Blue Crayfish

Assassin saphir

We have a 190L community tropical aquarium, we added a blue crayfish a couple of months ago (the guy in the fish shop said he'd get along fine with everyone). Anyway he shed a few weeks ago and is growing like mad. This morning when I got up he was trying to catch some of the fish and I think he has nipped the tail from one of our catfish. Ive never seen him do this but he's obviously up to mischief at night.He is also an escape artist so we had to put a weight on the lid of the tank. I dont want to get rid of him as I've grown attached to him, but what sort of fish can i keep him with? Or should he be on his own? Does anyone else have one that could give me some advice?
Thanks for your help

vibe666

i believe regular crayfish are illegal to sell (and possibly even keep) in ireland as they are an invasive species and will kill and eat their way through the local wildlife, inc. what we have left of indigenous crays.

you've seen yourself that they're great at escaping which is part of the reason they are such risky pets to keep.

you can expect him to get quite a bit bigger and more aggressive and he will eat pretty much anything he can catch before too long.

i actually have some mexican dwarf crays myself, but they aren't big enough to get out of my 260L tank and wouldn't survive very long in the wild at all as they are pretty passive, not very fast and only about the size of a neon tetra.

they are great fun in the tank tho and the only downside is that occasionally one sheds in range of my angels and risks getting eaten, but other than that they're grand.

fred funk }{

I've kept them before in a community tank. They try to catch fish but I never saw it in my tank. They're scavangers so they haven't the skill or speed to hunt fish. A firm lid is a must as they can even open a loose lid.

Assassin saphir

Thanks Fred. Really dont know what to with him. He's the size of an average tv remote now. If they r illegal i wonder where the pet shop got him.

fred funk }{

They're not illegal. I always thought they were cool little things but not really suited to a community tank. I ended up keeping one in its own small tank on top of the fridge. He always gave me a fright when he shed his shell, I used to think he was dead.

Assassin saphir

Haha. i thought mine was dead too when he shed.

vibe666

fred funk }{ wrote: »

They're not illegal. I always thought they were cool little things but not really suited to a community tank. I ended up keeping one in its own small tank on top of the fridge. He always gave me a fright when he shed his shell, I used to think he was dead.

head over to the irish fish forum and tell them you have one and see what happens.

it seems that the law is a little greyer than first thought when it comes to crayfish, but it's still a very bad idea to keep them.

http://invasives.biodiversityireland.ie/invasive-turkish-crayfish/

http://invasives.biodiversityireland.ie/non-native-crayfish/

http://invasivespeciesireland.com/most-unwanted-species/potential/freshwater/north-american-signal-crayfish

i know your blue crayfish isn't specifically listed there, but you can at least see why its not a good idea to keep him, particularly given their knack for escaping.

fred funk }{

vibe666 wrote: »

head over to the irish fish forum and tell them you have one and see what happens.

it seems that the law is a little greyer than first thought when it comes to crayfish, but it's still a very bad idea to keep them.

http://invasives.biodiversityireland.ie/invasive-turkish-crayfish/

http://invasives.biodiversityireland.ie/non-native-crayfish/

http://invasivespeciesireland.com/most-unwanted-species/potential/freshwater/north-american-signal-crayfish

i know your blue crayfish isn't specifically listed there, but you can at least see why its not a good idea to keep him, particularly given their knack for escaping.

You stated that it's illegal to sell and possibly keep Crayfish in Ireland, that's simply not true. Most suppliers of tropical fish in Ireland sell Crayfish or have sold them. It is illegal to release into the wild any non native species whether it be a Crayfish or mouse.

There are serious problems with Mink too and there are problems with loads of plants that aren't native as well.

vibe666

fred funk }{ wrote: »

You stated that it's illegal to sell and possibly keep Crayfish in Ireland, that's simply not true. Most suppliers of tropical fish in Ireland sell Crayfish or have sold them. It is illegal to release into the wild any non native species whether it be a Crayfish or mouse.

There are serious problems with Mink too and there are problems with loads of plants that aren't native as well.

i didn't state it, i said i believed it, but you're right and i was wrong. i was just repeating what i'd seen on the IFF that hadn't ever been questioned, so i had assumed it was correct. although i did kind of correct myself already with the links in the post above.

i still don't think it's a great idea to be keeping them though. there was another thread on there where someone had found a rather large blue crayfish wandering across a pub car park somewhere in dublin that had either been released or escaped from its home.

Soswozere

Cheeky little guys hunt at night. They're very clever! I imagine only fast small fish would survive.. but even then they might get picked off at night. No bottom feeders.
No larger fish like cichlids as they could take advantage when molting occurs and the cray is soft and vulnerable.

Im trying to source a bigger tank for my guy. Currently in a 15g with tetras. I've a 240 litre tank African cichlids but wouldn't risk putting him in.