should immediately start with a spacious container with a volume of more than 80 liters, with vegetation and a sandy bottom.
- Filter apparatus and aeration. These must be powerful systems capable of filtering large volumes of water. Before purchasing a suitable device, it is necessary to calculate the filtration activity of the aquatic environment. This is an important point, since outbreaks of bacterial infections often occur in the home of crayfish. Such phenomena are associated with the habit of these inhabitants of hiding food in burrows, which rots and decomposes over time. As a rule, biological filters are unable to cope with this task; the water becomes cloudy and acquires a musty smell. An installed filter apparatus can save the situation, without which the crayfish will often get sick and die.
- Grunte. The layer should be at least 6 cm. The material is used in such a way that it is easy for the inhabitant to burrow into it - medium-sized river pebbles, particles of red bricks are suitable, or you can purchase a special filler of artificial origin at a pet store. As a last resort, soaked expanded clay may be used. Using decorative ceramic shelters instead of soil will not prevent crayfish from tearing holes, but it is a good protection, especially when it comes to small swamp crustaceans.
- Vegetation and driftwood. They are needed because crayfish build shelters next to them, placing a hole near the rhizomes, which gives stability to the structure. Landscaping provides the necessary balance to the ecological system and is also used by the inhabitants as shelters. When selecting algae, it is better to give preference to species that have a powerful root system and large leaves. Aponogetons and cryptocorynes meet these requirements. Plants require appropriate care, since crayfish often touch the rhizomes while digging holes.
- Replacement and replacement of water. When germ levels rise, the water in the tank is replaced. The most suitable liquid for this is borrowed from another tank with fish - it will not disturb the microenvironment and will contribute to the rapid restoration of biobalance. The entire water should be replaced monthly to reduce the level of toxic substances, nitrates and enrich with oxygen. This is beneficial to both the inhabitants and the vegetation.
- Maintaining water parameters. Crayfish are unpretentious, but it will still be good if the artificial habitat is as close as possible to the natural one. And, first of all, it is necessary to maintain certain water parameters: temperature - from 20° to 26°C; acidity – 5-8 pH; hardness is not important, but when living in too soft water, crustaceans develop health problems, and they have a hard time molting and take longer to recover.
Lighting does not play a special role, since crayfish are most often awake at night. However, it is required for good plant growth and development.
Lifespan of crayfish in captivity
In their natural, familiar environment, some crustaceans live for a very long time - up to 25 years, but only if they live in clean water. If crayfish enter wastewater, their life cycle is significantly shortened. 
In a home aquarium, these creatures do not live so long due to the hydrochemical composition of the water. Not all owners manage to bring water values closer to natural values. If you maintain a suitable temperature and hardness, your pet will live for more than 2 years, but not longer than five.
How does molting occur in crustaceans?
In order to grow and develop normally, cancers need to periodically shed their armor and acquire a new one. These creatures grow throughout their lives, but the chitin shell is hard and sooner or later becomes tight for an individual that has increased in size. During the molting period, the activity of crustaceans decreases, and they are in shelter almost all the time - without shell protection they are very vulnerable.
Sometimes novice owners are frightened by the fact that only a shell is found in the aquarium without its owner. But this is no reason to panic, and, most likely, the inhabitant is holed up in a safe place and grows new armor. There is no point in removing the chitin cover; it is eaten by arthropods to replenish the body's calcium supply. Crayfish need this microelement to quickly restore their chitin coating.
At the first life stage, molting occurs 5-6 times during the year, and older individuals change their shell less often - every 5-6 months. It takes cancer only 2-3 minutes to shed its old armor, and it acquires a new one within 1-1.5 weeks.
Feeding aquarium inhabitants
Crayfish cannot be called gourmets; in nature, they eat everything that is more or less edible. The main thing is that the food does not contain chemical or synthetic elements. Wild crayfish feed on algae, small fish, and invertebrates. Owners should not rely on the omnivorous nature of these creatures. It is best to feed crayfish with special diets for crustaceans, which can be purchased at a pet store. In addition, you can add tablet supplements with herbal ingredients and calcium to the menu.
You can diversify your pets' diet with vegetables by treating the crustaceans with pieces of zucchini or cucumbers 1-2 times a week. These creatures also need protein, but food containing it (they are usually fed frozen shrimp) is given in small quantities and infrequently. Otherwise, crayfish become more aggressive. These inhabitants are fed once a day; it is important to ensure that they eat everything. If food remains, it must be removed immediately to prevent it from decomposing or rotting.
Types of the most common crayfish
These crustaceans quite often end up in household tanks. But how to choose the most suitable pets among hundreds of varieties? It is worth considering the most popular members of the family:
Individuals have a bright appearance, as they are painted in an intense red color. They are able to quickly adapt to new living conditions, do not require complex care and are unpretentious in food. The size of crayfish is 13-15 cm, they are quite nimble creatures that strive to escape from the aquarium, so the tank should be covered.
You can meet these small 3-centimeter crustaceans in the reservoirs of Texas. In size it is similar to dwarf swamp crayfish. A distinctive feature of representatives of the species is a dark spot on the shell, and there are black dots on the back. Due to their modest size, these creatures coexist well with fish. They feed on dead parts of vegetation and pieces of dead fish. In this way they clear the tank of carrion.
This representative of the species is distinguished by the fact that it was bred through the selection process. Its close relatives living in nature are brown in color. Their homeland is Florida, where they inhabit wastewater ponds. Individuals are quite aggressive, so in the tank where they live, it is necessary to place a lot of shelters and plant it well. Males in the fight for territory are capable of inflicting severe injuries on each other. Also, blue Florida crayfish do not get along with fish, since at night they hunt them, just like shellfish.
