baby crawfish

[blacklabel]

i have a 40 tall (38) with nothing but a small common pleco, an otocinclus, and a crawfish. i was planning to turn it into a planted community but never got around to the other fish. anyway ive had the tank running and livestock for a few months now and i noticed the crawfish stopped coming out of his nook ever. it used to but then it shed its shell once, and after that i never saw it leave.

anyway today i go to drop him a pellet and to my suprise there are 30-50 little tiny guys in there. i dropped a pellet in and they went to town on it lol.

anyway my question is just for general info/link on raising them. also how do they breed? there is only one in there and its been alone for over 3 months. anyway will the mother eat the babies eventually? what should i do for them if anything. thanks.

 

[blacklabel]

wow, good thing i posted this to the deadest, most boring board ever.

 

[blacklabel]

if you want my opinion you should remove the big one in 3 days.

 

[blacklabel]

ok thanks. ill throw it in the 125 with the pygos if the babies dont need it anymore..

 

[Otolith]

.... I've never raised invertebrates but its a pretty safe assumption an adult one might snack on the juveniles. As for the breeding, likely she was carrying fertilized eggs when you purchased her. They have external fertilization and the female protects the eggs on the underside of her body until they hatch. Hopefully someone else with experience can provide more insight.

 

[E36 328i]

Crayfish care for their young for a short period of time if I remember right.. I do know the young are highly cannibalistic (as with almost any crustacean).

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Berg_Breeding_Crayfish.html This article may help a little.

As for the breeding, she may have already been carrying the berried eggs. Where did you get your crayfish? There's actually an asexual variety that can breed on its own. It's called the Marbled Crayfish (see http://www.marbledcrayfish.com/ ).

 

[blacklabel]

Crayfish care for their young for a short period of time if I remember right.. I do know the young are highly cannibalistic (as with almost any crustacean).

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Berg_Breeding_Crayfish.html This article may help a little.

As for the breeding, she may have already been carrying the berried eggs. Where did you get your crayfish? There's actually an asexual variety that can breed on its own. It's called the Marbled Crayfish (see http://www.marbledcrayfish.com/ ).

thanks very much your links were very helpful. im almost positive its a marble as it meetes the physical characteristics and when i thought about it more in depth, ive actually had it closer to 6 months by itself.

anyway it hasnt started eating the young so far as i can tell and they are spreading around the tank on their own. ive been dropping in shrimp pellets and algae wafers and they are going through them at an astounding rate.

it was interesting to see the mother when i dropped in the food for the first time. she goes to pick it up, then brings it up as if shes going to eat it, but in stead chops it up at 500mph and spits it out just like a wood chipper all over the place. the the little guys go and feed on the little bits. really cool to see.

anyway, thanks a lot for the links. i really appreciate it! they were a big help!





edit: heres a pic i took earlier the other day. i can already tell they are bigger now and this was before they started going off on their own! sorry its so big....but at least you can see the little bastards.