I’ve posted on two Yahoo groups dealing specifically with this subject and haven’t gotten a reply, and have visited several sites for info, but there wasn’t enough detail for my situation. I’m hoping a doper out there can help me out. We have a blue crayfish in a 40-gal. tank with 5 large cichlids. The crayfish has a cluster of eggs under her tail (after hiding for three days). We’ve had her for about two months and she was in with other crayfish, so the eggs may be fertilized. Then again, they may NOT be fertilized. Should we just leave her be and let nature take its course? Or move her into a small tank by herself? If eggs are fertilized, when may we expect the fry, and won’t the cichlids eat them? If we move her out and the fry survive, which the heck do we do with them? (Hubby says use them as “feeder fish.”) If not fertilized, how would we know? Will she eventually figure it out for herself and do something about it, or should WE do something? She’s been in hiding for four days now and I don’t think she’s eaten. Is that a concern, or should I try to get some food to her (tricky, what with the cichlids ready to devour anything). We want to do the right thing by her, but that may mean just leaving her alone and letting nature take its course.
I can’t really offer any detailed advice but here’s my experience with crayfish babies:
I have a 75gal tank for my water turtles. At one point I had the bright idea of adding a couple of crayfish to help keep it clean. The did a great job until I noticed little white bug like things all over the bottom of the tank which turned out to be baby crayfish. There must have been hundreds of the little buggers.
So if they can survive in a tank with four always hungy turtles (including Jr. who will eat ANYTHING he get catch*, and he’s amazingly fast) then you might have a chance.
One thing though, whatever you do with mommy, be sure to put something over the intake of the filter to stop them getting sucked up. I had at least 30 of them in mine, and that’s the ones that survived in the filter.
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- Jr. has become a bit of a pain actually. He leaves the other turtles alone but will eat anything else I put in there. Plants are out of the question and fish of any size and speed will be gone within a day. He even killed and ate one of the one adult crayfish which was bigger then him and had a mean temper (the other turtles, all bigger then it, were afraid of it).
I’d probably go with separating the crayfish and then putting her back after the babies appear, leaving the little ones in their own tank. Mom might decide to munch on 'em. Do keep trying to feed her.
If you got Mom from a petstore, maybe they can put you in contact with the original breeder, unless they bred her themselves. They, or the breeder, might be willing to take the babies off your hands or at least offer some advice.
I’d try feeding the babies on something like a flake fish food. My adult crayfish used to like bloodworms.
If she was wildcaught, try to feed up the babies until spring, then let 'em go where you got Mom.
Good luck!