This crayfish, which lives in fresh waters, was named so because of its unusual color. In nature, the length of individuals does not exceed 15 cm; in captivity, their size is even more modest. The body can be green, black or brown, the specific feature is a pattern covering the back, reminiscent of the surface of marble. It is especially noticeable in sexually mature crayfish, but in newborns it is barely noticeable.
Inhabits fresh rivers and lakes. In captivity, males are noticeably smaller than females. “Mexicans” are unpretentious and do well in an aquatic environment with standard hydrochemical parameters. To provide such pets with comfortable conditions, first of all, you should take care of a spacious tank with an abundance of different shelters.
They live at the bottom of the reservoir and need a large aquarium with a thick layer of soil, stones, and snags. The basis of the diet consists of protein products - fish food, dead inhabitants that they find in the ground. Rarely do crayfish eat plants; this usually happens when they cannot find other food. If you place these individuals in a spacious container, they will coexist well with other residents.
This is a fairly large freshwater inhabitant, the length of wild individuals reaches 18-20 cm. The decoration of these crayfish are red stripes located on the surface of the claws. Their body is colored in bluish-green shades. Already from the name it is clear that these crayfish are natives of Australia; they prefer to live in warm water. If such a pet is well fed, it will quickly grow into a very large individual.
A crustacean with such an original coloring is difficult to miss in a home aquarium. The color of individuals is associated with the habitat of the crayfish; it can be either light blue or brown. These 12-15 cm crayfish inhabit shallow bodies of water in Cuba. If pets are provided with plenty of food, they can coexist peacefully with other inhabitants in the same territory.
Representatives of this species live in the territory of Western European countries. The size of white crayfish reaches 12 cm; males are brighter in color than females. They are painted in white, red and orange shades. The main part of the food consumed is plants, but you can feed your pets with bloodworms and small pieces of beef heart. Salted, hard water is best suited for habitat.
How do crayfish reproduce?
Most often, this process occurs without much hassle when individuals of different sexes enter the same tank. However, an owner who purchases small crustaceans that do not have gender characteristics may later find out that all of his pets are of the same sex and there is no point in expecting offspring.
The majority of crustaceans become sexually mature individuals by 3 months of age. The fact that males are ready to mate is signaled by their claws, on which stripes of bright red color appear. For fertilization to be successful, one male must have a couple of females, since after this process he often eats his companion.
As a rule, the mating period begins after the completion of molting. The female secretes specific enzyme substances that attract male crayfish. In crayfish, courtship involves touching individuals with their antennae, which can last up to 2 hours. At the end of mating games and fertilization, the female must be placed in a separate tank, where she will lay eggs in 3-4 weeks.
While the expectant mother is bearing her offspring, she is not active and sits in shelters almost all the time. After birth, the babies remain on the female's abdomen until she begins to molt. Newborn crustaceans are vulnerable and helpless. It is important that at the moment the female moults, they have the opportunity to hide in dense vegetation and not end up on the “dinner table” of their brothers. During the next dumping of the used shell, the female can be returned to the aquarium, since the children no longer need her care.
Crayfish are original underwater inhabitants with an unusual appearance and interesting habits. And thanks to the diversity of species, the owner has the opportunity to choose a pet based on his requirements - small crustaceans for a common tank or large, impressive ones for a separate aquarium. Of course, in order for these creatures to live as long as possible and please their owner, it is worth knowing how to provide them with the most comfortable conditions.
Photos of crayfish
Video about crayfish in an aquarium
We talked about the roots of domesticated arthropods, looked at the features of their appearance and went over the most popular types of aquarium crayfish. So, let's continue the story. We will now talk about how to create the most favorable living conditions for them and avoid many diseases and other troubles.
Let’s say right away that this neighborhood often brings nothing but problems. There are, of course, cases when crayfish coexist well with fish. But there are even more situations when one or the other party suffers as a result of such a tandem. For example:
- - competitors of arthropods for food and shelter. Clashes on this basis are inevitable.
- Small fish like neons, guppies, etc. can be simply eaten by crayfish.
- Large fish with long tails and fins (golden fish, etc.) may lose their wealth.
- When adjacent to large but aggressive fish like cichlids, crayfish are doomed to hunger and stress, and ultimately to death.
Thus, unless you are willing to take risks and experiment, keep the crayfish separately.
How to create conditions in an aquarium?
From the place of purchase to the place of residence, arthropods are transported in a black opaque bag. Adaptation happens quickly. It should be taken into account that the temperature difference in the bag and in the artificial reservoir should not be more than three degrees. The following conditions are considered optimal for crayfish:
Aquarium. The minimum container volume must be at least 15 liters per 6-centimeter individual. However, given that cramped housing provokes crayfish to aggression, it is better to take a vessel as spacious as possible. Be sure to install a lid with small holes on top, since if the water is overcrowded, dirty or oxygen-poor, the crayfish will try to get out of the aquarium. If possible, the best option is to equip an aquaterrarium.
Water should be clean, oxygen-rich, with a temperature in the range of 17-21 degrees and a hardness of 8-12. To increase rigidity, marble or limestone can be placed in the soil. It is better to install an internal filter to prevent attempts to escape through the wires. Crayfish love to hide leftover food, which then rots and spoils the water. In this regard, regular 50% water changes are necessary.
Priming It's better to choose a large one. Crayfish dig holes, and not a single plant will take root in shallow soil.
Vegetation It is better to select ones with strong roots, large leaves and strong stems. They should be kept in quarantine before planting.
Decor. As decorations, you can use various stones, driftwood, hoses, halves of ceramic flower pots, grottoes, etc. From these, crayfish build shelters for themselves and climb along them to the surface of the water. 
What to feed crayfish?
