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I'm tossing around the idea of getting a crayfish, specifically a Dwarf Crayfish (Cambarellus shufeldtii) which I saw at Cool Crayfish.com.

I've never kept one before and read their basic care page. Dwarfs are supposed to be only 1.2", would a 5g be ok? Any other care info I should know about?

Links to other crayfish sites would be appreciated also.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

A 5g should be fine for a Dwarf Crayfish, make sure there are no ways it can escape from the tank and remember that if you find a small carcass, don`t worry, it is only the shed skeleton of the Cray. You could feed it on bloodworm and stuff like that and it will accept sinking pellets, cucumber and flakes (or my Red Claw Crayfish does).

Glad you have found something interesting with these magnificant creatures, enjoy it!

Thanks for the reply. I did read that they are good at escaping!

The basic info I've gotten and want to be sure of:

-a filter is nice but not necessary
-lots of oxygen required
-provide a branch or rock for them to climb on
-room temp water
-provide a tunnel or other hiding places

What about food for crayfish?

Besides dwarfs, is there an average size of other crayfish types?


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Ok, provide hiding places, a filter is neccesary in my opinion, water of around 25 degrees is what I keep my Red Claw Crayfish.
Crayfish vary in sizes from species, you get the Dwarf at aroun 1 inch and then my Red Claw Cray that is reaching around 7 inches! They definatley need stuff to climb on but beware it doesn`t climb out of the tank so keep a cover on the tank, whether it is a proper cover that comes with the tank or a nice heavy bit of wood that coversthe top of the tank

http://www.efishbusiness.co.uk/formsandguides/part01.asp

About all you will need to know about anatomy of Crayfish and that is a Red Claw Crayfish which is the species I keep, very active and interesting species they are

goood luck with your dwarf they are an great animal. I have one. i am getting an eletric blue craw that will have its own 12 gallon. ALso perky ment 25 degrees celcius not farhenheit. IN farhenheir it is 77 degrees.

Out of curiosity, are you planning on keeping any other creatures in with the crawdad? I believe they are nocturnal, and if a fish is small enough, any crawdad would love to snap it up for a midnight snack!!!

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thats the good thing with Dwarfs, they won`t attack fish as easy. You could probably get a tank with a Dwarf and then a school of Danios or something (as long as it doesn`t sleep on the bottom) for a 10g so a Dwarf and 6-8 Danios. You would need water at 25degrees celsius and a decent filter on it though if your willing to go spend a bit more.

Also try to get the filter covered with a net, like the ones you get with washing machines, put that over the filter (not the top bit that churns thhe water out, just the bit tha takes all the water in) so that the Cray doesn`t decide to find out what the filter is and get sucked in

danios are a bit all over the place, white clouds are more top-dwelling.

i had success with white clouds and gambusia (although they were intended as feeders!)

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett