P.Clarkii not molting.

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alexvpaq
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P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by alexvpaq »

So I got a P.Clarkii a few months ago. Barely a day after I got it, it molted, two weeks later it molted again.
2 or so weeks later I tried adding some Danios in the tank (3) to see how it would turn out. So... he hate a Danio overnight and that was it, after one or two weeks I moved the two other danios to another tank since my cray wasn't eating anymore, I believe it may have been too stressed out and wasn't even trying to catch the danios. Now he's alone in his tank, he has plenty of hiding spots, and he still won't eat a lot and hasn't molted in like 2 months. I wonder if it's normal.
Oh and he won't touch the food from the shop anymore. I have to prepare him some homemade stuff like veggies or some meat or he just ignores it.

I'm kinda lost at the moment since every bit of info on the internet is always a bit different so I'm now looking for help to get things right nor better.
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by Mustafa »

Your crayfish may be on its way out. Usually when a crayfish stops eating (and stops molting) it's a sure sign that death is coming. It can take several weeks to several months, but it will happen eventually. I'm not sure what causes this condition, but it may just be a combination of bad water quality combined with some type of infection.
alexvpaq
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by alexvpaq »

I think I should precise that it does eat but just less. However this is some scary news to me if you happen to be right :/
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by Mustafa »

Crayfish usually eat like monsters, so even eating "less" is not a good sign. They usually only eat less and become reclusive when they are about to molt. They won't eat a day or two after molting either. But the rest of the time crayfish of all species devour everything that they see...They don't really discriminate. In any case, please update us on the situation of your crayfish. I hope it improves, but I really doubt it.
alexvpaq
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by alexvpaq »

So far he hasn't eaten quite a lot, he hides all the time, lost a part of an antenna (sorry it may have a proper name) and legs are sort of darkening. I feel bad for the poor thing. He however goes out of his tube from time to time to walk around the tank, pick on the ''log'' and he still goes out everytime I drop food in his tank like a madman but he just take it in its tube and then drop it almost whole outside. I give him small quantities to be able to monitor whatever he's eating but it's always very minimal. Nothing like when I first had it and he was still barely an inch long.
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by alexvpaq »

Update, I just arrived home and my crayfish is displaying molting patterns.
For the last few days he barely got out of his tube and today while walking around a bit I can see the back and his tail having a 1mm gap.

I hope he's really going to molt and then he'll get hungry again as he used to be.
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by alexvpaq »

So to conclude this, my crayfish tried to molt and died in the process. I rechecked all the water parameters and everything seemed fine.

So I decided to get another crayfish, picked the smallest orange clarkii in the bunch , It molted once already and it is already as large as my previous one :shock: It eats like a monster(More than the previous one ever did) and reacts to people walking by the tank, it seems much more alive than the other one even when he seemed healthy, I'm wondering if maybe he had a problem to begin with seeing how different they behave.
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Re: P.Clarkii not molting.

Post by Mustafa »

Yep..it looks like your crayfish had already some issues. Unfortunately, with shrimp and crayfish once they are "damaged" or sick in some way, it's next to impossible for them to get back to normal...ever. That's why it's so important to have healthy, unstressed animals to begin with.
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