It is better to do this in the evening, as the crayfish hide during the day. If arthropods are adjacent to fish, the latter’s activity decreases in the evening, and they will not steal food from under the noses of the bearers of claws.
Despite the fact that aquarium arthropods are omnivores, there are some dietary recommendations for them.
More than eighty percent of the daily diet of crayfish should be plant foods.
You can give elodea, nettle, water lily, pondweed, algae, carrots, zucchini, spinach, parsley. For variety, they provide various mollusks, insects, worms, tadpoles, frozen bloodworms, and food for bottom fish.
As a delicacy, you can sometimes treat yourself to pieces of fish or squid. Interestingly, crayfish prefer food in a slightly rotten state. Protein bait is given no more than once a week, as it has been noted that it increases the level of aggression.
Special foods for crayfish and shrimp are also produced, which can also be used (for example, brands such as Dennerle, Tetra, MOSURA, Genchem Biomax series). They strengthen the immune system and maintain the brightness of pets' colors. Available in granules, plates, sticks.
As for the frequency of meals, there is no unity of views. Some sources recommend feeding females once every three days, males - once every two days. Others recommend feeding once a day for both sexes. Therefore, look at the behavior of your pets yourself and use trial and error to choose your ideal schedule.
During molting or when crayfish reproduce, the number of meals is increased.
The mating period in adults begins after the completion of molting. At this time, females release pheromones that attract the opposite sex, and males go in search. It is very interesting to watch how the resulting couple dances, sometimes for several hours, touching each other with their antennae. After this, it is recommended to place the female in a separate container, where after 20 days she will lay eggs.
Relocation is necessary, as increased anxiety and anxiety force her to protect her offspring and show aggression towards everything around her. The eggs are attached with a sticky mass under the abdomen, and the female moves around with them. The offspring is shy and prefers to hold on to the mother’s body for a long time. The crustaceans themselves begin to feed only after the first molt. Shelters for young animals are a prerequisite in order to survive, hiding from offenders (including adult crayfish). After the second moult, the offspring acquires sufficient independence, and the female is resettled again.
Female marbled crayfish with offspring.
Crayfish diseases
There are many of them, but here we will consider only the most common ones.
Epistilis (lat. Epistylis)
This disease is very common in aquarium arthropods. The reason is poor conditions in the aquarium. The simplest microorganisms settle on the chitinous covers, as a result of which the cancer looks covered with brown or grayish-white foam. If this coating spreads to the gills, the animal will not be able to breathe and will die. For recovery, it is necessary to tidy up the water and the number of inhabitants in the aquarium. During the illness, the animal is quarantined.
Crayfish can be annoyed by microscopic Temnocephalan flatworms that reach them through snails, Branchiobdella leeches and green algae living on the gills. You can get rid of them with regular salt baths and reducing the number of neighboring carriers.
Shell disease
It is possible to recognize it only during the molting period. If the shell of a cancer does not harden for more than a day, then this is it. Reasons: insufficient water hardness, poor quality nutrition and, as a result, lack of calcium. The treatment methods are obvious: create the right living conditions and balance the diet. For preventive purposes, you can use iodine drops for marine aquariums, which are sold in pet stores. They are given half the dose.
Plague
This is an infectious disease that occurs in an acute form. It is caused by the fungus Aphanomices astaci. The disease is contagious and can kill all the inhabitants of the aquarium. The walking legs, shell and nervous system are affected. If the cancer is infected, then white, brown or red spots appear on its tail, and black spots on its shell. At the beginning of the disease, disorientation appears when walking, and the lifestyle changes to daytime. In the end - lethargic behavior, convulsions and death of the animal. There is no treatment as such. There are only recommendations to keep a newly acquired pet in quarantine in water at 30 degrees with the addition of magnesium chloride or malachite green.
Rust spot disease
It is also infectious in nature. The causative agents are fungi of the Mucedinaceae family. Spots (orange, brown, black) appear on the body of the cancer, then the shell in these places softens and the tissue begins to die with the formation of ulcers. The end result will be the death of the animal. There is no treatment. As in the previous case, it is recommended to quarantine a new cancer with the addition of oak, beech, and almond leaves to the water.
Porcelain disease
It affects the limbs, abdomen and mouth. Raka is paralyzed and dies. There is no treatment. Sick individuals are isolated.
Mycosis
Spores can get into the aquarium with unpurchased and poorly treated soil and plants. Fungi affect the integument, gills, blood vessels and heart. Brown spots can be seen on the belly and gills. Reduced immunity, injuries, unfavorable conditions - all this puts crayfish at risk.
Thus, many dangers may await crayfish. But mostly these are the consequences of poor care. And they will delight a responsible owner for a long time with their unusual appearance and interesting behavior.
Crayfish (lat. Astacidea) are an infraorder of decapod crustaceans (Decapoda). There are more than 100 varieties of freshwater crayfish, some of which have been cultivated in home aquariums. All aquarium crayfish require special housing conditions; with quality care they will live 2-5 years or more.
Keeping crustaceans is possible in small tanks with fresh, prepared water. If you carry out regular water changes, then an aquarium with a volume of 40 liters per individual is sufficient. Crustaceans can hide their food, so install grottoes or caves in the nursery. Water filtration and a bottom siphon are necessary so that the remaining food does not begin to rot. Check all shelters periodically. Use an internal filter for the aquarium; crayfish can easily escape from the external one.
What is shedding? Like all arthropods, crayfish molt. Their body is covered with a hard chitinous cover that grows, and for a new one to grow, the old one must be shed. If an aquarium crustacean hides more often, it means it is preparing for the process. After molting, he will eat his old shell, since there is still plenty of calcium in it to grow a new one. Full cover will resume in a few days. Young individuals are subject to frequent molting, unlike mature ones.
