Crayfish

[Noah Howard]

Hello Folks!

    So, I have done a little bit of research and I am interested in getting Crayfish for my Aquaponic systems. I have A TON of room in my beds to be able to have crayfish. I am not experienced with crayfish at all beyond my childhood. I would like to maybe hear some pros and cons from those of you who do have experience! Any information is helpful!

[Pat James]

noah, I am also interested in crayfish. I have a group of marbled crays on order(should be delivered any day).  These reproduce parthenogenically.

I was at a gardening meeting this past weekend and mentioned it to one of the other members. He showed me pictures he had on his phone. And went into local species and why they were popular or not despite size. For instance he mentioned the  white river crays as having green fat which is not so popular as opposed to the clarkii with brown fat. Our regular swamp crays are procambarus clarkii which are almost considered an invasive species most places.
This guy told me how for crawfish boils, we tend to like the smaller, softer shelled crays. I had not thought of it in that regard. I was just looking at the cray's size.

One of these days I will try cherax but for now the clarkii or the marbled's will have to do.

[Noah Howard]

Thank you guys for the info. I have two 40ft raft beds, so I have a lot of space for them and there is always plant matter for them to eat so I can see them being very helpful. the only worry I have is them getting clogged up in the pluming somehow but I suppose that happens regardless if you don't maintain the system well. I am pretty set on getting crayfish so I will keep you guys posted!

[Noah Howard]

do the crayfish eat live roots or dead roots... do they damage the plants at all?

[Jeffrey Ihara]

Yes, crayfish will eat whatever parts of your plants they can get to. I keep a few Procambarus clarkii in my sump together with fathead minnows, mosquitofish, and American flagfish. I tried dropping a cluster of water hyacinth in there, but that cluster didn't last a week.

[Noah Howard]

So it is good to have different small fish for under your rafts in a raft system? I do have goldfish in there but only to keep the mosquito larva away. I am interested in getting crayfish but I don't want them to eat up all the roots to my plants!
 
Jeffrey Ihara said:

Yes, crayfish will eat whatever parts of your plants they can get to. I keep a few Procambarus clarkii in my sump together with fathead minnows, mosquitofish, and American flagfish. I tried dropping a cluster of water hyacinth in there, but that cluster didn't last a week.

[Pat James]

I just got the tracking number for my marbled crays. Should arrive day after tomorrow. I told the guy I am still looking for some red-claws. His shipping on the marbled crays is pretty reasonable.

[Noah Howard]

could you send me a link? i cant find a reliable source for ordering crayfish.

[Pat James]

Noah, Here is the link to him.  https://www.facebook.com/DmvAquatics    The guy's name is James. He lives in DC and raises alot of the crays, mainly for the aquarium trade.

I told him I would be giving his link out. And that I still want a trio of cherax (red claws). He was conscientious enough to hold off shipping last week when the crays he is sending me started to molt. I appreciated that.  Tell him you got the link from me..

[Keith Rowan]

i've also found marmokrebs on aquabid(.com)

[Pat James]

My crays are holding their own in an aquarium inside. well, at least most of them are. I have had a few deaths, but that was not unexpected. I bought 20  as an allowance knowing that if even a few survive, I will be able to add a bunch of babies to my AP system late winter/ early spring.

[Chris Duke]

Good idea! I hadn't thought about using the crawdad tanks as sumps for the 1400 gal tanks. I imagine that the Guppies, and Minnows left alone in the tank to do their thing would also be a good food source for the Crawdads.

Jeffrey Ihara said:

Yes, crayfish will eat whatever parts of your plants they can get to. I keep a few Procambarus clarkii in my sump together with fathead minnows, mosquitofish, and American flagfish. I tried dropping a cluster of water hyacinth in there, but that cluster didn't last a week.

[Pat James]

For a crayfish that is supposed to be homogenous (clones), I am seeing alot of variation in the growth rates of my marbled crays. I have 5 surviving for sure. There may be more but I have only seen 5 at once. The longest is almost 2 inches long and heavy bodied.

The smallest is maybe 3/4", still pinkish like when it arrived. I have abundant food so it can get what it wants. I'm guessing the others met their demise when they molted...