How to Raise Crawdad Babies

Crawdads, or crayfish, are a type of small lobster commonly found in freshwater environments. Crawdads can be raised for food or as pets in pools, fish tanks or any other freshwater container. Since crawdads are territorial, the number of fish you can raise at any one time will depend on the size of your container. Crawdads require little maintenance, and they can cohabit with larger freshwater fish such as freshwater bass and sunfish.

Things You'll Need

  • Freshwater container
  • Aquarium gravel
  • Aquarium plants
  • Aquarium rocks
  • Sponge filter
  • Clean freshwater
  • pH tester
  • Shrimp pellets or tropical fish food
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Instructions

    • 1

      Calculate the size of the container needed to house your crawdads. Since they are territorial animals, smaller species will require about 1 square foot of room each, while larger species may require up to 2 square feet each.

    • 2

      Fill the container with a few inches of aquarium gravel to allow the crawdads to burrow as they would in a lake or stream.

    • 3

      Place aquarium rocks, plants and decorations as dividers and territory markers into the container. Adding one such fixture for each crawdad will help them claim their land and live peacefully together.

    • 4

      Install sponge water filters into your pool to help keep the water clean. Consult the manufacturer specifications for your filters to determine how many will be needed for the number of fish and volume of water that you want to filter.

    • 5

      Fill the container until the water rises about 6 inches above the gravel line, and check that the water's pH is between 7.2 and 8.2. Then, adjust the pH as needed using pH chemicals sold at a local aquarium or pool store.

    • 6

      Place all of your crawdads into the pool at the same time. Introducing new crawdads after old ones have taken root in certain places in the pool may cause fighting over territory and the loss of crawdads.

    • 7

      Feed the crawdads at night by sprinkling a bit of food over each crawdad's territory to avoid conflict. Check the pH and water conditions every few days to ensure that the climate is livable for your crawdads.