Look at the feeding of Cuban crayfish.
In their natural habitat (and crayfish are found on almost all continents), they eat mainly plankton and plant matter. Keeping in captivity involves feeding with special food for crustaceans, sinking granules and tablets. You can give vegetables - spinach, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, leftover aquarium plants. Also add protein foods to your diet, only once a week: fish and shrimp fillets, frozen live food. Feeding – once a day in small portions. All crayfish are easily bred in captivity, but the rules are different for each species.
The body size of crustaceans also depends on the specific species. The largest freshwater crayfish in the world is the Tasmanian giant crayfish (50 cm in length, weight - 5 kg). Other species are small, reaching 12-20 cm in length.
Is it possible to settle in a common tank?
Is it possible for crayfish to be compatible with fish? Keeping fish is difficult because either the fish or the crayfish can be eaten. The armored animal with its claws can bite small fish such as guppies, molly, neon, and corydoras into two parts. Crayfish hunt at night, so you may not see your beloved pets in the morning. A species aquarium is the optimal safety condition for everyone.
Also, crustaceans do not get along well with fish of the Cichlid family. These are quite large fish, and can easily tear apart a crustacean; during molting, they are attracted to the old shell. Crayfish also don’t live well with shrimp, their distant relatives – they can easily eat small ones.
They eat all types of crayfish and uproot plants. Therefore, it is not recommended to keep them in aquariums with dense vegetation. Only one species, the Mexican dwarf crayfish, ignores underwater flora. Crayfish are cold-loving animals that are negatively affected by warm water temperatures, so the water parameters in the water container need to be adjusted. Each type of cancer requires certain conditions.
Varieties of beautiful aquarium crayfish
Do crayfish live in an aquarium?
When there is a large aquarium in the house, there is a desire to populate it with all sorts of exotic inhabitants to make it beautiful and unusual. Many people buy crayfish and place them with the fish. But is it possible to do this? Do two different types of inhabitants coexist in one container?
Almost all crayfish are peace-loving creatures. They do not create conflicts; during the day they sit quietly in a shelter, and in the evening they come out for food. They slowly move along the bottom of the aquarium, collecting prey. But sometimes crayfish in an aquarium and fish do not go together. There are many reasons for this.
The most important thing is that cancer can easily eat small fish. Despite the fact that fish move much faster, at night they sleep at the bottom of the aquarium. At this time, the cancer comes out to hunt and eats everything that is bad. He may not eat the other inhabitants, but he will pretty much maim them, leaving them without a beautiful tail. This applies to big fish. And sometimes it even causes serious wounds, after which the fish die.
The second reason for incompatibility is possible hunger. Pisces do not know the feeling of satiety and are able to eat everything that is given to them. Due to this, slow, nocturnal crayfish may simply not get food. After living in hunger for several days, they will die.
This problem is quite easy to solve. You need to buy food that settles immediately to the bottom and pour it into the aquarium in the evening, when the crayfish comes out to eat.
Do crayfish live in an aquarium with other inhabitants? They live, but it is important to find normal neighbors for him. Fish should be calm, not predatory, and not very small. In this case, a favorable neighborhood is possible.
But, nevertheless, it is better to equip a separate terrarium for crayfish, where all conditions will be created for it. For example, they need snags to get onto land. And the walls of the aquariums must be high so that the crayfish cannot get out. Again, food. You can feed them pieces of meat or fish. Leftover food quickly spoils and pollutes the water. But you can’t often transplant fish into new liquid.
If you want to get yourself crayfish, it is better not to risk the fish you already have and not to experiment with the health of the new tenant. Living together can bring a lot of trouble to the owner and costs for new fish. Therefore, it is better to equip another aquarium and then calmly enjoy the life of healthy fish and crayfish.
Crayfish in an aquarium are special residents. The miracles of selection turned the unattractive gray inhabitants of reservoirs into real beauties. Their number amounts to more than one hundred species: apricot crayfish, blue Cuban, peaceful by nature dwarf swamp, white snowy Florida and many others. Nowadays decorative crayfish living in an aquarium no longer surprises anyone. To make them feel comfortable, you need to create a certain microclimate for them and even arrange the design of their home.
Caring for crayfish in an aquarium
The crayfish, familiar to everyone, is the most demanding in terms of keeping conditions in the aquarium, since in nature it is accustomed to constant temperature changes. These crayfish don't like it to be too hot. Water temperatures above 25°C contribute to frequent molting, and this in turn affects their lifespan. They thrive in non-acidic, medium-hard water rich in oxygen. You need to be very scrupulous regarding the chemical composition of water, since even the smallest amount of copper, nitrates or nitrites can kill them.
Crayfish are active at night, so they feed in the late afternoon. The male is given food once every two days, and the female once every three days. The amount of food increases during the breeding and molting period. You can feed crayfish with special food from a pet store, both animal and plant origin, but they still love plants more. You can feed crayfish with dry beech, oak or alder leaves, which help cleanse the intestines.
When selecting algae for an aquarium with crayfish, you need to take into account that they will undermine their roots and try to bite the stems in order to feast on them.
The presence of shelters is of no small importance. During critical periods, such as molting, they hide most of the time. Therefore, in order to avoid a battle for territory, there should be more shelters in the form of pipes, stones, snags and other objects than there are crayfish themselves.
It is advisable to cover the aquarium; inside it, it is necessary to build a loophole from driftwood so that the crayfish can access the surface of the water.
Crayfish in an aquarium do not always get along with fish. Someone may suffer from this neighborhood. You cannot keep bottom lovers such as catfish, as well as goldfish and angelfish, together with crayfish. with which they are able to trim their tails and fins. Large cichlids are also not suitable for living together, as they infringe on the rights of crayfish.
