Care Requirements for a Blue Crayfish

If you are considering adding blue crayfish or any crayfish to your aquarium, you must assure that your aquarium has the right environment for the crustaceans, or the creatures won't survive. Your tank should be 10 to 15 gallons in size for one crayfish. Keep in mind that crayfish are territorial and they will kill any other crayfish that venture into their space. Crayfish are aggressive and will nip the fins of fish in the tank.

  1. Blue

    • A blue crayfish is different from any other crayfish only in color. The blue color is the result of a genetic mutation similar to that which makes someone an albino. Unfortunately for the blue crayfish, its color makes it vulnerable to predators. The blueness varies depending on what geographic area the crayfish is from. Crayfish don't get their color until they reach maturity; until then they are gray.

    Water

    • When putting a blue crayfish into an aquarium, ensure the water temperature is between 12 and 22 degrees Centigrade, although they can live in water that is an ordinary room temperature. Oddly, crayfish live in warm water in nature but they like their water to be cooler when in an aquarium.The water in your aquarium has to be well-aerated and clean. The water should be soft rather than hard, because that is the preference of crayfish. The water should be on the acidic side rather than alkaline.

    Feeding

    • Crayfish will eat just about anything, including dead fish. They are bottom feeders. You can give them aquarium plants or vegetables as well as special tablets such as catfish tablets that are designed for bottom-dwellers.

    Aquarium Interior

    • Place grain gravel or sand as the substrate in your tank, because crayfish enjoy digging and burrowing. Crayfish like to rearrange things, so the interior of the aquarium may look different every day. Crayfish like to hide, so make sure there are hiding places in the aquarium. Your crayfish will probably hide most of the day, although they do come out to eat. These crustaceans like to build valleys, mountains and caves out of the substrate in an aquarium, so accommodate them by adding articles that they can work with including PVC pipe, hollow logs and clay pots. If you put live plants in the aquarium, the crayfish will eat them.

    Males and Females

    • A male blue crayfish will have larger claws than a female. The claws are more elongated on the male, and if you look at them from underneath you will see two claspers located close to the vent that look similar to hockey sticks. Blue crayfish clean each other as a part of their mating ritual, which is initiated by the male. The female's eggs hatch in approximately a month and come out looking like miniature adults, although they do not yet possess reproductive organs. During the first 24 hour period after emergence, the blue crayfish molts; some do not survive this process. Change your aquarium's water regularly and keep the temperature and aquarium conditions as good as possible so the "fry" or baby crayfish have a good chance of survival. It takes about two weeks for babies to become stronger. They will be essentially transparent at first, but their color changes as they get older.

    Escape Artists

    • Do not leave the lid of the tank off, because crayfish will escape. They can live for several hours out of water, but doing so isn't good for their health.

    Legality

    • In some places it is illegal to keep a crayfish in a home aquarium. For example, the only legal crayfish in the United Kingdom is the Cherax Quadricarinatus. The reason there are restrictions on keeping crayfish is that they can escape and spread disease.