Penycat
Full Member
Angels, Guppies & Bettas
Posts: 104
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Post by Penycat on Jan 6, 2009 7:04:52 GMT -5
Yesterday I was surfing through the torpical fish section of ebay (never EVER a good idea for me...lol) and came across a guy selling baby electric blue crayfish. He said in his blurb about them that they are great for ponds for keeping the bottom clean. I've heard about them doing so in tanks, but was wondering how well they'd do in a pond? my little deck pond is still set up and going strong, though now it's dwellers are 5 comet goldfish all of which were bought at an inch or so long, all of which now are 3-4 inches. There's live plants (frog bit and the like) and in the winter, I've got a tank heater in it, jsut to keep it from freezing over. So, would that work for a cray? Or would he want to eat my goldies?
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Post by Carl on Jan 6, 2009 10:03:08 GMT -5
My experience with Crayfish with Goldfish has been that Crayfish are opportunists that will "snag" an unsuspecting goldfish that is weak or rests on the bottom. Not as often a problem with Comets (much more so with Fancies), but it still has been a problem for me.
Obviously the larger the container, pond, aquarium, the lower the likelihood, but this is what Crayfish do; scavenge for opportunities.
Carl
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Post by murdock6701 on Jan 6, 2009 10:40:15 GMT -5
do they eat snails?
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Post by Carl on Jan 6, 2009 14:19:56 GMT -5
I do not know Carl
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Post by kagome on Jan 6, 2009 23:27:45 GMT -5
I don't think it would be a good idea to put crayfish in your pond for two reasons. One, crayfish will spear unsuspecting fish and have them for dinner. My husband used to have a crayfish in his tank and one day after months of everyone living peacefully he watched in horror as his crayfish speared his big beautiful black Sinodontus catfish right behind the gills and then proceeded to eat him. I have heard of other people having similar problems with crayfish eating tank mates. The other fish have to be much larger than the crayfish. Two, crayfish have a tendency to get out of the water and go exploring, even to the point that they dry out and die. They have even been known to climb out through gaps aquarium tank lids and escape completely. I would think that they would pretty easily escape from the pond on your deck.
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Post by murdock6701 on Jan 7, 2009 15:09:37 GMT -5
very good point K, but at that size they'd be real good w/ melted butter.....
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Post by goldenpuon on Jan 7, 2009 18:06:07 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't know they could climb. Sounds like I need to get to knwo crayfish a little better. Nonetheless, it doesn't sound like a good idea to put them with the goldfish. I'm sure there's something else you put in your pond that will be ok though.
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ctendoh
Junior Member
Filling my room with water, one tank at a time...
Posts: 39
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Post by ctendoh on Jan 19, 2009 23:45:52 GMT -5
I've only had 1 crayfish, and certain members of the household are still unaware that it was finally found... six months after the fact. He was living happily in a 10 gallon tank on my desk, he even molted for me once which was AMAZING to watch, but then one day, he spied a hole, and quick as a flash, while we all slept quietly in our beds, he climbed out for a night on the town (which would turn into what I'm sadly sure was a slow and somewhat painful death.) We found him dried out a good hundred feet from where he had started, down a small staircase, and under my dad's gun belt. Mom still doesn't know we found him, mainly because dad keeps his gun stuff in the same room as mom's quilting stuff... whoops.
I put him in with several minnows and rainbow darters from the stream where I caught him, and within a week or two I was down to half the number. Never saw him in the act, but there was never any evidence after the fact because he cleaned up well. These minnows were fast and swimming high, mind you, so I really don't think goldfish would stand much of a chance.
If it were me, I wouldn't go through with it, after all, it's just spending money on something that's sure to escape and then get you in a whole world of trouble with the DEC when it starts to become an invasive species in your area :/. But if you think you can get the right precautions in place, feel free.
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