Gray-spotted crayfish - marbled aquarium inhabitant
Among the aquarium inhabitants there is one very curious representative of crustaceans - the marbled crayfish. Its maintenance and breeding will not cause much trouble, it is interesting to watch, and it is quite unpretentious in food.
This crayfish got its beautiful name due to its color, reminiscent of marble patterns. In nature, marbled crayfish live in fresh river water. Another name is gray-spotted cancer.
Description
The gray-spotted crayfish is almost no different from its relatives. Adults grow to 10-15 centimeters, including mustache. Only born crayfish are very tiny - they resemble fleas and are even difficult to notice if you don’t look closely. The color of the crayfish ranges from greenish to brown and black. At the same time, the back is decorated with a pattern similar to stains on marble. In young crustaceans this pattern is barely noticeable, but the older the cancer becomes, the clearer the pattern.
The gray-spotted crayfish molts regularly. A couple of days before molting, he becomes timid and sits out in a shelter. Many novice aquarists are intimidated by the sight of discarded skins, but this is a completely natural process. The shell cannot be thrown away: when the cancer grows a new one, it will come out of its hiding place and eat the old shell. It contains chitin, and by eating it, the pet replenishes its reserves of this substance to strengthen new armor.
The marbled crustacean stays awake in the dark. Not very active during the day, preferring to sit in shelter. Life expectancy is about 18 months.
Since these crayfish are river crayfish, they will feel most comfortable in water with good aeration and a filter.
Water requirements:
- temperature: from 20 to 28 degrees;
- acidity: from 6.5 to 7.8 pH;
- hardness: 8-12 dH;
- It is advisable to carry out partial water changes about a quarter every 10 days.
If you decide to have crayfish in your aquarium, do not forget about numerous hiding places. He is a nocturnal resident, preferring to lie down in dark secluded corners during the day. You can use anything to create houses: broken clay bowls, shells, coconut skins, driftwood, plastic tubes and much more. If several individuals have settled in aquarium conditions at once, you need to make a shelter for each.
Sand or small pebbles are suitable as soil. Crayfish produce quite a lot of waste, so you will have to siphon the soil often.
Be sure to have a lid on the aquarium! Cancer may seem clumsy and inactive, but in fact it is quite capable of deftly getting to the surface using objects installed in the aquarium. Naturally, once on the surface without water, the cancer will die.
Feeding
Gray-spotted crayfish is very unpretentious in food. This is mainly plant food. He can be given dry pressed food (for example, for ancitrus) and natural products. Finely chopped spinach or lettuce, grated carrots, zucchini and cabbage, peas and corn - all this can be included in the cancer diet. Before feeding the crustacean, vegetables must be scalded with boiling water, cooled and chopped.
The full development of cancer in an aquarium requires the presence of protein food. About once a week he is given fish meat, pieces of biscuits or shrimp. It is better to feed the crustacean in the evenings, when it wakes up and becomes more active.
Breeding
The reproduction of marbled crayfish is their peculiarity. They reproduce in a rather interesting way - parthenogenesis. This means that all individuals are of only one sex - female. Their eggs are capable of developing into full-fledged embryos without fertilization.
The female carries the eggs for about a month, trying to hide in shelters. At one time, 50-100 crustaceans are born. Since crayfish love to feast on their own young, the female will need to be removed. But not immediately, as soon as you see the first babies - the process of birth of crustaceans takes up to a day.
Because newborn crayfish are very small, catching the fry is not easy. It is better to transplant the female into a separate aquarium before breeding begins. Small crustaceans feed from the first minutes of life, the food is the same as that of adults - plant foods with the addition of proteins.
Breeding crayfish is a responsible business, if only because they are quite prolific. Therefore, it is better to immediately decide what you will do with young crustaceans.
Compatibility
Marbled crayfish can be kept in an aquarium with other inhabitants. Crayfish are quite friendly, but they should not be kept with bottom-dwelling fish (for example, catfish) and snails - conflicts can constantly develop between them. Also, avoid co-populating crayfish and veiled fish - their beautiful tails and fins will easily be damaged by claws.
Crayfish will not get along with cichlids, especially large ones. The fish will simply eat the crayfish. Small cichlids pose a danger to crustaceans during the molting period, when they are most vulnerable.
The fish that get along best with crayfish are those that frolic at the surface of the water - swordtails and guppies. True, the danger that the fish may be eaten still remains.
If you want to add some zest to your aquarium, the marbled crayfish is a great solution. Compliance with a few simple conditions - and a cute crustacean resident with charming colors will appear in your aquarium. And ease of care allows not only experienced aquarists, but also beginners to have crayfish.
Is it possible to keep crayfish in an aquarium with fish?
Crayfish should not be kept with bottom fish (the same catfish), which will compete for food and shelter, with small fish (neons, guppies, etc.), because at night, when they sink to the bottom, he can eat them, with any fish with a veil and thread-like tail and fins (goldfish, angelfish, labyrinth fish). You also shouldn’t keep it with large and aggressive fish, because the crayfish themselves may suffer. The water temperature in the aquarium should not exceed 25 degrees, the aquarium should be spacious. Coarse soil is needed because crayfish dig holes for themselves. Be sure to have live plants that they will feed on. The aquarium must have shelters. It is advisable to provide the opportunity to leave the water on land. Crayfish feed on the same things as fish, but food should fall to the bottom (for example, food for bottom fish, bloodworms, etc.). Make sure that the crayfish are not malnourished, as they are quite slow, and the fish can take away all the food.
