Crayfish fever
 

Recently hit by the crayfish fever. Here some of my collection....Do share your collection too....:)
Procambarus Clarkii Ghost

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps3wlfn6bp.jpg


Cherax Blue pearl
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...psxw7tttrd.jpg

Procambarus Hirsutus

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...pshii61a7x.jpg

Cherax sp Snowden
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...psucvk0fsc.jpg

Cherax blue moon
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...psush5i7rv.jpg

I have some common species like diff color kind of clarkii too......:)

https://scontent-nrt1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...09&oe=58159FB8

a small P. clarkii "ghost"
2nd day in tank

A young fellow tat will bloom into a beautiful fellow soon. A male or female?

this is the girl.
her bf just molted, shy from photo.

Nice! Where do you get the clarkii ghost?

molt equal closer to adulthood closer to adulthood equal to making baby soon....:D:D

a few fish shops are selling.
I understand that someone already bred them in Singapore, but babies are still small now.

Ya i saw someone posting in fb group. Actually I'm searching for babies one. Those i saw in shops are mostly adults.

Are those almond leaves?

Yes... They will eat them.:)

My ghosts getting familiar with the new tank. Out to explore the tank.

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...23&oe=58257625
Exploring the stack.

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...29237369_o.jpg
Boy checking out the rooms.

https://scontent-sit4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...62&oe=5821B499
Girl on top!

So many variants! interesting :D

Yup, helps to lower the pH and buffers the water.

Bro Dave u got a very nice pair of ghost!!!:)

The ghost is it expensive? I saw some white and red coloured cray at Y618 and it is priced 3 digits.

most crayfish are good with water pH in the neutral range. 7+/-

thanks. P. clarkii "ghosts" are vert easy to like for their colors and active lifestyle.
yes, for now, its about 2 to 3 blue notes, depending on size.
but, many are breeding them. so price should be coming down.
i am also expecting more color variants for P. clarkii in the near future. there's red, orange, blue, white, baby blue, ghost, clear ghost orange, clear ghost blue now.
with more breeding of different color combinations, more color morphs should be popping up soon.

Oh so these ghost are basically hybrids, are there albino crays as well?

no, not hybrids.

They are Procambarus clarkii.

They are actually the very popular 小龙虾 (little lobsters) served on dinning tables in China

Just line bred for their attractive colors.

In the original form, they are dark red in color.

Then hobbyists line bred them into the different colors.

Just like many domesticated fishes & animals in the hobby, eg, guppies, betta, mollies, shrimps, etc...

Oh like the cherry shrimps can breed out blue, brown and black. So far I have not seen any albino shrimps yet.

Show 1 of my orange ghost.....:)

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/l...ps3cbumq4r.jpg

Thanks for sharing the pictures.

I plan to keep crayfish in my now spare tank after the demise of my RTG. What's the lifespan of these crayfish?

about 3 years I read.

Would such crayfish do well in a 4ft planted tank (non chilled) with shrimps and fishes? I mean, would they be able to get food, since shrimps will also fight for it?

These current colorful crayfishes are too costly to try unless I'm more confident.

I'm afraid your fish and shrimps might become crayfish food...

Maybe. But they will also know how to dart from crayfash, esp dwarf crayfish.

Actuali I have a few cherry shrimp to test out keeping with the cray in a 1ft tanks so far ok. I kept endler guppy with all my crayfish too all surviving and breeding too. ;)

Yep, I don't think shrimps and fishes will end up being dinner to crayfish unless they are sick and weak to escape. Else natural instinct is to run away when they sense danger.

I am more concern if the crayfish can survive since they are slower, as there are quite a bit of shrimps in my tank, that will fight for food faster than crayfish. Given the price tag, i can't bear to splurge if i'm not so confident of them being able to survive.

Last I kept was CPO. In 2ft tank, i saw them fighting so often. Thus I thought a 4ft planted may be more suitable.

Some will still end up in the crayfish's stomach, especially at night. I know this because I used to keep my afr guppies with them. But if the tub is big, the guppies reproduction will more than make up for the losses. It is like survival of the fittest. However, you may end up with some of your prized guppies with torn fins sometimes so make sure your best guppies go to a separate tank. That should do it.

