How to Raise Red Claw Crayfish

Red claw crayfish are a species of freshwater crustacean that sport a hard outer shell, called a carapace. They can grow up to be 12 inches long, live for as long as five years and feature an appearance similar to those of lobsters. Raising red clay crayfish can pose a challenge to pet owners. These crustaceans are known to be aggressive, sensitive to levels of toxins in their water and prone to cannibalism if they are crowded and underfed.

Things You'll Need

  • Large freshwater aquarium
  • Driftwood pieces
  • Plastic pipes or tubing
  • Bloodworms, brine shrimp, snails and tubifex worms
  • Peas, zucchini and carrots
  • Aquarium testing kit
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Instructions

    • 1

      Prepare a suitable environment for your crayfish. Crayfish can be aggressive creatures and cannot be kept with other underwater species. If you plan to keep more than one crayfish in your aquarium, make sure there is at least two feet of space available per crayfish.

    • 2

      Provide driftwood pieces and plastic plants inside the aquarium. Avoid installing living plants, as crayfish have been known to dig up and destroy vegetation. Add plastic pipes or sections of tubing to create cave-like shelters for each crayfish to inhabit. Also, keep your aquarium top covered to prevent them from climbing out of the tank.

    • 3

      Introduce your crayfish to the aquarium at the same time if you are raising more than one crustacean. This will help reduce the likelihood of your crayfish cannibalizing any newcomers to the tank.

    • 4

      Feed your crayfish live foods such as bloodworms, brine shrimp, snails and tubifex worms. Live foods that must be hunted reduces occurrences of cannibalism among pet crayfish. Crayfish eat vegetable foods, which can include peas, zucchini and carrots. They also filter-feed debris along the bottom of their aquarium. Ensure that your crayfish are kept well-fed to prevent cannibalism and maintain good health.

    • 5

      Use an aquarium testing kit to monitor the aquarium's water quality. Red claw crayfish must live in chlorine-free water with a pH between 7.5 and 8.5 to be able to molt normally. They cannot survive in water with high levels of nitrates and ammonia, which come from their waste. Maintain good filtration, aeration or water changing practices to keep these levels down. Crayfish thrive in water temperatures between 68 and 78 degrees F.

    • 6

      Facilitate breeding by raising the aquarium's temperature above 80 degrees F. The crayfish must be over one year old to spawn. The male will deposit sperm onto the female's abdomen. The female releases eggs within a day, which are fertilized by the deposits before being attached to their mother's legs. These eggs will hatch after 10 weeks if the mother is left undisturbed. Hatched crayfish stay near their mother until they become independent, which can take several weeks. Consider removing young adult crayfish to a new tank to avoid cannibalism, overcrowding and dominance by older adults.

    • 7

      Leave molted carapaces inside the aquarium. The crayfish will eat the discarded shells for mineral nutrition that helps them regrow new shells, a process that can take a few days. You can expect adult crayfish to molt a few times a year and juveniles to molt at about a weekly basis.