Yuri Ivanovich Podlesny
I kept a couple of crayfish in a 50 liter aquarium with macropods. About shelters, pulling out plants and digging up soil - everything is true. Cancers are their own designers. You can feed any food with a high plant content. They practically do not eat plants from the aquarium, they simply shred them for creative reasons. Not a single fish has suffered from crayfish, although this does not mean that this would always be the case. I sent the crayfish into the pond when the clouds of suspended matter in the water from their bulldozer activity became completely boring.
How do crayfish and shrimp coexist with fish?
Fronder
Crayfish, shrimp and fish are not compatible together in an aquarium. Fish with shrimps, but those that are filter feeders without claws, get along well. I have had atheopsis shrimp and fish for almost three years.
Tiger shrimps with claws also lived with the fish. They, like crayfish, hunted fish. And all the fish had their tails and part of the plants bitten off. If Atheopsis had lived there then, they would have been eaten long ago. The shrimp even ate each other during molting, they are such predators.
But it is better to keep crayfish separately from both fish and shrimp. They are also predators, although they also feed on plants. For crayfish, you can add guppies or other short-tailed fish into the aquarium. Crayfish eat even goopies with colored and long tails very quickly. Only the short-tailed ones survive.
Crayfish also eat all living vegetation. Therefore, crayfish need a separate aquarium with artificial hard-leaved plants and many shelters where they hide during molting and from uninvited guests.
Crayfish always eat shrimp too. This is their natural food and competitor for food in the aquarium. Cancer will eat anyone who comes close to it while eating.
I had crayfish living in an aquarium with fish, small crayfish were eaten by large fish during molting, and larger crayfish shook the tails of many fish, and one crustacean even bit an agamixis in half, although it was the size of a crayfish.
OKSANA
Crayfish can bite off the tails of fish, and our shrimp hid from the fish in secluded places, so much so that they were not visible at all - whether they were alive or not, only with a rare general cleaning of the aquarium could they be discovered.
The size of an aquarium for keeping California crayfish can be calculated from the following proportion: 2 adult specimens measuring 8-12 cm per aquarium volume of 100-150 liters. Crowded housing often leads to injury or loss of limbs.
It is very important for crayfish to prepare access to the surface of the water. That is, arrange the aquarium in such a way that they can use some objects (for example, pieces of tuff, tall plants, driftwood, hoses) to rise to the surface. At the same time, the aquarium must be closed with a lid without holes, since crayfish are able to crawl out and run away.
Optimal water parameters: temperature 24-28°C, dH from 12° or more, pH 7.2-7.5; the required amount of calcium salts in water (to build a shell). If the water temperature is below 24°C, then the growth of crayfish slows down greatly.
There are 3 ways to increase water hardness:
1) use marble chips as a primer;
2) place pieces of tuff, marble, limestone in the aquarium;
3) add calcium chloride to the water (20 ml of a 10% pharmaceutical solution of calcium chloride per 100 liters of water will increase hardness by 1°).
A Florida crayfish aquarium requires constant filtration and aeration, as well as water changes of up to 25% of the total volume every week. Crayfish use oxygen from both air and water. Therefore, crayfish can survive for some time without water.
Options for designing an aquarium can be completely different: from a “pseudo-sea” to a snag-rocky style.
Shelters: sufficient quantities are required, especially if there are several individuals in the aquarium. Otherwise, this will lead to conflicts between cancers. The following can be used as shelters for adult individuals: flower pots, coconut shells, ceramic tubes. For young crayfish, thickets of aquarium small-leaved plants (for example, bladderwort, Java moss) are more suitable.
Aquarium landscaping: plants should be either floating or unpretentious, fast-growing and hard-leaved (for example, Anubias, Echinodorus), and it is better to cover their base with stones; Tender plants are usually damaged or eaten by crayfish. Also, plants may not be touched by crayfish if the latter are provided with a sufficient amount of food of plant origin.
Neighbors for California crayfish need to be chosen carefully. Since a hungry crayfish can either injure or eat slow bottom-dwelling fish (medium and small), as well as injure fish with long tails. And during the molting period, on the contrary, fish will be a threat to “naked” cancer. Also, if there are fish in the aquarium, which also love shelter like crayfish, it is necessary that there is enough shelter for everyone to avoid any conflicts. Small bottom-dwelling catfish can be a good neighbor for crayfish.
It should also be taken into account that crayfish are very shy, and fish move faster and can eat all the food thrown into the aquarium before the crayfish get to it. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the food reaches the crayfish.
Molting crayfish
Molting is a fairly important life process for Florida crayfish. Their growth does not occur smoothly, but in spurts during the molting period. While feeding, cancer accumulates important and necessary substances. Then the shell bursts and the animal leaves it. And so, until the new shell hardens, the cancer grows, stretching it. Now until the next moult it will not change in size.The frequency of molting is determined by the intensity of nutrition, namely: the crayfish eats a lot, which means it grows faster, therefore, it needs to change its shell more often. Every year the number of molts decreases - the older you get, the less frequent the molts. At the time of molting, the crayfish has a very soft shell, so if there are fish or relatives in the aquarium, it can become their victim.
Sometimes during the molting period, a crayfish may lose one of its limbs, for example, a claw. The lost organ will subsequently grow back, increasing in size with each molt.
What to feed aquarium crayfish?
The diet of Florida crayfish should include food of different origins:1) of animal origin: fish, meat, squid, dry food, bloodworms, snails (they eat along with the shell, using calcium to harden their shell);
2) plant origin: raw carrots, dry food, spinach leaves, lettuce, cabbage, dandelion; porridge boiled in water (barley, millet, rice).
Also, all food intended for fish is suitable for crayfish.
If the carrot pieces are not eaten immediately, then you don’t have to remove them - they won’t spoil in the aquarium.
If California crayfish are fed normally and in a balanced manner (sufficient amounts of food of animal and plant origin), then they do not eat fish and vegetation in the aquarium. If crayfish are insufficiently fed with minerals during the molting period, this process may be disrupted, which usually leads to the death of the animal.
