# Crayfish basic care



## Aquariuman (Nov 28, 2011)

Ok. It'll be a while before i get any crayfish myself but i need to know the basics on how to care for them. I basically need to know everything about them. Housing, care, feeding, maintenance, etc, etc, etc. Why am i asking this so soon when i won't get any for a while? Well, that's easy. I've noticed on certain threads it takes a while to get replies, esp on those about crayfish. So, that being said, I just need the general care guidelines. No specific species right now, just try and be sure what you post can apply to all of the different kinds of crayfish. *c/p* *thanks


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## scooterlady (May 10, 2011)

Have you checked out YouTube? They have alot of iinstructional videos on aquariums...


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

They are pretty easy. Two of the more common mistakes people make:

1) Keeping multiple crays in a tank- One per tank is the safest. Some species can be kept in groups if the tank is big enough but it must be well setup with plenty of hiding places. Some species are just too aggressive to keep together and will rip each other apart.

2) Tanks that are too small- Some species grow a lot bigger than people realize and need a sizable tank. Some crays are fine in a 10 gallon, others need more like 50.

Here are a couple of links for the general care of crayfish:
Crayfish care in the home aquarium
The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Crayfish as Aquarium Pets - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Do crays predate fish, or do they just scavenge?


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

They will catch fish if they can. Sometimes fish are too fast for them but you also need to watch out that they don't creep up on fish at night when they are sleeping on the bottom. A cray that is well fed is less likely to catch fish than a hungry one.


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## Aquariuman (Nov 28, 2011)

navigator black said:


> Do crays predate fish, or do they just scavenge?


Snail is right on what he said but most fish are too fast to catch. So, they usually catch dead or dying fish and when their owners see them eating the carcass, they assume the cray killed the fish - which in most cases is false - but it depends on the size of cray versus the size, activity level, etc of the fish.


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## Crazy (Mar 1, 2012)

Well this care sheet helped me quite a bit with my wild caught crawfish. Down here they are a food item and easy to get. NORTH AMERICAN CRAYFISH CARE SHEET  North American crayfish should be kept at 55


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