Things I’ve noticed. My developing experience (Dwarf Cajuns)

[Terran]

My developing experience with Dwarf Cajuns.
To quote Mustafa’s description

It is very peaceful, stays small, does not eat plants and readily breeds in the home aquarium.

Now I got my Cajuns from Mustafa but I still think its description should be updated to

“It is RELATIVELY peaceful, stays small, does not eat SOME plants and readily breeds in the home aquarium”

Hahaa

I mean I love the Cajuns and all but I think their description is just a tad misleading:

“Peaceful?”:
When I first started I had both Cajuns and RCS in a single 29 gallon well planted tank…decent vegetation cover and rock hiding places….(see the new sponge in right corner)


(this is just after I trimmed like four inches off the tops of all the plants)
After slow generation times with my Shrimp I began moving more desirable RCS to my shrimp specific sponge tank(see post in Shrimp forum). This turned out better than I thought because as the population of Cajuns in the 29 gallon tank grew, the conditions got worse and worse for the RCS. Feeding times were always brutal battles and even in-between feedings I continued to witness dozens of attacks and or mangled RCS….Some would walk all lopsided because one entire side of their body got a “haircut”…. most have no/shortened antennae in this tank because they seem to get those cut off first….

This behavior wasn’t just practiced against the shrimp. If anything it was much worse amongst their own kind. I frequently get deaths from Crayfish standoffs…They don’t die usually from the fights…but in the general confrontation they are stripped of the majority of their pinchers and legs….(The worst event was six deaths over a 3 day period)…
I don’t deny people have more peaceful Cajuns…but if its not and individual based temperament there must be something Im doing in their care or environment that drives them to acquire this overly aggressive temperament which according to what Im hearing from people here is unusual behavior for Cajuns…
Even with all their aggressiveness and killing off of each other they still manage to reproduce frequently…so Im not concerned in that sense that my population of Cajun crayfish is in jeopardy. If people don’t believe this behavior is taking place I could easily video tape it (if I could find some space on my hard drive to fit the video in).


And another more minor note
“Plant Friendly?”:
This is probably the most accepted Cajun behavior that they are Plant friendly.
I first noticed it a long time ago when I had Egeria Densa in their tank. The Cajuns tended to shred up most of the new growth like they do with my Java moss in other tanks (the moss still grows because its so invasive …but my crayfish really slow if not stop its progress when in larger numbers). This was no big deal because Anacharis isn’t that great of a plant…but it made it look even worse because the tips of all the leaves would be all shredded
but this wasn’t the end… I tried other plants….
Ive seen other people use Java Fern in tanks but when I tried my Cajuns messed up the plant…they shredded the ends of the plant and all new growth until it eventually seemed dead (I moved it to another tank its doing fine there)(I wonder if this case with the Java Fern as to do with the way in which I tried to grow it…. in substrate in the Crayfish tank…and attached to driftwood in the other tank)
….

I tried this grass which I think is really pretty stuff (ignore the algae in the tank Im just letting the grass and stuff spread in this tank to use it elsewhere)

But the Cajuns with a single claw would pull a blade of grass out and nibble on the roots and then release….so all grass I tried would die…


But its not like they eat everything….
They don’t eat the plant you see in the background of my tank shot…and several other plants Ive tried but I just thought Id mention the ones that my Cajuns have messed up…

I don’t deny that people have other experiences…and if that is the case I wonder what Im doing that promotes this behavior….

Could they just be starved…could that be the basis of all this behavior….I feel like Im feeding them well enough.

[badflash]

I have a feeling you are not feeding them enough and that is making them agressive. I have one 10 gallon tank with cherry shrimp, 4 adult cajuns, and a bunch of new babies. The tank is packed with Java Moss & Java Fern. I also have red ram snails, apple snails and a few pond snails, MTS in there. The cajuns are hell on small snails, but I have to remove the java Moss as it is growing fast as is the fern. The cherries are breeding faster in this tank than in any of my other tanks. I've never seen a ravaged cherry in that tank.

I did see some stupid amano shrimp get a leg trim once.

I overfeed my tanks and let the snails clean up. I then do extra water changes to compensate.