It should be noted that depending on the diet, Florida crayfish change their color. For example, red colors predominate in the color of crayfish if feed rich in carotenoids is used. Thus, if there are not enough of them on the menu, the color turns into brown tones, and if the crayfish are fed mussels, their color becomes light blue or blue.
Initial food for crustaceans: chopped fish, squid, tubifex, bloodworms, live cyclops and daphnia, etc.
Almost from a very early age, crayfish are able to eat both small and large bloodworms. If they are not able to swallow it whole, they gnaw it in parts.
Sexual maturity of Florida crayfish usually occurs at about 7-8 months of life. Crayfish can mate if there are females ready to spawn all year round. Males, sensing a “ready” female, transform: they begin to actively move their mustache and claws, intensely demonstrating their power. The size of the individual, as well as its hierarchical position during this period, do not play a big role. The priority is the efficiency and luck of the male.
Mating can take place both inside the shelter and outside from several to tens of minutes. After mating, the female will try to avoid the male. The female lays clusters of eggs on her abdominal legs. There are approximately 20 days between laying and fertilization. One mating is enough for the female to then lay fertilized eggs several times.
After laying eggs, after a certain time, the female Florida crayfish begins to actively seek shelter. At this time, it is highly advisable to remove it from aggressive fish and other crayfish or provide shelter. The coconut shell will provide excellent shelter for the female. During this period, she will protect the eggs from attacks, defending herself with claws from other crayfish, fish, and pushing out apple snails that have crawled into her shelter. During this period, the female does not have the opportunity to search for food on her own, so it is necessary to throw food directly into her shelter.
Rachata begin to hatch at about 26-30 days. Their size is about 5mm. For the first 2 days they stay close to their mother, sometimes even crawling on her.
Young crayfish find shelter in plants, so their presence is desirable. It is important to monitor the condition of the water (cleanliness) in the aquarium, change it in a timely manner, filter it, and prevent the food from rotting.
To avoid cannibalism among crayfish, it is necessary to sort them by size.
This amazing group of invertebrates has always attracted the attention of a significant part of aquarium lovers, everything rested on the poor species composition offered by trade. Russian aquarists most often came across wide-fingered and thin-fingered (better known as narrow-fingered) crayfish - representatives of the domestic fauna. Of the exotic species, Cuban blue and Florida red crayfish were available.
Today, the range of species has expanded significantly, and with it the demand for crayfish as objects for keeping in freshwater aquariums is rapidly growing.
This popularity is explained by the combination of several qualities that crayfish have: bright coloring, large size, interesting behavior, ease of maintenance, the ability to reproduce, and what is also important, crayfish serve as orderlies in the aquarium.
procambarus clarkii
Unfortunately, the taxonomy of crustaceans leaves much to be desired, since several new species appear on the market every year, often having only a commercial name. Therefore, it is not always possible to identify the animal being purchased. One way or another, but the conditions of detention crayfish in the aquarium in most cases similar.
Since interest in these aquatic organisms arose relatively recently, useful information on keeping and breeding crayfish in the aquarium very little at the moment. An important role in collecting information about these amazing arthropods was played by people’s gastronomic interest in crayfish, since they have long been considered a valuable food item.
The maintenance and breeding of these aquatic organisms for the purpose of further use as food has allowed us to accumulate a lot of valuable information on their biology, which can be used by aquarists.
Most species of freshwater crayfish live in the temperate climate zone; they are less common in the tropics.
For content crayfish in the aquarium, the species belonging to the families Parastacidae and Cambaridae are of greatest interest.
Parastacidae, the so-called parastacid crayfish, live in water bodies of the Southern Hemisphere. They can be found in Madagascar, New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania and in certain areas of the western and eastern coasts of South America.
These crayfish also live in the inland waters of some small Pacific islands, for example in Fiji.
Among the “southern” crayfish there are such monsters as the Tasmanian giant crayfish (Astacopsis gouldi), with a carapace length of more than 80 cm, the weight of which can reach six kilograms. Of the “southern” freshwater crayfish, numerous species of the genus Cherax have received the greatest interest for keeping in an aquarium. Representatives of which are much smaller, the length of their carapace is on average 15-30 cm, but many species have bright colors and tolerate captivity well.
Representatives of the Cambaridae family live in the Northern Hemisphere (including here on Sakhalin). They are common in a wide variety of bodies of water, from small lakes and ponds to large rivers, throughout North America and the Far East.
cambarellus patzcuarensis
In aquariums, species most often found belong to the genera Cambarellus and Paracambarus. About 17 species of the genus Cambarellus live in water bodies in Mexico and the United States. These crayfish are quite unpretentious, brightly colored and small in size.
Crayfish belonging to the larger genus Paracambarus (more than 160 species) are in no way inferior to those mentioned earlier in beauty, and in addition to bright colors, they are often covered with an interesting contrasting pattern, thanks to which they can become a decoration for any decorative aquarium.
One can only be amazed at the variety of colors of crayfish; these are not only numerous shades of red and green, but also beige, yellow, blue, and cyan. Often the body of crayfish is covered with multi-colored stripes and spots. And the shell of some species has small spines and spines.
In addition to freshwater, there are brackish-water and euryhaline (capable of existing in wide salinity ranges) species.
Hobbyists' aquariums mainly contain purely freshwater species. Some species have developed different color forms in aquarium conditions.
procambarus alleni
As a rule, crayfish lead a nocturnal and twilight lifestyle.
Their diet includes both plant and animal foods, and they do not disdain carrion. Males are larger than females and have more massive claws.
