My first crayfish breeding

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iturnrocks
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My first crayfish breeding

Post by iturnrocks »

These are a couple of wild crayfish I picked up in a roadside ditch in central Kansas. In the past, whenever I had multiple crayfish in a tank, they would eat each other and I always ended up with just 1. This is the first time I've kept them in a 120 gallon tank with no predators, so perhaps having enough hides and enough room to avoid each other paid off. When I first saw them mating I wasn't sure if they were fighting since the male has huge claws and the female didn't seem to be moving, but about an hour later they were separated and she was still alive. Just yesterday I noticed she has eggs now.

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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by Mustafa »

Congrats! There should be some babies in about 6-8 weeks. Kansas has lots of crayfish species, so it's hard to tell which species this might be. It's a Procambarus for sure...probably closely related to Procambarus clarkii from the looks of it. And, yes, larger tanks and lots of hiding spots can make quite a difference.
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by iturnrocks »

Got some babies. The crayfish I moved to the 40 gallon, I've only seen one baby, not sure what happened there. But in my 120 gallon, I never even noticed a female with eggs, but now I got little babies all over.

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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by Mustafa »

iturnrocks wrote: I never even noticed a female with eggs, but now I got little babies all over.
The females are very good at hiding when they become ovigerous. Most of the time they won't even come out to eat.
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by Gouzboy »

Nice!!! What is this kind??
iturnrocks
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by iturnrocks »

I'm not sure of the species, I picked them up from a roadside ditch in Reno county, Kansas. I'm on my 2nd litter now, and most of the new babies are about 1.5 inches long. I've been slowly transferring them to my turtle tank so it doesn't get too overcrowded. My big male died a few months ago shortly after these recent batch hatched, but there is a new male who has taken over his territory.
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by Mustafa »

Interesting...so they are still around and breeding. How warm/cold do you keep them? How aggressive are they toward each other? How about the babies, are they aggressive right from the start?
iturnrocks
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by iturnrocks »

I think the key to keeping large numbers of crayfish is to have a very large area, preferably with some depth, lots of hiding places/things to climb on to get away from each other. From the time they are very small, they don't seem to like touching each other. And of course they will fight over food. I assume they all have distinct personalities, because it is not always the largest one, or the one with the largest claws that wins. I have one large crayfish that hasn't had front claws for over 2 years that is still alive in the tank with all the others. He lost his claws during a stint in my turtle tank. Also, not having predators in the tank helps them to get along. Territorial disputes are not as serious when taking over the best hiding spot is crucial to survival. In my 120 gallon tank with the crayfish, the only fish in the tank are mosquitofish. As for temperature, I don't do anything special, aside from keeping a lid on the tank to reduce evaporation, and I have a 30" fluorescent bulb that provides a little light to one half of the tank for 14 hours a day. Having an airstone in the tank is another good idea, although after my last one got clogged, I haven't had one in there for a while. I do have a power filter that runs all the time on that tank that helps to oxygenate the water. If you really want to get creative with crayfish or crabs, I doubt shrimp would enjoy it as much, you can create an underwater air cave. Invert a sturdy container in the tank, and hold it down with a large rock or something. Make sure there are gaps around the bottom so that creatures can get in or out. Then run an airline under the container, and as it fills up with air, it will push the water out. I have done it with crayfish and fiddler crabs. They seem to enjoy getting out the water occasionally, and this way they can do it without worrying about escaping from the tank.

I may have to try setting one up in my 120 gallon, if I do, I will post photos once they start using it.
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by Mustafa »

Just thought I'd share some identification news with you. After doing a little bit of research, I am reasonably certain that you have Procambarus acutus. Keep the updates coming.
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Re: My first crayfish breeding

Post by Monica »

iturnrocks wrote:These are a couple of wild crayfish I picked up in a roadside ditch in central Kansas. In the past, whenever I had multiple crayfish in a tank, they would eat each other and I always ended up with just 1. This is the first time I've kept them in a 120 gallon tank with no predators, so perhaps having enough hides and enough room to avoid each other paid off. When I first saw them mating I wasn't sure if they were fighting since the male has huge claws and the female didn't seem to be moving, but about an hour later they were separated and she was still alive. Just yesterday I noticed she has eggs now.
They eat each other because you don't give them enough food, cannibalism happens in shrimp cultures too for the same reason.
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