Possible tank mates for Cajun Dwarfs

Mothi · Post by **Mothi** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:03 pm

I want to set up a 6.6g bookshelf type tank with some Eco-Complete and live plants for some Cajun Dwarf Crayfish but thinking about the full details of it. How many Crayfish is good? Can I also keep Heterandria formosa with them? What about red ramshorn snails? Live plants of course with some driftwood to create natural hiding places. I was thinking of Otocinclus as the algae eater, but figure they needed a larger tank. If the 6.6g is too small for a setup I want, then I suppose I need to move up to a 10g, 20g, or 40g setup since I have stands for those unused at the moment.

Do people here keep them in smaller than 10g and how many do they keep. Any tank mates?

zook94 · Post by **zook94** » Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:55 pm

I keep my new herd in a 5.5 gallon tank, with 2 amano shrimp and java moss/guppy grass. They are active, and molting regularly. My herd is 17 Dwarf cajuns. The smallest are about a half inch, the biggest is just about an inch long.

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 8:48 pm

I would only keep 3 adults in a tank this size. And bottom feeders such as corys and plecos do not do good with these crays unless the crays are fed really well. You will know this by how many chunks are taken out of the fins of the catfish.

Jason

TKD · Post by **TKD** » Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:49 pm

In my 20 Gl planted (Eco-complete)

9 Dwarf Cajun crays
5 Neons
5 Black Neons
5 Glow Lights Tetras
4 Albino Corries (All blind from the LSF

)

1 Clown Pleco
1 (Small) Female Bushy Nose Pleco

3 Wood Shrimp
1 Vampire Shrimp

2 Briggs Snails (1 is a temp)
Many MTS

Maybe a bit overstalked, but everone get along well and I have not seen any ripped fins, as of yet.

TKD

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 12:59 am

That is good to hear TKD, do you think this is because you keep them well fed as FISH WORLD ERIE suggested?

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:48 am

That 20 gallon sounds pretty nice. If you were underfeeding you would see it in the albino cories first. Sounds like your doing a good job.

I gave some of these to a friend who had a 10 gallon tank. I told him these would be perfect tankmates for his fish. Well when I went over to his house one time. Almost all the fish in his tank were dead. He still had the 2 dwarf cajuns I gave him. They looked perfect. However the cory cat he had in with them was shredded and so was the 1 guppy he had left. One of the things he did wrong was not feed them enough.

I also take care of customers tanks in a maintenance business I own.
One of them Has a 125 gallon planted tank I set up for them. I stocked it with 6 cajuns. The rest of the fish in tank were small bushy nose, tetras, cory cats, guppys, cherry shrimp and apistogrammas. Everybody in tank is friendly and get along well. Except I just started to notice the cory cats were looking a little trimmed down. Well I talked to customer and found out that they cut back on the feeding of tank.

So it does not matter size of tank that houses these crays with fish. Just that they are fed well enough so that they leave their tankmates alone.

Jason

badflash · Post by **badflash** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:01 am

Feeding helps, but a cray is a cray. If the fish or shrimp is stupid they will lose a leg, fin, or worse. My amanos are stupid and even though Ihave only 3 cajuns is a 15 gallon Long, and very well fed, the cajuns are snipping legs off the amanos. If they are getting the cherries I'd never know as there are som any and the cajun would just eat the shrimp and leave nothing.

TKD · Post by **TKD** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 7:12 am

I feed the 20,

Flake food once a day and I alternate with fry bites and sking pellets other day. I will be starting to give them frozen food to and once the algea clears up, wafers.

TKD

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:09 pm

I have never noticed my cajuns doing this in my tanks. But the only shrimp I keep with them is cherry and they eat side by side at the dinner table peacefully. In the 125 gallon I take care of the corys were just fine before for A period of 6 months or so. It was last month that I noticed fins were starting to get nipped. The only difference was the amount of food.

My suggestion would be, keep the cajuns on bottom by themselves in a 6.6 gallon tank. Any bottom feeders could end up as food themselves.

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:51 pm

My suggestion would be, keep the cajuns on bottom by themselves in a 6.6 gallon tank. Any bottom feeders could end up as food themselves.

Would this include Ottos too? They sometimes hang around the bottom.

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:35 pm

A 6.6 gallon tank is not that big. Otocinclus stay on the glass as well as the bottom so they may do okay. One way to find out.

I have never kept my cajuns with ottos before so I do not know. Plus any time I keep something with my cajuns it is in a 10 gallon tank or larger.

I do not notice any fin nipping in my tanks.

Newjohn · Post by **Newjohn** » Mon Oct 09, 2006 4:20 pm

Mothi

The smallest tank that I have my Cajuns in is a 10gal.
With a few pieces of Lace rock, for hiding places. It is a little small, I think.
So I will be moving them into a larger tank.

As for tank mates, I had Guppies in with them, and they started loosing fins.
And I keep Shrimp in every tank that have Crayfish.
That is until I can get enough tanks set up. To have 1 species per tank.

Remember the bigger the better.
John

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:32 pm

Anyone have any thoughts about breeding BN pleco's and cajuns in the same tank?

FISH WORLD ERIE · Post by **FISH WORLD ERIE** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:53 pm

Anyone have any thoughts about breeding BN pleco's and cajuns in the same tank?

The 125 gallon tank I have set up for a customer has red marble plecos and L-279 bristlenose plecos in it. This month when I went to clean it there was L-279 fry everywhere. I would not recommend trying to breed them that way but it can work. I do not think this would work in anything smaller than a 33 long. This tank is set up at an elementary school. And the kids just love it.

So far the cajuns have not bred in this setup. I originally put 6 in and I usually see 2 or 3 of them when I clean the tank. This tank has been set up for 10 months so far.

ToddnBecka · Post by **ToddnBecka** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 9:50 pm

I'm thinking a 38, 10 cajuns and a pair of BN pleco's. Java moss, java fern, plenty of cover (rocks, caves, etc.), and plenty of food for all. The tank has been established for over a year, and has a thriving population of MTS in the gravel bed.

UG filter, run by an AC 300 and a powerhead.

Do people here keep them in smaller than 10g and how many do they keep. Any tank mates?

I have a trio of C. patzcuarensis in a heavily planted 10 with a few hundred cherry shrimp, ramshorns, and MTS. They all get along quite well. Everything but the crays (recent addition) are multiplying.
Like John said though, bigger is better. Smaller tanks are simply harder to maintain good conditions in than larger ones. It can be done, but requires more frequent maintenance.