Anatomy of crayfish
The anatomy of crayfish and the manner of movement are fundamentally different from those of fish. The three anterior thoracic segments and the head form a single unit, called the cephalothorax. On which there are antennae and so-called jaws (three pairs), which serve to hold food and transport it to the mouth. At the same time, they act as additional respiratory organs (equipped with gill appendages) and as a kind of napkins for wiping the eyes and antennae. Plus the antennae and antennules themselves, as well as maxillae and mandibles (lower and upper jaws, respectively).
The remaining five non-fused thoracic segments contain limbs, of which crayfish have as many as 19 pairs. Their functionality is very diverse. Five pairs (10 pieces - hence the name of the order - Decapods, Decapoda) - walking legs, although only four are intended for movement. The first pair is equipped with claws - dexterous manipulators used as additional support, as well as capture, attack and defense.
The head and chest of crayfish are covered with a shell called a carapace, which serves to protect the internal organs. On the head, on long stalks, there are very mobile compound eyes. In reflected light they “burn” like red coals. The carapace is often decorated with small spines, and in some species its front part is transformed into an elongated sharp spine, called the rostrum.
The tail, consisting of two pairs of legs and a telson, and five pairs of swimming legs are used in extreme situations when swiftness is needed. Moreover, at this moment the cancer moves not forward, but backward, that is, it moves backward, as prescribed by folk wisdom.
It should be noted that the trajectory of the crayfish is quite difficult to predict, so catching these seemingly leisurely creatures is not so easy.
But on a hard surface, they walk just like other animals, head first.
The abdomen has limbs called pleopods. In males, the first or second pair of pleopods has been transformed into a copulatory organ. The abdomen ends with a fan-shaped “fin” formed by modified limbs - uropods.
Eggs, larvae or young crustaceans are attached to the pleopods of females during the breeding season. Crayfish breathe with gills.
Crayfish grow only when they have no shell, and this happens during the molting period. During the molting process, crayfish are able to regenerate lost limbs. The molted individual hides in a shelter for several days, until the shell hardens, so as not to please someone for lunch.
Crayfish do not tolerate copper compounds in the water, so when treating fish in an aquarium with crustaceans, the latter should be removed. When regularly replacing part of the water, it is recommended to use special conditioners.
Crayfish react sensitively to the content of oxygen and nitrogen compounds in water. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have a biofilter in the aquarium, preferably an external, canister type. It is useful to use activated carbon or zeolite filler in the filter (they are replaced once a month).
Aeration of water is required. The air compressor can be replaced with an oxidizer (the brand of which is selected depending on the volume of the aquarium). In addition to saturating water with oxygen, the oxidizer oxidizes animal waste products, improving water quality.
procambarus clarkii
Some types of crayfish that live naturally in temperate climates do not tolerate water temperatures above 20°C, so it is almost impossible to keep them in an aquarium without special cooling. Today, there are many ways to cool water. The most efficient way to cool water is to use a special aquarium refrigerator (chiller). Despite the rather high cost of the device, this is the most convenient way to cool water.
It is worth considering whether it is worth keeping animals that require the purchase of an additional device that costs several hundred US dollars, and also consumes at least 350 Wh of electricity.
An aquarium with crayfish should be decorated only with hard-leaved plants or artificial analogues, as other crayfish will quickly be destroyed.
By nature, crayfish are loners, so on occasion they are not averse to snacking on a smaller, molted relative. Therefore, the aquarium must have shelters in the form of driftwood, grottoes made of flat stones, shards, ceramic or plastic tubes.
If there is a need to keep fish along with crayfish, then you should choose non-aggressive large species that can fend for themselves if necessary. You cannot keep predatory fish together with crayfish, such as arawans, stingrays, tetraodons and some others, for which crayfish are a common food. The same applies to slow-moving bottom-dwelling fish species and various breeds of goldfish, which themselves can become prey for crayfish. Being nocturnal, crayfish are not averse to snacking on sleeping fish.
The aquarium with crayfish must be tightly closed. Moreover, a light glass or a piece of transparent plastic can move a cancer and go for a walk on land. This usually happens when the oxygen content in the water decreases, or the water parameters deviate beyond acceptable limits. Such walks definitely end in the death of the crayfish.
Breeding crayfish in an aquarium
Pelagic larvae (floating in the water column) hatch from crayfish eggs. During the development process, the crayfish larva goes through several stages known under the names: nauplius, metanauplius, zoea, mysis and the last - decapodite, in which the crayfish acquires its final form, only in miniature. Different crustaceans may lack certain stages. Many freshwater crayfish are born at the last stage, passing through earlier ones inside the egg shell.
Tropical crayfish species often breed in aquariums. The “pregnant” female should be placed in a separate container equipped with a low-power filter and an air compressor (for small aquariums it is convenient to use the “Oxidator Mini”). A prerequisite is the presence of various shelters in the aquarium. The emerging crustaceans first hold on to the female’s pleopods (depending on the species), and then scatter around the aquarium.
You can feed the fry using combined powdered food for aquarium fish, Artemia nauplii and cut bloodworms. In addition to ceramic and plastic tubes, small-leaved live and plastic plants can be used as shelters. A layer of fine river sand should be poured onto the bottom of the aquarium. Cannibalism is common among juvenile crayfish.
Diet of crayfish in an aquarium
The diet of crayfish in an aquarium consists of ordinary fish food, this can be: bloodworms, coretra, tubifex, earthworms, marine fish meat, etc. You should not feed crayfish with domestic mollusks such as pond snails; they are often carriers of various diseases.
Among plant foods, soft aquatic vegetation (duckweed, elodea, etc.) is preferred, as well as rolled oats washed under cold water, boiled rice, and plant tablets for catfish. They will not refuse the sinking granules of combined aquarium food.
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