Suitable Tankmates For Crayfish?

[Spishkey]

i have three australian red clawed crayfish in a large aquarium and it looks terribly empty! i need some suggestions for fishy tank mates. they were previously in with oscars and large catfish but these have now been moved...

 

[raptorrex]

i have three australian red clawed crayfish in a large aquarium and it looks terribly empty! i need some suggestions for fishy tank mates. they were previously in with oscars and large catfish but these have now been moved...

depends very much on the disposition of your Crays! what size is the tank?
I kept mine in my community tank, with no problems. others find their cray "seem" to attack and eat fish. go figure!

 

[Spishkey]

my largest male isnt very friendly but is a bit too slow to catch fish, the younger 2 are too small to catch much! the tank is 200Lish

 

[DarkEntity]

Nothing imo.

Get rid of the Crayfish and get some real fish

 

[raptorrex]

Nothing imo.

Get rid of the Crayfish and get some real fish

or you could forget the fish. and keep something far more interesting to watch. the Crayfish.

its really down to what you want from a tank.

its probably best to say no stock is safe with cray. this is not to say people can't/don't keep the two together. and with on "reported" problems either. its that there is simply no way of knowing if it will work. putting a Mature cray in with a mature, none aggressive, community is probably the best bet. Redclaw Cray can handle up to 6ppm salt, so they can fit into a brackish set-up too. I know of one keeper who has a Brackish stonefish in with several Redclaw's, on of which was a massive 900g specimen. lol its an interesting idea. but for 90% of the time the stonefish looks like a pile of something on the substrate, as it is not the most active fish.

 

[Colin_T]

archerfish and African butterflyfish. Both are true surface dwellers and as long as the crayfish can't climb up to the top of the tank and jump on them, they should be fine.

 

[TylerFerretLord]

If you really feel like you need to have fish with them, get something cheap that reproduces easily. Feeder guppies are good for this.

 

[Ficious]

yea i dont know what i would do. if anything i would get some large cichlids. i know you moved an oscar already but i deff wouldn have him with community fish! you could have 2 or 3 puffers in there. i think that would be pretty sweet...as you guys were talking about brackish water. good luck though

 

[Davo86]

If you really feel like you need to have fish with them, get something cheap that reproduces easily. Feeder guppies are good for this.

a shoal of 7 large Giant Danios should be ok, mine tend to stick to the upper levels of the tank.

 

[raptorrex]

as Crayfish are not hunters, they are not even carnivores, discussions about the position of the fish in the tank are mute. they only way it will work is if the Crayfish is comfortable/safe. unless taught/forced, cray only eat the dead and dying in your tank. mine grew to 6 inches, nose to tail add 3 inches for the claws. lived in a well stocked tank with, cory, common pleco, banjo catfish, feather fin synos, usd cat, and crabs. yet not one fish or crab was taken. though, when i first started with cray, i visited a tank where a 2 and 1/2 inch cray had dismembered a 8+ inch common pleco.

 

[Spishkey]

well ive made a start on redesigning the tank they will be going in, lots and lots of rock caves and hiding places

personally i dont want fish in there, but as the tank is in the childrens room, they want fish too! (some kids are never happy!)

i have plenty of guppys/platys/mollys may try a few in, but ive just seen a group of reuze danios (?) for sale, im guessing thats what they call giant danios here! the guy wants €15 for 6, i dont know if thats a good price or not?

 

[raptorrex]

well ive made a start on redesigning the tank they will be going in, lots and lots of rock caves and hiding places

personally i dont want fish in there, but as the tank is in the childrens room, they want fish too! (some kids are never happy!)

i have plenty of guppys/platys/mollys may try a few in, but ive just seen a group of reuze danios (?) for sale, im guessing thats what they call giant danios here! the guy wants €15 for 6, i dont know if thats a good price or not?

i would honestly avoid fish. whilst they may make the tank look more "lived in", i'm unsure how your kids would react if they started seeing the Crayfish, munching on their fish! but the Danos, could well, fit the bill.

 

[Spishkey]

well ive made a start on redesigning the tank they will be going in, lots and lots of rock caves and hiding places

personally i dont want fish in there, but as the tank is in the childrens room, they want fish too! (some kids are never happy!)

i have plenty of guppys/platys/mollys may try a few in, but ive just seen a group of reuze danios (?) for sale, im guessing thats what they call giant danios here! the guy wants €15 for 6, i dont know if thats a good price or not?

i would honestly avoid fish. whilst they may make the tank look more "lived in", i'm unsure how your kids would react if they started seeing the Crayfish, munching on their fish! but the Danos, could well, fit the bill.

it wouldnt really bother them to be honest they found it fascinating when the red claws munched through our colony of marbled c's. they are old enough to understand 'it happens' in life.

if i get the danios i'll put them in, if not i'll just leave it to the crays!