[zwergkrebszuechter]

Feeding is one important point for crayfish behavior.
In Germany for example people report clarkii which are very aggressive and eat anything in their tank. Others claim to have very peaceful clarkii that do not even eat the plants in the tank. I think most of the difference between the two groups are their feeding habits. Especially if you have a lot of young crayfish they have a big appetite and need a lot of food. If they do not get it, they get it elsewhere - attack and eat their tank mates and plants.

I noticed the same thing, when I gave crayfish I had considered rather peaceful to a petshop. 2 weeks later the owner complained that the crayfish were very aggressive. When I asked him how often he feeds them, he just said: what? extra feeding? They are supposed to eat what is left behind by the fish.

temperature and age / number of the crayfish has some effects on their appetite, too. Older crayfish usually need less food and appear more "peaceful". But if you feed them enough any crayfish could be peaceful. Some species need less food than others and are for that reason less a threat to plants and tank mates, even if feeding little.

I never observed any Cambarellus eat live plants, that seems to be a very rare behaviour. Are they starving?

[michiganmale248]

I agree with badflash and zwergkrebszuechter, sounds like you should feed them more.

This is rare that they are eating your plants, unless if they are starting to die of course. Try feeding them some veggies and they should stop eating the plants. Peas are a crays favorite. goodluck

[badflash]

I use summer squash, and pleco pellets as well as sinking goldfish food.

It is always a race between enough food and poor water quality. If you want to succeed, always be prepared for a mid-week water change. My apple snails are my "canaries". When I see they are racing to the top and having problems, it is time. They know before the testkits tell me anything.

[Terran]

Ok Ill try feeding them a bit more....

They share the tank with Red Cherry Shrimp, Ramshorns, and "Pond Snails"...and thats all

Its a 29 gallon tank...and at the height of the crayfish population there had to be at least 30 junveniles of them in there.... and four very full sized adults....and maybe a hundred babies...who knows they were all so little...

Maybe 15-20 shrimp...



In the morning I feed the tank two dime sized algae discs that I crush up in smaller bits and chunks ....(the crays usually get all of the chunks and run off to places to hide with the piece while they eat it..)

Before I go to bed I give them about soup spoon full of Super Soft Frozen Food Alternative With Krill....(Its like a bunch of BB sized pellets)

For the most part the shrimp dont get fed directly from these feedings...because they hardly get to stay near the food for long...I imagine they gather remains and feed of the wastes of the feedings...


So are you all recommending that I try feeding the tank more? Of some other food source (Ive heard of many things Cajuns enjoy)



Though I still think they really like eating that grass....they uproot it so easily eat the root and toss the rest away...heheh

[badflash]

I give a mix of foods. Cooked summer squash, slow sinking goldfish food, pleco food, and spirulina flake. I do this twice a day in my 40 gallon long. You have to see what is being eaten to know how much to feed. I pull as many 1/4" crays as I can find each week when I do water changes & remove excess plants. I've been running about 25-30 each week since I recovered from the disaster (about 4 weeks- not a big track record) but that is what I was doing before Thanksgiving too.

I think with a 40 gallon brood tank and 3 or 4 10 gallon grow-out tanks you can to 20 juvie crays a week, but it is a lot of work. When you see agressive behavior they are competing for something important. I've seen this with my "pussy cat" M. rosenbergii shrimp too. Keep them fed and everything is fine.

[Vera]

I am probably a strange one out here, but I feed my crayfish 55% crude protein fin fish starter food. It gives the babies a wonderful start on life as well as giving the breeder females plenty of protein to produce babies. The high crude protein diet has drastically reduced the cannibalism in my larger species of crayfish.

[FISH WORLD ERIE]

I am with badflash on this one. Feed a good variety of food and change that water. I do not notice any problems with the cajuns. Some of my tanks have up to 200 or more in them. I also keep them in one 15 gallon tank with cherry shrimp and both populations seem to be booming. My plants grow so fast in these tanks that I am always trimming them down. I use hornwort, java fern and java moss.

Jason

[Terran]

Ok I must be under feeding them....

Ill try some of the other various feeding methods mentioned....