The Puffer Forum

I've had my 5g breeder going for about a week now. I'm sure the crayfish aren't breeding yet, but i was wondering what some signs are that indicates breeding? In the tank i'm also breeding larger snails. Feeding with omnivore algae wafers and some pieces of lettuce. Any tips on breeding crays?

I can tell you that your not going to be breeding snails in there, the crays will eat the all the eggs.

I know with my Marbled Crays the underside of the tail will be full of black eggs, and they hide and dont come out

I'm not sure if my crays were actually identified when i first posted pics of them. Here's some more pics.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g224/ ... sh2023.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g224/ ... sh2021.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g224/ ... sh2020.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g224/ ... sh2011.jpg

not sure what type they are

They look like marbled crays, but I can't be certain...

From my excperience a 5 gallon is not enough for these crays. They will compete for space too much. I tried and failed breeding them in a 5 gallon. In a 20 gallon they had more success, but not like I've had with them in a 55 gallon. They get pretty big when they have more space. Once they're berried (eggs will form under their bellies), they will go into hiding for a few weeks until the eggs turn into living replicas of their parent. They hang off their parent for another week or so and then are out on their own.

I started my 55 gallon with 6 crays about half an inch long (about 1 year ago) and now have hundreds of them in the tank. The biggest ones easily reach 3-4 inches. Great food my Fahaka and Ceylon!!

I feed them:

Pellets - Catfish & Cichlid
Algae wafers
potato
cucumber

These are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I can't help on the breeding, but as far as the dry foods go, read this: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=28251&p=305412&hili ... in#p305412

I got rid of all but the 2 tan crays from the breeder tank. I know that's still waaay small to breed in long term, but i'm seeing how this pans out. There's a good 2 inches of sand/small gravel substrate and loads of places to hide under. These crays look almost the same as the 'Red lobster" that they sell on Liveaquaria except they have red tips on their claws. Here's a link for quick reference.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod ... catid=1872

Ps, i personally didn't get rid of the crays. Smudge and the cleanup crew did that. =P

As of this morning one of the crayfish has molted and one has taken up permanent residence under one of the rocks. (Doesn't come out anymore when i feed them) Possible sign of baby crays on the way?

xvCODY wrote:As of this morning one of the crayfish has molted and one has taken up permanent residence under one of the rocks. (Doesn't come out anymore when i feed them) Possible sign of baby crays on the way?

Sounds to me like the one that's hiding could be berried! Mine won't come out of hiding for a good 2 weeks when they've berried.