so i have a brood consisting of 1 male and 4 females.. theyve been together a week now so this is probably premature but im wondering when and how to get them to breed. The water temp is at a constant 81 degrees and they are eating well with clean water. is it just a matter of time or is there somethign else i need to be doing? any experts have any suggestions
Cherax Quad breeding...
- Thread starter fatmatic
- Start date
Maybe none of the viewer feel xpert enough to answer ur question..i never had xperience keeping ur kind of fish nor breeding it..but bear in mind that as long as all parameter is fulfill and good feeding, they will do when nature call..wish u luck
Hard to answer with no pics or sizes provided. They may just be young. Redclaws usually reach sexual maturity at 9 months. Most specimens sold in lfs are 3-6 months old. Are you running the system alkaline? I keep my crays in around an 8.0 pH. What sort of diet have they been receiving?
ill get some pictures up when I am off work. They are all about 4-5 inches tail to claw at the moment. Thats just an estimate. Ive been feeding them a variety of peas, corn, carrots, and crayfish pellets (hikari crab cuisine.) They dont seem to like the carrots too much. I havent checked the pH of the water but i will certainly do that. I was also keeping the water temp around 81 F but i bumped it up a couple to 83 and they seem to be more active. Four out of the five just molted in the last 2 weeks or so, so maybe they ARE a bit too young..
Only the males have the red patches on the pincers. If your substrate is sand then they probably are still in the juvie stage. When measuring crays, measure from the tail to the tip of the rostrum (nose).
I highly recommend wrapping sponge filters with fiberglass or poly screen material in cray tanks. Your crays will soon start eating big chunks out of the filter sponge. I'd also add aragonite sand to your substrate. Aragonite will balance your system to a high pH and the slowly dissolving aragonite will provide calcium for your crays. Also, add a drop or two of regular medicine cabinet iodine to your tank every other month. Crays require iodine to facilitate their molts.
This is a fairly easy book on culturing red claws.It can usually be found for around $10. There are several other books which are more advanced and much more expensive but, this book will get the job done.
I highly recommend wrapping sponge filters with fiberglass or poly screen material in cray tanks. Your crays will soon start eating big chunks out of the filter sponge. I'd also add aragonite sand to your substrate. Aragonite will balance your system to a high pH and the slowly dissolving aragonite will provide calcium for your crays. Also, add a drop or two of regular medicine cabinet iodine to your tank every other month. Crays require iodine to facilitate their molts.
This is a fairly easy book on culturing red claws.It can usually be found for around $10. There are several other books which are more advanced and much more expensive but, this book will get the job done.
thanks for all the suggestions. i will definitely grab that book and sand and some iodine. what is poly screen material? is it the same sort of mesh material used for window screens? i have an entire roll of that lying around i could use. i have noticed that there are some chunks missing from the sponge already and that the crays love to dig around on it.
Can i expect the red claws to grow as big as on that book cover? that is insane Should i also change out the substrate when theyre older? i only chose sand bc it was cheap.
Can i expect the red claws to grow as big as on that book cover? that is insane Should i also change out the substrate when theyre older? i only chose sand bc it was cheap.
Yep, same stuff you use on windows so long as it's not metal or cheap plastic. Thicker polyethylene, PVC, and fiberglass screen will work fine. The crays are seeking the simple sugars excreted by bacteria breaking down organic matter. You can offer them other items to draw their attention away from the filters. A tied bundle of barley straw will attract them like kids to a candy store. They'll harvest the same sugars as they get from the filters as the straw is broken down by bacteria. Just tie the bundles with synthetic line since natural materials will also break down and the crays will eat the tie and loosen the bundle. Coconut shells, hair and all, will do the same thing. Just make sure there's no coconut meat left in the shell. The meat will overtax your system.
You can keep the sand. Just add some aragonite sand to it or replace a couple of cups worth if you don't want to thicken the substrate bed.
The book's cover pic is a dominant male between 2 and 3 years old. They'll live up to 5 years under optimum conditions. Expect your crays (males) to reach just over a foot long and up to 1.1 pounds in weight on average.
You can keep the sand. Just add some aragonite sand to it or replace a couple of cups worth if you don't want to thicken the substrate bed.
The book's cover pic is a dominant male between 2 and 3 years old. They'll live up to 5 years under optimum conditions. Expect your crays (males) to reach just over a foot long and up to 1.1 pounds in weight on average.