Crayfish dont need chiller, our local water temperature is ok.

Crayfish in planted is not very ideal as there's complains of crays pulling out plants to munch.

Crays with shrimps seem ok. I've seen pictures of crays with Cherry shrimps.

Crays with guppies may end up the crays eating guppies.

You can try out with the common ones which cost much less, they're just as fun to watch.

There's 3 types of common crayfish encountered in Singapore's LFS.
1) Redclaw crayfish, Cherax quadricarinatus. From Australia. This gets bigger and are well know to tear up planted tanks.
Identify by the red on the craws. Blue body with red tips on their craw. Quick identification is by the shape of their craws. Cherax got rounder craws and Procambarus got long sharp craws.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherax_quadricarinatus
http://www.aquagreen.com.au/images/C...rinatus_01.jpg

2) Red swamp crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. From North America. This is actually the "little lobsters, 小龙虾“ served in restaurants in China/ Chinese restaurants. They're smaller in size compared to the australian red claws. They do get aggressive with one another and bigger ones will eat smaller ones. Provide ample hiding caves if you want to keep a community. The more expensive "ghost" are also P. clarkii line bred for their unique colors. The easiest way to identify them is by bumps/pimples/spikes on their craws. The red-brownish color is the original wild color. There's also blue, orange and white which are still pretty affordable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procambarus_clarkii
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...larkii_top.jpg

3) Blue crayfish, Procambarus alleni. From North America too. They looked very similar to P. clarkii. But, with "camo" pattern on their shell. They also lack the bumps on their craws. Size and aggressiveness should be similar to P. clarkii. Identify by the camo patterns and smooth craws. Wild color is blue to bluish-brown. They were also bred to different color strains. But, I've only saw blue ones on sale locally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_crayfish
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...18cc972af2.jpg

There are also many other more exotic types which are not commonly found in LFS.

The redclaw is so common it is now part of yabby fishing.

YouTube Video

In 2015, there was a a report on newly described crayfish. According to the report, the wild population already in decline due to aquarium.

I wonder if it has been imported into Singapore?

Research Article published on ZooKeys by Christian Lukhaup

"Cherax (Astaconephrops) pulcher, a new species of freshwater crayfish (Crustacea, Decapoda, Parastacidae) from the Kepala Burung (Vogelkop) Peninsula, Irian Jaya (West Papua), Indonesia"

https://i.pstorage.space/i/RgOQkXxXy/large_oo_43003.jpg

https://i.pstorage.space/i/OR5AkV3Vk...ter-space1.jpg

Dropped by Y618 yesterday after work. My first trip after hearing abt the shop from many bros on AF over years.

Saw dwarf crayfish (labeled as dwarf lobster) about 1 to 2cm each on display on the shelf beside counter. Tempted to get it. But decided to do some research, reading up on AF first.

After reading old threads, it seems the price has dropped over the years. Used to be much expensive. (Now at $6 each for those wondering). Read that it's friendly to fishes, shrimps and wouldn't uproot the plants.

Any bros still keeping dwarf crayfish (or breeders with excess to let go? :D) Care to share experience? Need chiller? Some bros mentioned keeping them in chilled tank 25 to 26C.

I think they are referred to as CPO here.

Yes, CPO... there are the orange and light brown versions (both are common). I could consider these since they are less aggressive towards plants and shrimps. Only concern is feeding,
- If they can get ample food since they are slower than shrimps.
- What about 'starving' period (when i go on vacation)?

I had CPOs before and they breed. Made a mistake of keeping them in breeding container, and ended up losing them one after another.

where to get nice crayfish other than those common types?

is the tank bare base or soil base, or what is suitable?

Crayfishs need minerals to grow new shell for molting.
If they dont get enough minerals, they'll have difficulty molting and will die.

Some keepers are dosing minerals for their crayfish. I've seen someone used the minerals for rift lake cichlids, but dosage was lower than those for rift lake cichlids.

I also read somewhere that there's a requirement for GH for crayfish. but cant find the required numbers.

Looks like it is not a easy keeping.

Anyone can provide a Keeping ABC Guide on this?

same like shrimp but easier.. :D:D