Old to crays but new to shrimp

mibbyblues · Post by **mibbyblues** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:37 pm

I am a newbie here and I am really intrested in Crays. I am also intrested in seeing if there are any types of shrimp that I can raise with my crays.

I am sure that I can learn alot from everyone here.

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:44 pm

mibbyblues

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I have Shrimp in with all of my Dwarf Crayfish.

I do not have any of the larger Species of Crayfish, So , I can not help with those.

Again, Welcome

John

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:51 pm

Welcome mibbyblues,

Could you please give us a little more information about your crays. Type, size, and enviroonment they are kept in. This will better help you to get the information/suggestions from members. Glad to have you aboard and maybe you can share some of the things you know about crayfish

mibbyblues · Post by **mibbyblues** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:54 pm

Ok

My husband and I import, breed and grow Walkamin Strain Redclaw crayfish( Cherax Quads) in an ultra intensive aquaculture recirculating system.
We have sizes that vary from eggs to 12-14" long.
We currently grow mollies and fantail guppies for our local pet stores in some of the tanks with NO problems so I am now in hopes that we could also grow some types of shrimp in other tanks.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:30 pm

Hi! I don't really have any advice to give on crayfish, but welcome to the forum!

-John (AKA: The Puffer Ninja)

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:46 pm

Are you asking about a shrimp only tank, or mixing with crays? Big crays and little shrimp don't mix. The shrimp would get stressed out and not do well. I'm not sure how they would do in a separate tank but in the same water. I don't know that just smelling the crays would stress them. For the most part, the water parameters are pretty much the same for shrimp as for crays.

mibbyblues · Post by **mibbyblues** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:37 pm

I was actually thinking about doing both, putting shrimp in with crays and then having some tanks with just shrimp.But since large crays and little shrimp don't do well then i would like to just have shrimp in their own tanks.

Any ideas from anyone on what to grow? I would like something unusual and or rare if possible.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:15 pm

The shrimp varieties page will help you get started and from there you can use the shrimp's preferences and parameters to prepare a home for them.

mibbyblues · Post by **mibbyblues** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:19 pm

thank you

pturley · Post by **pturley** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:22 pm

mibbyblues,
Have you considered selling your Cherax quadricarinatus into the pet trade?
A 12" long yabby would be an awesome display animal.

As far as an appropriate shrimp species, Macrobrachium rosenbergi is already cultured in intensive aquaculture. They grow large, however would still likely loose out in competition with the crays.

Sincerely,
Paul E. Turley

mibbyblues · Post by **mibbyblues** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:07 pm

Paul,
Why don't I give you my web site so that you can take a look at our animals and our facilitys. I am already way ahead of you as far as the aquarium trade but thanks for the suggestion.
We sell our Quads for Aquarium trade and for food and for breeding. Not only does a 12"long cray make a great pet but it also makes for great eating when it tastes more like lobster than crayfish
Actually Cherax Quads are some of the less aggressive crays especially compaired to NA crayfish. We stock are tanks EXTREMELY dense(with hides) and have very little to no loss through cannibolism. The only time that we lose one is when there is a molting issue and they don't make it.

We import between 6-10 thousand walkamin strain crayfish every 6 weeks direct from Queensland australia.

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:37 pm

pturley wrote:mibbyblues,
As far as an appropriate shrimp species, Macrobrachium rosenbergi is already cultured in intensive aquaculture. They grow large, however would still likely loose out in competition with the crays.

Actually, the crays lose out to the rosenbergii. Those long arms work very well on a molted cray. They seek them out & eat them while they are soft, while they can hide from the crays when they need too.

There was a thread a while back that showed a map of where crays are and where prawns are. Virtually no overlap. Many of the cray species are having troubles in south & central america due to Macrobrachium amazonicum expanding it's range. Shrimp farming down there is spreading them quickly and they breed in purely freshwater.

mibbyblues · Post by **mibbyblues** » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:43 pm

badflash,

thank you for the information