My Crayfish Attacked And Almost Killed My Fish!

[Amina]

omg okay, first of all ive been on vacation this past week. I returned home yesterday evening. My aquarium has to angelfish a pleco and a crayfish....(they were being fed while i was away) Well I went to feed them last night, and first i dropped in an algae disc for the crayfish because he loooves those....and my angelfish were nibbling on the disc and it sank down to the bottom. well it made smeagle(the crayfish) mad, and he attacked one of them. he didnt let go i had to stick my hand in the tnak and pull him off. he was trying to drag her in to the little cave in the back and eat her!!!! I immediatley started setting up one of my spare tanks for the little monster....now hes in a 15 gallon all my himself lol. My angelfish is okay shes been very pale since last night. I guess i would to if i had a near death expierience like that. I put some medicine in to help heal her damged fins and reduce the chances of ich. ya know all that good stuff.


Also Do crayfish molt like spiders? when i left he was only like one inch long...now hes about 2 inches with really big claws!! HE GOT SOOOO BIIIIGGGGG!!!! im almost wondering if it died and the person taking care of it went out and bought a new one. thats how much of a difference it is...omg....and catching that evil thing to go in the new tank....EVVILLLL! I have a new video of him too. Its funny because i was literaly turning on my camera to film him eat (cuz its vvery interesting) when he attacked...and its not like im gonna just sit there and film it..i had to save my fishy!!

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Yeah, most crayfish/lobsters are predatory critters, they will shed their exoskeletons as they grow too, there's probably an old crayfish skin lying around somewhere in the tank if you look carefully.

Some people can get crayfish/lobsters to work in community tanks, however i never personally recommend it as such critters are completely controlled by their instincts and so you can never fully suppress the predatory side of such a critters nature, there is always some degree of risk to the fish when keeping lobsters/crayfish in community tanks.

 

[syntax_error]

Some people can get crayfish/lobsters to work in community tanks, however i never personally recommend it as such critters are completely controlled by their instincts and so you can never fully suppress the predatory side of such a critters nature, there is always some degree of risk to the fish when keeping lobsters/crayfish in community tanks.

What if it was housed with fish larger than itself? Would that work? Or will it still try to pinch them?

and catching that evil thing to go in the new tank....EVVILLLL!

It's not evil. It's just doing what it's built to do to survive. Hey did you post a vid on this fellow? The one where he snitches an algea wafer from a plec and goes inside his cave? Oh ya, this is the one. It had another name ealier then you renamed it to smeagle haha. That name suites, I like it. BTW how is he doing now?

 

[Amina]

lol yes thta was the video of him when he was smaller.....u havnt seen him now...hes HUGGGE!

So what can go with crayfish? hes all by himself in a 15 gallon. I thought about filling it with large rock to make lots of little hiding places and maybe getting a couple more. But I know they'll fight eachother. dunno what to do with him now >.<

 

[Amina]

Im reformatting the videos right now so I can upload them to the web. I still cant believe how big he got.....

 

[Amina]

So What can I put with a crayfish? (keep in mind its a 15 gallon) So I cant put any BIG fish in there...but I cant put small ones in either seeing as he would eat them!

 

[jayjay]

Leave it in there on it's own. Saves wasting money of things that it will kill or will outgrow the tank.

What species is it?

 

[divisible by zero]

my friend has 2 guppies in his, they reproduce enough where he doesn't need to feed the tank at all.

 

[syntax_error]

Leave it in there on it's own. Saves wasting money of things that it will kill or will outgrow the tank.

Ya I agree with jayjay. Make it smeagles own little greedy world.

 

[Amina]

haha okay. He's a fiesty lil guy. When u walk by the tank he runs outa his little cave and tries to attack u through the glass lol. He remembers when its feedig time too so when I bring out the bag of algae disc and shake it in front of him he goes beserk waiting for me to drop one on lol. Hes really smart, its really cool. He also chases your finger along the glass. I thought about maybe getting some feeder fish for him since he soo wants to kill lol. u think i should?

 

[ac106]

haha okay. He's a fiesty lil guy. When u walk by the tank he runs outa his little cave and tries to attack u through the glass lol. He remembers when its feedig time too so when I bring out the bag of algae disc and shake it in front of him he goes beserk waiting for me to drop one on lol. Hes really smart, its really cool. He also chases your finger along the glass. I thought about maybe getting some feeder fish for him since he soo wants to kill lol. u think i should?

I wouldn't. Aside from moral issues, they are loaded with disease and unhealthy for crayfish over the long term. Continue with Algae wafers or carnivore pellets. I read once that you should not feed shrimp as they are susceptible to the same diseases but i am unsure how high the risk is.

 

[jasonskillz]

i had 2 of those before, they never had the chance to show that side of them. my gourami got curious and tore them in half

and since he doesnt really like meat too much, he didnt eat them.

 

[raptorrex]

So What can I put with a crayfish? (keep in mind its a 15 gallon) So I cant put any BIG fish in there...but I cant put small ones in either seeing as he would eat them!

the answer is nothing, the tank is a bit too small for 1 cray and a community too. you dont mention what type of cray you have. if it is a North American breed, there is little chance of any successes with a community tank. the NA crays are said to be more aggressive than their Australian counterparts.

 

[T1KARMANN]

this is why its not safe to keep crayfish lobsters crabs or turtles with fish

 

[raptorrex]

this is why its not safe to keep crayfish lobsters crabs or turtles with fish

lol i would prefere to say. "often unsafe". eg the Mexican dwarf cray, does make a fine and safe, addition to a community. though not in the UK.