Crayfish tankmates

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phillydog1958

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
i have seen some people on this site housing crayfish with larger fish. i'm considering adding a blue to my 125 gal with two 4 inch oscars, one arowana of 6 inches a pleco of about 8 inches and one senegal bichir of about 6 inches. is it safe for the crayfish? i have to assume that some large predatory fish might attempt to eat a crayfish. your thoughts are appreciated.
 
The bichir will eat the crayfish, either by pulling it apart or waiting for it to molt. The Oscars will readily enjoy the crayfish as a snack when it molts or when they are larger. Don't know what would occur with the Aro. And a "blue" is generally Procambarus alleni, which is likely to attack and injure the pleco at some point, as this is a very fish aggressive (actively hunts) species of crayfish.

Edit: An adult Cherax quad may be a better idea, due to it's size and temperament. But overall, I wouldn't recommend adding any crayfish to that particular tank with those types of fish.
 
That's a disaster waiting to happen...
 
black_sun;3391840; said:
The bichir will eat the crayfish, either by pulling it apart or waiting for it to molt. The Oscars will readily enjoy the crayfish as a snack when it molts or when they are larger. Don't know what would occur with the Aro. And a "blue" is generally Procambarus alleni, which is likely to attack and injure the pleco at some point, as this is a very fish aggressive (actively hunts) species of crayfish.

Edit: An adult Cherax quad may be a better idea, due to it's size and temperament. But overall, I wouldn't recommend adding any crayfish to that particular tank with those types of fish.


i'm not going to add any crawfish to this tank. your advice helped in a big way.
 
phillydog1958;3394252; said:
i'm not going to add any crawfish to this tank. your advice helped in a big way.

For a regular "blue", you could set-up a basic 10gal tank, and it would be fine. They're a really neat pet to have, just best kept alone.
 
belle_foudre;3403837; said:
Not to steal the OP's thread but could any type of cray be kept in a oscar tank with enough hidding places? Would the cray hide from the o or would it just be an expencive snack?

I would say that the cray would eventually become a snack. It would only be a matter of time.
 
phillydog1958;3391382; said:
i have seen some people on this site housing crayfish with larger fish. i'm considering adding a blue to my 125 gal with two 4 inch oscars, one arowana of 6 inches a pleco of about 8 inches and one senegal bichir of about 6 inches. is it safe for the crayfish? i have to assume that some large predatory fish might attempt to eat a crayfish. your thoughts are appreciated.

alot of the tanks with preditors and crayfish the crays are ment to be a food sorce....the ones that dont get eatten right away clean up leftovers till they get eatten...my 6 crays havent been eatten in my tank but they will at some point...stock list 15" aro, 10" gar, 10" jd, 3 5" tsns, 9 sunfish...sunfish are food also
 
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