crayfish with cichlids

[JeffLeMay]

hi all,
I have a large tank which currently holds a fairly calm red devil, about 10 inches, a six inch dwarf belly crawler pike, and a six inch or so common pleco. could i potentially add a crayfish to the mix? my red devil doesn't harass the other fish too much, and will not eat live prety except for night crawlers, and i don't think the pike is big enough to do any damage...worth trying? just trying to add some excitement to the tank. also, if i do decide to get one, what kind of water parameters, diet, etc do they need to do well, assuming the tankmates don't attack it. thanks in advance for any help

 

[---XR---]

hi all,
I have a large tank which currently holds a fairly calm red devil, about 10 inches, a six inch dwarf belly crawler pike, and a six inch or so common pleco. could i potentially add a crayfish to the mix? my red devil doesn't harass the other fish too much, and will not eat live prety except for night crawlers, and i don't think the pike is big enough to do any damage...worth trying? just trying to add some excitement to the tank

i personally wouldn't do it, they can potentailly cause harm to your fish, so it wouldn't try it. but you can try it if you want to.

 

[RedDevilDon2005]

i thought the same with my RD. i put a 5 inch in with him when he was 5 inches, bye bye craw dad, looked like a good snack for him. i wouldnt recomend it. the pike will most likely be harrased.

 

[CichlidAddict]

My money's on the crayfish being a snack for the RD.

 

[señor_pescados_felices]

if it makes it the first night it wont make it past first molt.

 

[JeffLeMay]

thanks guys, guess it's a no go...the pike is pretty badass for his size, i'd probably be more worried for the cray than him..no sense in wasting the money to see a nice animal killed...guess i'll stick with the snails, unless you guys have any suggestions?

 

[OscarRobinson]

Can't speak for all cichlids but my Os can devour 10 in about an hour. And I'm talkin some big crayfish. Not to mention like one of the previous posts they can potentionaly harm your fish. Shame too because they make a great clean up crew.

 

[chico3611]

I had a tank where no cichlid was over 3", dropped a cray fish in <<< it didnt even make it down to the gravel ! There was a RD in the tank but I cant recall who the two culprets where.

 

[carolinafishkeeper]

it would be O.K to add the crayfish, but he will be a meal for someone before the end of the week if not eaten within the first minute.